I love the Murder She Baked cosy mystery series on Hallmark. The cast is really tight, the dialogue is smart and funny, and the mysteries are pretty good. Alison Sweeney plays Hannah Swenson...small town baker and part time mystery sleuth. She is the owner of The Cookie Jar, which is providing cookies for the Crazy Elf Tree Lot. In this, the second entry the flames are fanned with her two romantic rivals the handsome and unpredictable detective, Mike and the dependable dentist, Norman. There is some comedy as both men show up at the tree lot buying Hannah a tree. Comedy is had, as one tree is donated to charity and the other the two men attach to Hannah's car. There is some great banter with both mother and sister, as each tries to put their romantic choice forward as the obvious candidate for Hannah. But this is a murder mystery, and post a date with our dentist, Hannah arrives at the tree lot to pick up her check for the cookies. Together Hannah and Norman find the owner's dead body. Mike tries but fails to keep Hannah out of this investigation.

Fun cosy mystery that has a bit of a Christmas theme with cookies and plum pudding. A must watch in the Murder She Baked series.

Love this series and was not surprised that it was nominated for an Emmy award at some point. Hannah is so real as is the whole cast. Hope to see a lot more new programs this year. I like that Hannah can't make up her mind if she should keep trying with Mike or give up. I loved the Valentines show where Hannah chooses to spend the holiday with her mother and sister rather then spend it with Mike or Norman.

One of the problems with most of these amateur detective series is that they always make it seem like the police are doing practically nothing. Actually this series is better than most in that regard. Mike is often ahead of Hannah. But sometimes not.

In this episode (if you will), Hannah discovers what appears to be a key clue which Mike acknowledges is helpful. If that's true, Mike is a poor detective. One of the first things modern detectives do is canvas for that particular clue.

Other than that, this is still a decent story. There is some romance too, in the form of a potential love triangle. The characters are appealing, especially Alison Sweeney as Hannah. While none of these actors will win an Oscar or Emmy, the acting is good enough to enjoy the story.