Hallmark: Will There Be Any More Hannah Swensen Mysteries Cooked Up Soon?
Solving mysteries and serving up cookies. That's a day in the life of Hannah Swensen (Alison Sweeney), whose crime-fighting adventures began on the pages of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mystery series. While Hallmark is known for its Christmas movies, the company also has its Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel, which started airing Hannah's adventures in 2015, beginning with "Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery," which finds Hannah and Detective Mike Kingston (Cameron Mathison) tracking down the person who killed one of Hannah's friends outside of her bakery, the Cookie Jar. They've since continued to fight crime while growing their romantic relationship. And another installment is in the works.
The eighth film in the series is titled "A Zest for Death: A Hannah Swensen Mystery" and is based on Fluke's fourth Hannah Swensen book, "Lemon Meringue Pie Murder." Sweeney told TV Insider that it will be like "Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery" in terms of focusing on Hannah's gut instinct and her attention to the smallest of details. "This next mystery is going to have some fun elements like that that are there for the audience to notice, too, if you pay attention," she said. "A Zest for Death" will center on Hannah's mom, Delores (Barbara Niven), who finds a dead body while touring prospective homes for her sister.
Why the Hannah Swensen film series stopped for four years
Just as the romance between Hannah and Mike was ramping up, their story was stopped in its tracks following the release of 2017's "Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts." Fans had to wait until 2021, when "Sweet Revenge: A Hannah Swensen Mystery" brought back the beloved couple. As Alison Sweeney told TV Insider, "There were a lot of behind-the-scenes complications that made it take a long time to bring it all together."
Hannah and Mike have some complications of their own in "Carrot Cake Murder," which starts with the two as an engaged couple with no wedding date and ends with them calling off their engagement, leaving fans to wonder if they can ever reconcile their romance. Thankfully, Sweeney is no stranger to dramatic storylines, having gained fame and riches on soap operas. And just like in a soap opera, anything is possible in the world of Hallmark.
The story ideas are aplenty thanks to Joanne Fluke, who continues to whip up new novels. The Hannah Swensen mysteries began in 2000 with "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder," and July 2023 saw the release of "Pink Lemonade Cake Murder," the 29th installment in the series.