Sweet Revenge: A Hannah Swensen Mystery

6/10 - nice for the Murder, She Baked series to return after a little while with a fairly run-of-the-mill, but plenty enjoyable mystery.

Still my favorite of the Hallmark mystery series (along with Aurora Teagarden and Mystery 101), but there were some things I missed. I am hoping they are going to keep these new sets and new cast members and do a bunch more entries in the Hannah Swensen series in order for us to grow accustomed to all the changes.

I missed her sister Andrea and her brother-in-law. Hannah didn't seem to have the same rapport with her sister Michelle. (In fact I don't remember Michelle ever being mentioned...which would be weird considering their mother, who I was happy to see as a beloved return character.)

There were so many changes it was hard to get engrossed initially which was exacerbated by Mike and Hannah having very little face time . (Even the cat was different!)

Some of the things that remained the same were how sweet Mike and Hannah are together (more Mike and Hannah time please!), Hannah's baked goods, Hannah's best friend, Hannah's meddling and opinionated entrepreneurial Mother, and Norman. Norman continues to be the best wingman ever for Hannah.

"She's our mother, not a velociraptor." Hannah to Michelle.

It didn't go unnoticed that there were loose ends at the end, like who is doing the break-ins? They only had one suspect and no evidence.

Also Norman's new King Charles Spaniel puppy, Scooter, is adorable.

Storyline was pretty good. Not a fan of the surprise 3rd sibling role. Actress is good and would have been better storywise as a lifelong friend who is back in town to help Hannah solve murders. The 3rd sibling role seemed forced.

This is actually the sixth installment in the Hannah Swenson saga. I don't know why Hallmark decided to title it as another series. Nothing's changed, except we no longer have those elderly ladies gossiping in the bakery. We're also missing the blonde sister and the brother-in-law. And a new sister shows up out of nowhere. My best guess is that the actress playing Andrea wasn't available, so they had to write her out and replace her character.

The mystery itself is just as good as the others. And, once you get over the shock of the new sister, she's a pleasant addition to the cast. The mother, on the other hand, is at her worst in this movie. The script goes overboard with her ridiculousness. And, in real life, I think her debut novel would have provoked some serious drama in the family.

The love triangle with Norman has run its course. If Hallmark makes any more, I hope he'll just be a platonic friend to Hannah and Mike. And I hope he moves on with some other gal (Hannah's sister?).

I really enjoyed the Murder She Bakes movies and was excited to see this new movie, but this is no where near as good. The changes they made were not an improvement to this story.