Murder, She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery (2016)
With The Cookie Jar, Hannah Swensen has a mouthwatering monopoly on the bakery business of Lake Eden, Minnesota. But when a rival store opens, and one of the owners is found shot to death in the store, Hannah is determined to prove that she wasn't the only one who had an axe to grind with the Quinn sisters. Somebody wasn't fooled by the Georgia Peaches and their sweet-as-pie act--and now it's up to Hannah to track down whoever had the right ingredients to whip up a murder.
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This episode really develops various aspects of the triangle of Hannah, Mike and Norman. For one thing, we find out more about Mike's past, his late wife, and one of their mutual friends who also had a crush on Mike. Meanwhile, with Mike distracted by events, Norman has a chance to strengthen his relationship with Hannah. We see the results of the murder at the start of the movie, and then there is a flashback of what leads up to it. These things take up about half the movie. Personally I hate this type of flashback. I also hate when the lead character, who is also an established upstanding citizen, is suspected of the murder. Yep, Hannah literally walks right into being a suspect.I also hate when the protagonist ignores the law doing illegal things in the name of "helping" the investigation. Admittedly, Hannah has skirted the line on this in previous episodes, but this time ...I have liked previous episodes of the series of movies, primarily because of Alison Sweeney. Hannah's heart is so big, it is hard not to like her. In this one, there were too many of my pet peeves, so I didn't care for it. However, many viewers without my prejudices will probably enjoy this one because there is so much going on.
In "Murder, She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery," Hannah (Alison Sweeney) has decided she is more attracted to Detective Mike Kingston (Cameron Mathison) than the dentist Norman Rhodes. Norman i ready for a commitment, but recent widower Mike is not. Hannah hasn't told either man how she feels.She wonders if she has made the right decision when Melanie Quinn, a college friend of Mike's, opens a bakery across the street from Hannah's bakery! And she sees Mike exiting it.Melanie's sister Valerie is heavily promoting the bakery, and Hannah is losing some business. Apparently, Melanie makes one helluva peach cobbler, too. Hannah tries her hand at one, which is better than Melanie's, so she's asked to bring some to a wedding. There's something familiar about Melanie's cobbler - Hannah realizes it's frozen and sold at the grocery store. After a debacle, Melanie comes to Hannah, admitting she can't bake and asking for help with the peach cobbler for the wedding. Hannah helps and leaves Melanie with baking instructions and gets ready for the wedding. Melanie never appears.That night, going by Melanie's bakery, Hannah sees the lights on. Inside she finds Melanie's dead body. And she also finds herself a suspect in Melanie's murder. In order to clear her, everyone joins in the investigation into the murder to find the true killer. Since Mike is on the police force and told to stay away from her, Hannah leans heavily on Norman.As usual this was a pleasant mystery with attractive stars. It's no great shakes since Hallmark is a family channel and aims for a kind of banal entertainment. However, this series has warmth and likability.
Ignore the review before this one... that person was overly negative. There is so much bad stuff on TV and it is harmful to the heart and soul. This is a more wholesome program to watch that does not leave you feeling depleted like so much that is in TV programming. That's why I watch Hallmark to begin with. Television needs more Hallmark! What set is not fake...they are studio sets! This series is light and fun. I am from Minnesota so I had to look up where it was filmed and found out it was Canada and yet the cars in this series showed Minnesota license plates. They took care of the details! Anyway, yes, I would recommend watching it ...even my boyfriend got into watching it, although women are a primary audience. Heather
Hallmark's cozy mysteries movie series (Murder She Baked, The Gourmet Detective, Flower Shop Mysteries, etc.) is intended to be fun and family-friendly, so think of them as more like episodes of a T.V. show. They're romance movies but have an actual plot. They're best for watching while you cook and clean, because you can follow the plot without paying full attention. That's why it's perfect that the Murder She Baked series is about a pastry chef. Her narration, her cooking tips, and the fact that she uses her baking expertise to help her solve mysteries is what makes the series worth watching. Especially since foodie movies are usually incredibly depressing, and thus unappealing to me. I love how seeing Hannah bake makes me excited about baking. Also, the fact that Hannah listens to a radio show that gives cheesy romance advice, similar to The Delilah Show and the host looks similar to Delilah Rene Luke, is a relatable guilty pleasure.