Linda Bennett (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries)

The evil Linda Bennett

Linda Bennett (Kirsten Robek) is the main villainess from the 2019 Hallmark film, Aurora Teagarden Mysteries:  A Very Foul Play, the twelfth film of the Aurora Teagarden series (airdate August 18, 2019).

Introduction

Linda Bennett is the director and hostess of a play titled, A Very Foul Play, which was performed during a true crime convention. The cast included Aurora and Aida Teagarden, Phillip Pifer, Lynn and Arthur Smith, and Monica Swanson, who was playing the play's intended murder victim. However, during the play, the lights went out and Monica was found stabbed to death, with Phillip (who was supposed to "kill" her with a prop knife later) found holding the blood-covered murder weapon.

The circumstances led to Phillip being suspected, though suspicion also fell on Brett Stauberg, who was dating Monica. Brett's father, Boyd Stauberg (who had made attempts to get Linda to sell her convention to him), was also suspected, especially after it was uncovered that Monica worked as an intern for Boyd, but apparently quit her job. However, Aurora and Nick Miller's investigation revealed that Monica was still working for Boyd, as she was sent by Boyd to help coerce Linda to sell to him.

Reveal

Linda during her reveal and attempt to kill Aurora

Phillip received a letter from Brett asking to meet, as Brett had his suspicions regarding who killed Monica, only for Phillip to find Boyd dead in the house. After it was revealed that Andrew Wakefield, the potential love interest for Lillian Tibbett--a librarian and Aurora's co-worker--was suspected after it was revealed that he was a white-collar criminal who worked for Boyd and helped him in his deals, and he ended up arrested and accused of the murder. Linda approached Nick and Aurora regarding plans for next year's event, only to drop her briefcase by accident. Aurora read the contents:  a manuscript of a story about an actress being murdered during the play. This led to Robert Brown, a famed writer, being suspected, though Aurora had her sights set on a different suspect:  Linda.

Wearing a wire, Aurora met with Linda and spoke with her about the manuscript, where she revealed that the actual writer was Linda, not Robert. In addition, it was revealed that Linda and Robert had dated years prior, and at some point, Linda devised a murderous scheme and used the manuscript as her blueprint, with the drop of the briefcase being part of her plan. After denying it at first, Linda boldly confirmed Aurora's statements, revealing that she found out about Monica being an agent for Boyd, resulting in Linda having the lights shut off and later stabbing Monica to death. The villainess later bludgeoned Boyd to death with a candlestick holder, and regarding her motive, the evil Linda stated that the true victim of her murderous frame job was Robert, claiming that Robert dumped her once he became famous, while accusing her victims of getting the way of her vision.

Following her reveal and confession, Linda stated that she wouldn't let anyone stop her, including Aurora herself, leading to the deranged villainess attempting to kill Aurora with the aforementioned weapon. After Nick appeared and called out to Aurora from outside, Aurora ran off, with Linda chasing her all over the stage. In response to Aurora revealing that she was wearing a wire, Linda stated that she had nothing to lose and continued her pursuit. The villainess cornered Aurora and was closing in on her, only for the lights to be turned on and distract Linda, who was taken down by Aurora before she was arrested.