We Love to Entertain

In this propulsive but less than plausible page-turner from Strohmeyer (Do I Know You?), charismatic real estate investor Robert Barron and his fiancée, Holly Simmons, are one of three couples vying for grand prize on the property rehab show To the Manor Build with their environmentally visionary hilltop estate nearing completion in tiny Snowden, Vt. Then, only hours after the pair’s livestreamed wedding—and just days before the show’s final reveal—the newlyweds vanish. Though the hard-charging self-proclaimed “Robber Barron” has plenty of enemies, the local cops seem quite happy to home in on outcast Erika Turnbull, Robert’s assistant, who’s not so secretly smitten with him, as their prime suspect. Which leaves it to Erika’s brook-no-bull mother, Kim, the town clerk, to turn sleuth to try to save the day—with some assistance from Tammy, Holly’s own freshly arrived from Florida steel magnolia mom. Apart from this unlikely band of mothers, several other characters seem disappointingly generic, as does Strohmeyer’s satire of reality-rehab TV. Nevertheless, there’s sufficient treachery, trickery, and twists (improbable though they be) to make good on the title’s promise of entertainment. Agent: Zoe Sandler, ICM Partners. (Apr.)