In "Her Husband's Betrayal," a bigamist is taking out life insurance policies on his stable of wives. After murdering the wives, he collects on the insurance. But the man who goes by the name of Riley Coulter has met his match with his latest wife, Cathy, who refuses to sign the life insurance policy, then seeks to expose him as a fraud.

The filmmakers were successful in keeping up a fast pace, developing lively dialogue, and presenting a set of interesting secondary characters. My favorite was a wise truck driver who assisted Cathy in her time of need. In the understated scene, the wise trucker recognized that the catch is in place on gun she is holding, rendering it ineffective as she is pretending to threaten him, He then instructs her on its proper use!

The unsung hero of the film is the kind cop Dan Gresham, who never believes the official story that Cathy killed one of her husband's ex-wives. With the assistance of Cathy, Gresham slowly pieces together evidence pointing to Riley's exploitation of women.

The actress playing the role of Cathy was terrific. We saw her resolve develop to free her son Billy from the clutches of Riley (a.k.a., Carl Higgins). Carl was the son of an insurance scammer, who taught his boy the tricks of the trade. After a tragic fire in a school in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Carl used the names of the diseased as his aliases. He then preyed upon lonely, single women to tie the knot and disposed of them with the expectation of collecting on the insurance.

Early in the film, Cathy finds a new friend in her neighbor Torah. But something seems fishy about Torah when she deletes a set of photos from Cathy's camera. It will not be until the closing scene when we learn the truth about Torah. In that climactic moment, the film's major theme is fulfilled in the courage displayed by a mother who expresses the undying love of her child through her heroic actions.

I thought that this movie was kinda exciting, not quite the acidic mouthful another person shot down the movie with disdain. I do not generally review TV movies, but I liked this one.

In the opening minutes, attractive brunette Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (as Cathy) leaves her car and enters a house. Very quickly, we learn there is a dead woman inside. Also quickly, the police lead Ms. Wood out of the house. "I did it," she confesses, "I killed her." The opening credits end… Two weeks earlier, in a small Vermont town, we meet a much happier Wood. A newlywed, she is moving into a nice new home, with young teenage son Jacob Horsley (as Billy). He is from a previous, unhappy marriage. Wood's uber-sexy groom Shawn Roberts (as Riley Coulter) is out of town on a business trip. A sales representative, according to his business card, Mr. Roberts is not often home...

Wood befriends blonde neighbor Zoie Palmer (as Tora Weeks),who brings her a house-warming pie. Yum. They go shopping. Roberts surprises Wood by appearing, unannounced, in a local jewelry shop. He claims to be buying Wood a surprise gift. Wood continues to find life with Roberts suspiciously strange. While her husband provides logical explanations, we're pretty sure something isn't quite right. We already know there is going to be an arrest. For another thing, the movie is titled "Her Husband's Betrayal". He also looks more like a professional model than whatever he's supposed to be doing for as a "sales representative." Roberts doesn't seem so at first, but he turns out to be perfectly cast...

The original plot for this TV movie, by Russ Chasney, is quite good. Everything hearkens back to a past event, cleverly, and there are some nice touches. However, the story falls apart around one of Wood's stronger scenes, with a helpful truck driver (Gene Mack). Otherwise, she dons a baseball cap, wears stunning make-up, and runs around the country like she's "Batgirl". Wood seems too young and beautiful for her role. Sympathetic officer Mark Bendavid (as Dan Gresham) should have been made stronger, perhaps appearing prominently in the opening (a cheat). We don't know where "Billy" is for much of the time and it's surprising to see Wood risk his life by befriending a homeless stranger.

**** Her Husband's Betrayal (2013-08-02) Ron Oliver ~ Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, Shawn Roberts, Marc Bendavid, Zoie Palmer