Mystery 101: An Education in Murder

The film opens with Amy Winslow and Detective Travis Burke watching a true-crime show called 'We Know Whodunnit,' which details the conviction of Professor Mac McKinnon for the murder of his colleague, Nicole Ford. Mac allegedly poisoned Nicole's asthma inhaler with strychnine to steal forged Mark Twain chapters. Amy, a literature professor, has always doubted Mac's guilt despite the physical evidence found in his safe. The arrival of Ella Quincy, a writer working on a book about the case, prompts Amy to dig deeper. Ella believes Mac was framed but is secretive about her evidence. Amy visits Mac in prison, and he maintains his innocence, though he admits to a secret affair with Nicole that he hid to protect his wife, Linda. As Amy and Travis investigate, they encounter resistance from the retired detective who originally handled the case, Howard Clawson. Amy discovers a similar murder from five years prior in Oregon: Professor Jill Ives was killed by strychnine placed in her essential oils diffuser. Travis and Amy travel to Oregon and learn that Jill Ives had accused a 'star pupil' named Robby Hearst of plagiarism shortly before her death. The student had submitted a story called 'The Cuttings' to a literary magazine where Nicole Ford also worked as an editor. The investigation takes a dark turn when Ella Quincy is found strangled to death in her rental home after she presumably discovered the killer's identity. Amy begins to suspect that the killer is someone within her own circle. She realizes that her student and bookstore clerk, Blake Newman, is actually Robby Hearst. Using literary analysis, she determines that Blake's 'original' manuscript and Robby's old stories are both plagiarized from an obscure 19th-century author. Amy and Travis confront Blake at the bookstore, revealing they found the stolen files from Nicole's office in his apartment and DNA evidence under Ella's fingernails. Blake, desperate to protect his burgeoning literary career, attempts to kill Travis with a pair of scissors but is subdued. The film concludes with Mac McKinnon being exonerated and released from prison, while Amy and Travis finally share a romantic dinner, acknowledging their growing feelings for one another.