For mystery series week, I am going to be talking about three binge-worthy murder mystery series from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. I am going to talk about the “Murder She Baked” series, the “Aurora Teagarden” series, and the “Fixer Upper” series. Hallmark has tons of other mystery series that are great, but recently I bought the complete collections for the ones that I am going to talk about.
Murder She Baked
Murder She Baked is a movie series about a baker in the fictional town of Eden Lake. The movies are based on the novels by Joanne Fluke. The six-film series follows Hannah Swensen, a baker, and owner of the Cookie Jar. Hannah has a knack for solving mysteries. She is joined by a detective who has just moved to Eden Lake, named Mike Kingston. The film series follows their romantic and professional relationship. Hannah always manages to find herself in trouble and Mike always comes to her rescue. Many times throughout the movies, Mike tries to stop Hannah from investigating on her own, but Hannah is headstrong and often refuses to listen to the advice of her close friends and family.
Starring in the movie franchise are Alison Sweeney, Cameron Mathison, Lisa Durupt, Toby Levins, Gabriel Hogan, Barbra Niven, Juliana Wimbles, Garry Chalk, and Tess Atkins. Sweeney plays Hannah Swensen. Mathison plays Detective Mike Kingston. Durupt plays Andrea Todd, Hannah’s younger sister. Levins plays Deputy Bill Todd, Andrea’s husband. Hogan plays Doctor Norman Rhodes, a potential love interest to Hannah, and the local dentist. Niven plays Delores Swensen, Andrea’s, Hannah’s, and Michelle’s mother. Wimbles plays Lisa Herman, best friend, and baking assistant. Chalk plays Mayor Bascomb, Eden Lake’s esteemed mayor. Atkins plays Michelle Swenson, the youngest sister. Atkins is only in the sixth movie.
My favorite movie would probably be A Plum Pudding Mystery or Just Desserts. I like A Plum Pudding because it is a Christmas episode. I am a fan of the holidays and enjoy watching various romantic Christmas movies. “Just Desserts” is tied for first because Hannah and Mike are finally together. I haven’t seen the final movie since it came out on August 8th of this year. I plan to watch it whenever I can find it online for free.
Aurora Teagarden
Aurora Teagarden is a seventeen movie series based on the books written by Charlaine Harris. The movies follow Aurora Teagarden, a librarian at the Lawrenceton Public Library, set in the fictional town of Lawrencenton, Washington. Bodies seem to fall at Aurora’s feet and with her sleuthing nature and help from her friends at the Real Murders Club, she manages to solve every murder. Since she keeps finding dead bodies, her close family and friends try their best to get her to quit the Real Murders Club, but because of her independent nature, she refuses to heed the advice of her closest confidants. There are two main love interests for Aurora, Martin Bartell, portrayed by Yannick Bisson, a former CIA Agent, and Nick Miller, portrayed by Niall Matter, a college psychology professor at the college Aurora’s cousin attends. First, Aurora dates Marin but he leaves the series to go help a former colleague. A few movies later she meets Nick and they start dating. During the sixteenth movie, Aurora marries Nick. Personally, I prefer Nick, so I am pleased that they got married. Martin tried to stop Aurora from investigating while Nick volunteers to go with Aurora while she investigates these crimes to protect her from the inevitable danger Aurora always finds herself in.
Some of the more notable cast are Lexa Doig, Marilu Henner, Peter Benson, Miranda Frigon, and Ellie Harvie. Lexa Doig plays Sally Allison, a reporter for the local newspaper and Aurora’s best friend. Marilu Henner plays Aida Teagarden, real estate queen, and mother of Aurora. Peter Benson plays Arthur Smith, a friend of Aurora’s and a burglary detective. Miranda Frigon plays Lynn Liggett-Smith, wife of Arthur, a homicide detective, and she is not the biggest fan of Aurora. Ellie Harvie plays Lillian Tibbett’s coworker of Aurora’s at the library.
I have to say all fifteen movies that I have seen are fantastic. I haven’t seen the last two movies yet because they just came out this year. It is very hard to pick a favorite movie from the series since they are all so good. All of the movies have me guessing who the true killer is. There either is no obvious suspect or too many suspects to figure out who the real killer is.
Fixer Upper
Fixer Upper is a three-movie series starring Jewel and Colin Ferguson. The movies are based on the bestselling novel series written by Kate Carlisle. They are set in a small resort town called Lighthouse Cove. Jewel plays Shannon Hughes, owner of Hughes Restoration, and specializes in Victorian home restoration and renovation. In the first movie, Shannon meets Mac Sullivan, played by Colin Ferguson, a famous mystery writer, who has just bought an old mansion and needs someone to fix it up. Shannon uses her construction knowledge paired with the sleuthing skills of Mac to solve homicides.
Along with Jewel and Colin Ferguson, there are four others who appear in all three movies. Erin Karpluk as Jennifer Hennessey, Shannon’s best friend. Ron Lea as Pete Hughes, Shannon’s father. Colin Lawrence as Chief Jensen. Jason Cermak as Detective Tommy Sloane. Sean Rogerson shows up in the second movie as Sean Brogans, foreman of Hughes Restoration.
The series has three movies, Framed for Murder, Concrete Evidence, and Deadly Deed. All three movies are great and it’s hard to pick a favorite. I guess my favorite movie would be Framed for Murder because the characters are just getting introduced and I like the mystery of the first one. No spoilers though, you’ll just have to watch the movie.
And there you have it––three binge-worthy movie series brought to you by Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Personally, I watch these movies any time of the year and not just for Mystery Series week, but it was fun sharing for you all why I love these series. I must warn you though, I have no idea if these are available to stream anywhere. I know that Hallmark is offered on a number of streaming services such as Philo, Sling TV, Vidgo, FuboTV, DIRECTV Stream, and FrndlyTV. I do not subscribe to any of these to tell you if the quality is good or if any of these movies are available. I do know that these series and many more are available for purchase on Amazon. Happy watching and enjoy Mystery Series Week!