‘Mystery 101: Playing Dead’ Hallmark Movie Premiere: Sequel Cast, Trailer, Synopsis

Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha are back solving crimes on Sunday in the premiere of “Mystery 101: Playing Dead,” the second installment in their Hallmark Movies & Mysteries series.

Set behind the scenes at a local community theater, the second episode in the franchise follows college professor Amy (Wagner) and detective Travis (Polaha) as they work together to find an attempted-murderer and an actual murderer. Are they one and the same or two different people? Only time — and some detective work — will tell.

“Off campus, the local Garrison Community Theater is mounting a production of a murder mystery that crime fiction expert Amy unearthed,” the synopsis shares. “But on opening night, someone tries to kill the leading lady, and Travis has to halt production when the show becomes a crime scene.

“There are many suspects — including the leading lady’s ex-husband, the set designer with secrets, and the young leading man whose obsession with his co-star may have gone too far. When an actual murder happens, Amy and Travis have to uncover which player is playing for keeps.”

Aside from having an exciting new mystery for fans to follow along with, Wagner told International Business Times that there’s another reason she finds this new installment so great.

“I love [this] one, and the main reason I love [it] so much is all the surrounding characters in the movie, they’re just so good,” she told IBT. “We were lucky, we got some really good actors to play these parts.”

The actress added: “And it’s set in a theater, which, technically, I’m an actor, so I love that. But it’s really just a colorful script with a lot of colorful characters, and they just brought it to life, and I love it. I think that’s something you can look forward to in the next ‘Mystery 101.’”

So, who are the actors playing all of those supporting characters Wagner’s referring to?

Robin Thomas (Graham), Louriza Tronco (Lacey), Preston Vanderslice (Bud), Sarah Dugdale (Claire), Derek Green (Chief Tate), Matthew Kevin Anderson (Duncan), Luke Camilleri (Elliot), Rekha Sharma (Bella), Aaron Douglas (Karl), Robert Moloney (Vincent), Christie Burke (Josie), James Rha (Dr. Gentry), Colin Lawrence (Sebastian), Michael Kopsa (George) and Kareem Malcolm (Russ) all star with Wagner and Polaha in the new “Mystery 101” flick.

Catch “Mystery 101: Playing Dead,” directed by Blair Hayes and written by John Christian Plummer, when it airs on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT.