We’re at a point in pop culture that mildly mirrors the Golden Era Hollywood contract system, with certain celebs known for their TV movies aligning with specific networks, with Hallmark and Great American Family as the more clear rivals. Hallmark is currently still the cream of the crop, though, and Alison Sweeney’s fans will no doubt be celebrating the news that she's returning to one of her most beloved roles for the channel. And not only is the project set in stone(baked), but it will see her once again paired up with Murder, She Baked co-star Cameron Mathison.
That’s right, everybody’s favorite mystery-cracking baker is back with another platter of perilous pastries, with The Wedding Veil Journey star Alison Sweeney set to reprise the role of Hannah Swensen for the latest franchise entry, which is being planned for a debut on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries later this year. The project is currently going by the name Carrot Cake: A Hannah Swensen Mystery, according to Entertainment Tonight, and will obviously also feature Cameron Mathison returning to the smooth-as-butter role of Detective Mike Kingston, as opposed to some brand new character who inexplicably looks just like Mike Kingston. (Although now I may feel the need to craft fan fiction in which Mathison’s All My Children character Ryan Lavery inspires Eden Lake’s most bizarre love triangle.)
No such romantic foibles are coming to Hannah Swensen’s newest adventure, even if things won’t exactly be at their rosiest for her and Mike. The new film, based on author Joanne Fluke’s cozy novel Carrot Cake Murder, is set into motion after a building renovation leads to the discovery of a skeleton, which kicks off a deeper mystery involving one of Eden Lake’s most prominent residents having a false identity. Dun dun dun! There should be a Hannah Swenson-branded oven timer with that kind of dramatic sting as the alarm.
In any case, I think we all know where this is going. Alison Sweeney’s Hannah is quick to jump into figuring out what’s happening, which doesn’t sit so favorably with Mike, especially since they’re engaged now. The biggest nuptials issue they should have to worry about is a deflated wedding cake, and we know that’s not happening. But she won’t be putting her amateur sleuthing skills to the case on her own, and fans can expect to see Chesapeake Shores star Barbara Niven back in the role of Hannah’s mom, Delores Swensen.
If anyone can figure out who the murderer is, and who the victim actually is…well, one would hope it’d be the detectives working on the case. But viewers can certainly expect Hannah and Delores to deliver the goods, and can also expect to hear more about Eden Lake’s residents with the worst gum care from Norman Rhodes, with Gabriel Hogan also confirmed for a return in Carrot Cake.
Here's a shot from Alison Sweeney's Instagram Stories, in which she noted she was indeed filming a Hallmark movie, with the snowy setting making it look suspiciously like one of the channel's signature holiday offerings.
This latest project marks the first since everyone reunited for 2021’s Sweet Revenge, which kicked off the Hannah Swensen Mysteries series proper. The two-year gap between projects should certainly be an easier span to get through than the four years that passed after the fifth entry, 2017’s Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts. Sweeney spoke in vague terms about there being behind-the-scenes issues that held the franchise up in that timeframe, during which she went on to star in four Chronicles Mysteries films as podcast host Alex McPherson. With Carrot Cake on the way, if only on TV and not from my own kitchen, fans seemingly dough-n’t need to worry about BTS problems springing up anew. I feel like Norman would have liked that pun.
While everyone’s mileage will vary when it comes to Hallmark movies, with regular stars such as Danica McKellar aware of what non-fans think, it’s hard to think of any other TV network that so wholly embraces the concept of cozy mysteries. Well, I guess one can debate between Hallmark original recipe and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, but debates are super-non-cozy.
Carrot Cake: A Hannah Swensen Mystery is currently filming, as noted above, so stay tuned to see when it’ll pop up in the 2023 TV schedule.
