How Andrew Balzano Finds the Classic Moments in Hallmark’s Murder, She Baked
A tidy scene has a clear beginning and a clean end. Then Delores Swensen walks in, and the scene becomes something better.
In One of My Life’s Passions: Classics and Mysteries, Andrew Balzano begins his journey with the Murder, She Baked films on Hallmark Mystery, which he counts among the network’s finest mystery series. His starting point is Just Desserts, the final film in the series. He admits he has seen it many times. Even on a busy day at home, he still finds himself pulled back into it.
The series centers on Hannah, Detective Mike Kingston and town dentist Norman Rhodes, with Barbara Niven’s Delores never far from the action. Balzano notes that Niven’s role grew even more prominent in the later Hannah Swensen Mysteries. But for him, the magic of Just Desserts comes down to direction, and one small, unexpected choice tells the whole story.
A Phone Call Nobody Finishes
Detective Mike Kingston, played by Cameron Mathison, and Hannah Swensen, played by Alison Sweeney, are deep in a phone conversation about something close to their hearts. Suddenly, Hannah’s mother, Delores, played by Barbara Niven, rushes in mid-call, talking passionately about fashion. Mike can only stare at his phone in dismay. Hannah explains, in effect, that this is simply how her mother gets when a subject excites her.
Most directors, Balzano notes, would avoid that kind of inconvenience. Director Kristoffer Tabori did not worry about giving the scene a neat beginning and end. He let real life spill in. Balzano’s verdict is clear: it was fresh, very acceptable directing, and he liked it.
Sisters, Suitors and a Perfect Line Reading
Balzano also highlights the supporting players who give the series its warmth. Lisa Durupt’s Andrea Swensen earns two classic moments in A Peach Cobbler Mystery. In the first, as Hannah heads off to Minneapolis with town dentist Norman Rhodes, Andrea calls out to ask where exactly she is going in such a large city. In the second, Hannah, Norman and Andrea stand over a photograph that reveals Delores’s charming suitor, Douglas, to be a phony. Andrea’s dismayed reaction, wondering what they will tell their mother, lands perfectly.
Balzano credits the actress’s elocution and also the director, again Kristoffer Tabori, who holds the shot for a few seconds before fading to a commercial.
• Can a supporting character steal a scene with a single line?
• How much of a mystery’s charm lives in the family around the detective?
The Suspect Who Was Never the Killer
Balzano gives special attention to Jason McKinnon, a familiar face in Hallmark mysteries, who plays Lowell Mantes in Just Desserts. As Balzano observes, McKinnon is often cast as a key suspect rather than the killer, which makes him a natural sympathetic figure. Lowell does some unsavory things during the Bake Off contest. He tampers with Hannah’s staircase and with Mr. Rutledge’s medicine, all to put a friendlier face on the judges’ panel and win the prize money he badly needs.
In the interview room, he insists he knows chemistry and admits to the staircase, but he is not a murderer. Balzano calls the casting excellent and entirely fitting for what he describes as a grand finale.
Respect for the People Who Carried the Series
As Just Desserts reaches its climax, a gun appears and everyone’s safety is at stake. Mike orders people back inside, and Norman, played by Gabriel Hogan, repeats the call, pleading with everyone to go back in. Mike and Hannah could have handled it alone, but giving Norman those pivotal lines shows respect for a main character. Balzano reads it as a sign that the producers knew this was likely the last chapter. Every key player gets a moment.
Readers who reach the book’s Murder, She Wrote chapter will meet Kristoffer Tabori again, this time in front of the camera as a lawyer in Sing a Song of Murder. It is one of many quiet connections Balzano weaves through his pages.
A scene can be interrupted…
A single line can be remembered…
A finale can honor everyone who made it possible…
In One of My Life’s Passions: Classics and Mysteries, even the smallest moments get their due!
