Stranger in Town (1998)

A boy becomes a sleuth to protect his mother in a new town

Released to TV in 1998, this is a small town whodunit that successfully draws you into the world of a single-mother family and their attempt to make it after moving out of Chicago. The woman (Rebecca Jenkins) hires a likable drifter (Harry Hamlin) to help fix-up their aged manor and you genuinely hope that he doesn’t end up being the killer.

The boy (Trevor Blumas) teaming-up with a neighborhood friend (Alison Pill) brings to mind The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew and adds a coming-of-age element.

It’s nowhere near as good as another Canadian television production released the following year, “Shadow Lake,” which also included Graham Greene in the cast, but it’s good enough if what I said trips your trigger. There are bits of hammy acting to draw suspicion which would’ve worked better if toned down. Yet I loved the unique locations, speaking of which…

It runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, which is located 44 miles east of Regina and 205 miles southeast of Saskatoon.

GRADE: B-