Murder, She Baked: A Deadly Recipe

These "Murder, She Baked" series of movies will never be mistaken for great movies but they are entertaining, partly because they have to be complete by 85 minutes so there isn't any dragging.

Plus Alison Sweeney, who plays baker Hannah Swensen, is very attractive and very personable. As in the others there is a murder mystery to be solved but that never really takes the focus off the real meat of these movies. Whether Hannah will end up with Mike the Cop or with Norman the Dentist.

In this one Hannah is putting together a book of recipes and part of her mission is to figure out what the "secret ingredient" is in one of them. In the process she also helps figure out who is responsible for the brick to the back of the head of the Sheriff on the eve of the election. There is also a red herring of sorts when a series of car thefts occur. Or was that just part of the Sheriff's re-election effort? The resolution gets a bit complicated, but once again Mike finds that Hannah is helpful in solving the mystery.

We found a set of two DVDs at our public library that contains five of the "Murder, She Baked" movies. We are watching all of them at home.

The main issue with this movie was that the lead character was an utterly vile human being. Yes, murder mystery detectives do tend to be nosy busy bodies but she took takes biscuit (excuse the pun). The way she got involved in other people's private affairs and stuck her oar in where it didn't matter was unbelievable. The icing on the cake was her visiting a recently widowed lady, bringing her her dead husbands favourite cakes and asking for a family secret BBQ sauce recipe, whilst she snooped through her mail. Her exchanging recipes at a funeral also was just a tad insensitive!!! The kitchen where she works should also be shut down. So many health and saftety violations with all the staff wearing zero protective gear and quite happy to nibble whatever they like. One lady chomped on half a cupcake and then put the rest back with the others!! Utter tosh

Things are heating up in the little town of Lake Eden, and Hannah (Alison Sweeney) is caught in the middle. Sheriff Grant (Ty Olsson) is up for reelection, and Hannah's brother-in-law, Bill Todd (Toby Levins), is running against him. This is causing quite a bit of friction in the department. While no one likes Grant, he is throwing his weight around and making people more miserable than normal.

Hannah finds herself involved in yet another murder when the sheriff is found dead in the street, her brother-in-law deputy (who was running against the sheriff in the upcoming election) is accused, and a killer is on the loose.

Detective Mike Kingston can be annoying with his repetitive "Hannah, let me do my job! I got this! Don't get involved!", and he knows she isn't going to listen. It's not long before she starts snooping and comes up with the goods. It's cheesy ( I love cheesiness) but fun. If you're looking for something full of overt darkness and cynical world views and realistic police procedurals, then this isn't for you. If you want something light frothy, engaging and enjoyable, then look no further.

The series is enjoyable if not believable. It's fun, fluff mystery. I don't expect it to be cerebral or realistic. I like most of the characters even if their relationships are childish and shallow. My only real concern is that the two actors portraying the competing love interests look so much alike that I can't tell who she's with sometimes. I actually thought they might be the same actor or actually twins. Casting could have done a better job with that.

I think we all have a secret fantasy to show up the police at their job. A movie like Murder She Baked: A Deadly Recipe plays right into that. Also playing into that fantasy were such shows as Murder She Wrote, Mrs. Wainthropp Investigates. And who more than Agatha Christie did that when she created Jane Marple?

Alison Sweeney of Days Of Our Lives has created an interesting character in Hannah Swenson, owner of a small town bakery who likes to dabble in police business. She probably gets away with a lot because like Jane Marple her instincts are right. And she bakes such delicious goods no one wants to incarcerate her especially the cops who love her delivery of them to the station.

But Sweeney is involved in a bad one. Someone murdered the chief of police in the parking lot of the police station. Ty Olsson who plays the victim was not loved by his staff, is in a campaign for re- election, has a messy personal life, and on top of that is getting close to an auto theft ring that's been plaguing his town. So there's a lot of people who have motives.

With Cameron Mathison as one of the deputies who likes Sweeney's instincts and her in general, but gives her some kind of official cover for her own investigations while warning her of the consequences of interfering with police business the two make a good team.

I have to say in the end the motive for the slaying was truly bizarre and the perpetrator a pitiable figure. I can't say more other than the perpetrator gives a great and subtle performance.

My first exposure to this series of which this is the fourth film made for the Hallmark Channel. Sweeney's character is a winning and an interesting one.