A Sprinkle of Deceit: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (2024)

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A Sprinkle of Deceit: A Hannah Swensen Mystery premiered on Hallmark Mystery on October 4, 2024 and is currently streaming on Hallmark+. This is the tenth movie in the Hannah Swensen series, which was originally called the Murder, She Baked series. A Sprinkle of Deceit is loosely based on the 25th installment in the book series, Coconut Layer Cake Murder, by Joanne Fluke.

In A Sprinkle of Deceit, Hannah (Alison Sweeney) is hired to to cater a high school reunion, which Lonnie (Daylin Willis) and Michelle (Tess Atkins) attend together. One of Lonnie's classmates has clearly had too much to drink, so he drives her home and makes sure she gets in safely. When she is later found dead, Lonnie, Lake Eden's detective and Michelle's boyfriend, is the prime suspect. Hannah sets out to clear his name.

In this movie, Hannah explains that the lease for her bakery, The Cookie Jar, was up and she had to make a decision. She decided to expand and rent a larger space. This seems like a logical business move. Although the bakery is larger, I still feel that small town charm. 

This was another strong installment in the series that I have loved from the beginning. Hannah and Chad (Victor Webster), Lake Eden's prosecuting attorney, are beginning to have more chemistry. Chad very much operates by-the-book, but he is beginning to accept that Hannah's involvement in the cases is helpful. I do question the prosecuting attorney's involvement in the town's murder cases, but this is loosely addressed in a brief conversation between Chad and Hannah. Apparently, folks who live in small towns like Lake Eden are multitaskers. Oftentimes in these movies the viewer must be able to suspend belief in order to enjoy them. Okay, so let's go with that and move on.

Norman (Gabriel Hogan) was not in this movie and he was missed. Hopefully, he will be back in future movies because he is one of my favorite characters. However, Delores (Barbara Niven), Andrea (Lisa Durupt) and Michelle (Tess Atkins) were delightful. They make for an entertaining sleuthing team and I love their family dynamics. There was also one hilarious cameo, which I will not spoil. I can say that Hallmark fans will be pleased.

The mystery element was well-crafted. I had the suspects narrowed down to two people, but my strongest suspicion turned out to be wrong. There were lots of twists and turns and it was fun to see how Hannah followed the clues.

I like the direction the series seems to be going and I'm very excited to see the next installment. Reality Bites premieres tonight (February 6, 2025) on Hallmark Mystery and will be streaming on Hallmark+ starting the next day. The entire series is streaming on Hallmark+. If you can't or don't want to pay for cable or streaming, check with your local library. If they have the Hallmark+ Bingepass, this is a way you can watch it for free.

If you have already read Coconut Layer Cake Murder, you need not worry about spoilers when you watch this movie. As with most of the movies in the series, many of the character names will be the same, but the plots are different. I recommend watching the series and reading the books as two separate forms of entertainment, with no expectations for them to be the same. I appreciate that they are different because they give us more stories to love in the same universe.