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.

Alison Sweeney and Cameron Mathison so sickening act like love struck teenagers .really badly written .

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.

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.

Allison Sweeney and Cameron Mathison star in "Murder, She Baked: A Deadly Recipe" on Hallmark channel. In this mystery series, Sweeney plays Hannah Swenson, who owns a bakery, The Cookie Jar, in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and she has a penchant for solving mysteries.

This time, it's the town sheriff who has been murdered, and his deputy, Hannah's brother-in-law, is a suspect.

Hannah gets to work trying to clear her brother-in-law, but as she does so, she finds herself in danger.

All My Children's Cameron Mathison plays Mike, a police officer, who is crazy about Hannah. He has some competition, but it looks like he's winning.

This was slow, but okay, with decent acting. The leads are pleasant. One thing I noticed was that not everyone had a Hollywood figure - I guess it was the bakery influence. It's a good influence.

For trivia buffs, the director is Kristoffer Tabori, a former actor who is the son of Viveca Lindfors and Don Siegel. Viveca had a stage and film career, and Don Siegel? He directed the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers.