Murder, She Baked: Just DessertsMovies like Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts
- Key Features:
- Amateur sleuth, Small town, Baking competition, Murder mystery, Culinary, Investigation, Cozy mystery, Suspense, Female protagonist
- Tone:
- humorous, suspense-driven
- Target Audience:
- Mystery lovers, Culinary enthusiasts, Cozy mystery fans, Female-led stories
- Emotional Arc:
- ['Anticipation → Suspicion → Resolution']
Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts

Hannah Swensen is thrilled when she is chosen as a guest for the first Eden Lake Dessert Bake-Off, but when fellow judge, Coach Bishop is found murdered, Hannah once again takes it upon herself to find the killer.
Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts
Bakery owner Hannah Swensen just can't keep her hands out of the batter when murder stirs things up in Lake Eden, Minnesota, leaving the sheriff dead, a deputy accused, and a killer on the loose.

With The Cookie Jar, Hannah Swensen has a mouthwatering monopoly on the bakery business of Lake Eden, Minnesota. But when a rival store opens, and one of the owners is found shot to death in the store, Hannah is determined to prove that she wasn't the only one who had an axe to grind with the Quinn sisters. Somebody wasn't fooled by the Georgia Peaches and their sweet-as-pie act--and now it's up to Hannah to track down whoever had the right ingredients to whip up a murder.

Based on the New York Times bestselling book, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, the film will take viewers on a mouthwatering mystery that centers on Hannah Swensen, shop owner of the Cookie Jar where much of the town's gossip percolates along with the strong coffee. But when a mysterious murder occurs, Hannah turns into a culinary detective and finds herself trying to solve the crime while getting caught in an unexpected romantic mystery of her own.

A young bakeshop owner’s holiday season takes a surprising turn when she finds a body at a local Christmas tree lot and winds up involved in a dangerous murder investigation. With colorful characters popping up as suspects, shady business practices uncovered at the tree lot and holiday romance in the air, the young baker-turned-sleuth must race against time to track down the killer and save the Christmas season.

Competing bakery owners, Faye McKenzie and Lydia Harper have been feuding for years with the Lake Shore County Harvest Festival’s annual pumpkin pie bake-off at the center of it all. The winner not only gets bragging rights and a trophy, but a substantial boost to her business, as well. This year, however, the women are passing the torch to their respective children, Casey and Sam, and when romantic sparks fly between them, this bake-off promises to be one to remember.

Aunt Sally's Christmas Cookie Company is sold to a large conglomerate and executive Hannah must seal the deal and shut down the factory, which is the small town of Cookie Jar's lifeblood. What was supposed to be a simple assignment for Hannah becomes complicated when she meets Jake, the factory owner who's determined to keep the factory in town. Despite not being a fan of the holiday, the Christmas spirit in this small town is infectious and she gets swept up in the joy of the season while also falling in love with Jake.

Two longtime rivals and elementary school teachers duke it out during the holidays in a Christmas cookie bake-off, but their real feud ignites over a shared interest in a handsome single dad. With both determined to win the prize and the romance, their competitiveness could jeopardize what matters most this Christmas season.

After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend just before the holidays, passionate baker Kylie reconnects with her high school sweetheart, Nick. Thanks to their newly rekindled friendship, Kylie uses Nick’s restaurant to prepare for a gingerbread baking competition with a large cash prize that would help her open her own bakery.

When Carly and Jason, exact opposites, compete on a famed cooking show for the chance at their own restaurant, what will matter more – their culinary careers or their potential love?

Aurora finds a member of her crime buff group, the Real Murders Club, killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. As other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Aurora will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game.

After starting her first job at a country club restaurant, Callie’s passions for cooking and ice sculpting are met with romance and Christmas spirit when a childhood friend enters her into the club’s annual Christmas ice sculpting competition without her knowledge.

When Emily, a struggling baker in a small town, receives a handmade Christmas Calendar from a secret admirer, the local residents become obsessed with finding out the identity of the sender.

Billy, once the coolest kid in high school, comes back to his hometown 15 years later to find he’s no longer cool and the girl he still has feelings for now dates the former class outcast. Billy becomes obsessed with proving the outcast is a murderer.

Intrepid teenage private eye Nancy Drew heads to Tinseltown with her father to investigate the unsolved murder of a movie star in this old-fashioned whodunit based on Carolyn Keene's popular series of books for young adults. But can the small-town girl cut through the Hollywood hype to solve the case?

Famed culinary consultant Henry Ross is a charming food industry insider in San Francisco. When suspicious sabotage ends in a shocking murder at his friend’s five-star restaurant, Henry is put on the case with strong-willed police detective and single mom, Maggie Price. Despite Maggie’s protests, they must work together to decipher the clues and investigate all of San Francisco’s top culinary pros.

Lauren Hennessey has always loved to cook and is a proud perfectionist at her job at "Food & Entertainment Magazine's" test kitchen while she dreams of being able to finally afford culinary school in Paris. When her boss offers her a bonus if she agrees to ghostwrite the cookbook of a difficult celebrity chef, Lauren sees her dream becoming a reality as soon as she can tame the notorious bad boy chef in question, Dexter Durant. Slowly peeling back the layers of Dexter's tough-guy persona, she starts seeing a different, vulnerable side to this big-shot chef. Suddenly, their dueling culinary styles become the perfect complement in the kitchen and an attraction between them starts to boil over.

A travel writer improves her love life when she becomes an editor for her father's wedding magazine.

There is excitement in the air when a Hollywood crew comes to Lawrenceton to film a movie about the town’s sleuthy librarian, Aurora Teagarden. However, when the film’s leading lady is found murdered in her dressing room, Aurora enlists her Real Murders Club members to help gather clues. At the same time, she experiences mounting concern that Aida is becoming attracted to the film’s director who, like everyone else working on the set that day, is considered a suspect. And this time around Martin is especially worried about Aurora’s safety after learning that the film’s screenwriter, who has a romantic history with her, emerges as the prime suspect.

A stay-at-home mom and avid reader of crime stories discovers the deepest secrets of a small town's residents while investigating a woman's murder.

Ellie Hartman is an aspiring crafter working in her small town’s bakery making famous Christmas Kringles. When the new, big-city CEO Nick Carlingson visits the bakery, he arrives filled with modernization ideas destined to lay off many employees.

Librarian and real crime buff Aurora “Roe” Teagarden never liked Detective Sergeant Jack Burns, but she also never wanted to see him dead. When his body is found outside of Aurora’s home, she then becomes the main suspect. Determined to find the killer and clear her name, Aurora can't help but to get involved once again.

A death-obsessed cleaning woman uncovers a clue identifying a Florida bartender for a series of socialite murders.

Conflict arises in the small town of Holly Springs when an old woman's death causes a variety of reactions among family and friends.

Meet Neslihan. A perfect cook, an expert on Turkish cuisine, strictly loyal to her husband, an impeccable house wife ...and a serial killer.

Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community

A small town is shaken by a series of ominous killings in the days leading up to a heated mayoral election.

Claire, an ambitious pastry chef, is busy running her new restaurant, but her meddling mom is preoccupied with her lack of love life. Without her knowledge, Claire’s mother finds her the perfect man, but when Claire finds out it wasn’t fate that brought them together, it could ruin the relationship.

Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking for answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small Café in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her, creating German cakes and cookies that bring her Café to life. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation. To protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.

Crime-solving librarian Aurora Teagarden leaps headfirst into Lawrenceton’s latest murder investigation when her nephew Phillip and his college roommate go missing after the roommate’s girlfriend is found dead. Enlisting the help of her Real Murders pals, and the handsome college professor Nick Miller who just moved in across the street from her, Roe uncovers a kidnapping plot gone awry.

Martin, an ex-Parisian well-heeled hipster passionate about Gustave Flaubert who settled into a Norman village as a baker, sees an English couple moving into a small farm nearby. Not only are the names of the new arrivals Gemma and Charles Bovery, but their behavior also seems to be inspired by Flaubert's heroes.

Extrovert Corinne convinces Jane, a shy, talented baker, to commit to a year of bringing cakes to bars, to help her meet people and build confidence. But when Corinne receives a life-altering diagnosis, the pair faces a challenge unlike anything they've experienced before.

Milo is a professional hit man living on the edge. When failing to fulfill a contract for the first time, he escapes the city to avoid the wrath of his employers. Hiding out in a remote rural village, the locals mistake him for the new baker.

While Aurora "Roe" Teagarden searches for her piece of the American dream, she decides to test the waters of the family business - real estate sales. Only thing is there's a dead body in the first house she shows. When a second body shows up in another home, Roe realizes there's more to real estate than she thought.

A young woman wishes to fulfill her mother's dream of opening her own bakery in Notting Hill, London. To do this, she enlists the help of an old friend and her grandma.

The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be weighing you down, everyone loves a good pastry.

Honey O'Donahue, a small-town private investigator, delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.

A beautiful lonely girl named Melissa tries to make new friends from a town she's currently living in. The only problem is, each of the boys that she spends time with end up brutally murdered. Her sixteenth birthday is on the way, but Melissa turns out to be a suspect when it seems she's the last person who has seen her boyfriends alive.

Tenacious homicide detective Cassie Mayweather and her still-green partner are working a murder case, attempting to profile two malevolently brilliant young men: cold, calculating killers whose dark secrets might explain their crimes.

Internet sensation and old family friend of Aurora Teagarden, Poppy Wilson, has returned to Lawrenceton to start her new embroidery business. But not everyone is happy with Poppy's success when she turns up dead. To find the killer, Roe must follow the unsettling truths that lead her—into the path of the killer.

Young Nigel Slater has big culinary aspirations, even though all his mother knows how to make is toast. When his mother dies, relations grow strained between Nigel and his father, especially when he remarries a woman who wins his heart with a lemon meringue pie. Nigel enters culinary school, starts working in a pub, and finds himself competing with his stepmother - both in the kitchen and for his father's attention.

Jin-hyeok opens a cake shop in an old antique shop, hiring Seon-woo, Korea's best pastry chef, who fell in love with him in high school. Also there, are Su-young, crushing on Seon-woo, ex-boxer Ki-beom, and Seon-woo's French ex-boyfriend.

Ava, an award-winning chef at a big-city restaurant, has lost her spark. Her boss sends her out to find herself to save her menu and her job. She returns home and finds little to inspire her, but when she reunites with her childhood friend Logan, Ava has to get her head out of the clouds and her foot out of her mouth to rediscover her passion for food.

After having visions of a member of her support group who killed herself, a woman who also suffers with chronic pain seeks out the widower of the suicide.

The body of a young woman is discovered near a farm. The judge, Larcher is in charge and thinks that the farmers have something to do with the murder.

In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.

When an old friend of New York Sentinel Crosswords editor Tess Harper is found murdered on the very day her puzzle includes his proposal of marriage, Tess unofficially teams up with Detective Logan O’Connor to find the killer.

Emma and chocolatier Luc compete for Belgium's Royal Chocolatier. The beauty and romance of Bruges inspire unique chocolate combinations, but will their entry win without them losing their hearts?

On her honeymoon, a young bride sleepwalks into the woods surrounding a secluded cabin. When she returns, she looks the same—but something about her is terrifyingly different.

Someone begins taunting Aurora Teagarden with cryptic clues left at crime scenes, so the librarian-turned-crime buff attempts to figure out who is behind the creepy “game.” But when the people closest to Aurora become targets, the game takes on a much more dangerous edge as it points to a planned murder. The 10th installment in Aurora Teagarden Mysteries.

When kitchen fitter Niller comes to install Sus's new suite, their immediate attraction to one another proves a sweet escape from both of their problematic relationships.

Frank Keane, a baker by trade, has been consumed by grief over his wife's untimely death. But everything changes when he pulls his bread truck over on a rural highway to help a dying stranger entangled in a car wreck, who was on his way to a fateful reunion.

A modern, gothic tale of crime and redemption about an aging police officer from a small Ontario Mennonite town who hides a violent past until a local murder upsets the calm of his newly reformed life.

As a little girl, Melanie Hogan wished to find her own prince charming just like her parents found true love. Now an adult, Melanie is running her own bakery and dating a handsome CEO, Justin. Although things seem perfect when Justin asks Melanie to spend the holidays together at his beautiful lake house upstate—and meet his mother. Melanie finds herself spending more time with Justin’s best friend and loyal assistant, Dean, who just might be harboring a secret crush on her. When complications arise that throw Melanie and Dean together over the holiday, will the two realize they're meant to be?

Wallace and Gromit open a bakery, accidentally getting tied up with a murder mystery in the process. But when Wallace falls in love, Gromit is left to solve the case by himself.

During their vacation in the French countryside, a wealthy German family becomes entangled with a young hotel worker harboring sinister intentions.

An overlooked pencil-pusher catches her husband in bed with another woman, the shock of which causes him to die of a heart attack. So she buries his body and takes advantage of the growing celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband. But she quickly finds herself in over her head, dodging cops and criminals, all while trying to keep the truth from her sister, a local news anchor who’s desperate for a story.

Martha is a single woman who lives for one passion: cooking. The head chef at a chic restaurant, Martha has no time for anything - or anyone - else. But Martha's solitary life is shaken when a fateful accident brings her sister's eight-year-old daughter, Lina, to her doorstep.

A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.

Jamie owns a sightseeing and tour company in the small town of Cooperville, New York. Navigating the holidays with enthusiasm is trickier for Jamie since her husband Matt passed. Matt loved Christmas and found unparalleled joy in giving to others. While reminiscing with family, Jamie realizes the town desperately needs someone with Matt’s genius for thinking of the small gestures that bring genuine happiness to the holidays.

Upon receiving a mysterious letter that her mother's grave has been vandalized, Marie travels to the desolate island town where she's buried. Just as she arrives, the island closes for the season, leaving Marie trapped in a nightmare.

The death of the Kimbrough family matriarch affects the three male survivors of the clan. Widower Easy tries to reconnect with his old flame, Marg. Eldest son and struggling musician Guy moves back to town, feeling guilty that he missed the funeral. His brother, Beagle, who was his mother's caretaker, falls for Marg's granddaughter, Georgia, a chronically ill girl who fears her time is growing short.

A fledgling caterer, Molly Frost, is hired by Jean Harrison, the perfectionistic director of the renowned Harrison Foundation, to cater this year’s annual Christmas Gala dinner. Things get complicated when Molly falls for Jean’s nephew, Carson, 30s, a travel photographer with no desire to take over the family’s foundation… until his aunt assigns him to the task of making sure the catered dinner goes perfectly.

An adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their Iowa town's annual contest.

In a spooky small town, when a slew of pizza delivery boys are slain on the job, two daring survivors set out to catch the culprits behind the cryptic crime spree.

Aurora Teagarden and her boyfriend Martin are thrilled when they get an unexpected visit from his niece and her new baby. Their excitement is short lived when his niece disappears and the baby is left behind. Once again, Aurora finds herself drawn into a deadly investigation as she risks it all to help Martin reunite with his family.

Bernice "Bernie" Rhodenbarr is a burglar by trade, and she runs a bookstore as well. Her friend Carl Hefler is a dog groomer. After a successful burglary, it's discovered that a dead body was in the house she burgled. As she's the only one who can be placed at the scene of the crime, she has to use her criminal skills to clear her name of the murder AND avoid getting charged with the burglary.

Thrills, Chills and Screwball-Comedy meet Tiny Bikinis and G o R y dismemberment in this Chlorine & Blood drenched Murder-Mystery.

A former mental patient's repressed anger reaches the boiling point, leading him to embark on a mission of revenge against the thugs who once subjected him to severe physical and mental trauma.

Waitress Annie has separated from her suicidal alcoholic husband, Glenn. Glenn has become an evangelical Christian, but his erratic attempts at getting back into Annie's life have alarmed her. High school student Arthur works at Annie's restaurant, growing closer to a new kid in town, Lila, after class. When Glenn and Annie's daughter go missing, the whole town searches for her, as he increasingly spirals out of control.

Beautiful Noriko Miki works at a cosmetic company. One day, Noriko is murdered. People begin to suspect her co-worker Miki Shirono might have killed her. Television begins to cover her story. A TV show interviews Miki Shirono's colleagues, family, people from her hometown. Rumors turn into fear. Is she a wicked a woman?

Alice is a withdrawn 12-year-old who lives with her mother and her younger sister, Karen, who gets most of the attention from her mother, leaving Alice out of the spotlight. When Karen is found brutally murdered in a church, suspicions start to turn toward Alice. But could a 12-year-old girl really be capable of such savagery?

The wedding of Vincent and Berenger does not begin well. For starters, the fabulous cake for the reception falls apart as the butler of the château, and one of the caterers is taking down a flight of stairs falls. The cream puffs are carefully picked up from the floor an arranged as though nothing happened. The bride comes from a bourgeois family, presided by Maddie, an old lady with a secret in her heart. The wedding, to be performed at the local church, by father Victor, proves to be not the classic marriage that has been planned...

A waitress falls for a handsome customer who seduces her, her two sisters, her brother, and her brother's girlfriend.

The Amish farming community of Painter’s Mill, Ohio, is shattered when a series of brutal murders leaves the town with a sense of frailty and loss of innocence. Among the most affected by the tragedy was Kate Burkholder, a young girl who survived the terror and, as a result, left the Amish life behind. Fifteen years later, Kate returns to Painter’s Mill as its Chief of Police. Certain she’s come to terms with her past, Kate’s renewed life in her hometown is shattered when a murder investigation triggers deep-seated emotions from her childhood and exposes a dark secret that could destroy her.

Kate lives a secluded life—until her troubled daughter shows up, frightened and covered in someone else's blood. As Kate unravels the shocking truth, she learns just how far a mother will go to try to save her child.

A dentist finds himself a murder suspect after a sexy patient seduces him into prescribing her drugs.

The ambiguous suicide of a local beauty, weathergirl, cheese model, and Marilyn Monroe look-a-like finds an eager sleuth in David Rousseau, best-selling crime novelist. When Rousseau visits a remote Alps village for the reading of his friend's will he unwittingly, but irresistibly, gets caught in the tangled web of murder and small town politics in this off-beat mystery.

Adam Jones is a Chef who destroyed his career with drugs and diva behavior. He cleans up and returns to London, determined to redeem himself by spearheading a top restaurant that can gain three Michelin stars.

Mina has everything going for her, but her world is turned upside down when work sends her to her hometown in Tennessee where she must convince an old, stubborn restaurant owner to sell his property. There is just one problem- the restaurant is now owned by her ex-boyfriend Clay, who claims he will never sell. He resists her negotiations every step of the way, and all the while sparks fly.

Faced with two false confessions and numerous suspects after a despised civil magistrate is found shot in the local vicarage, Detective Inspector Slack reluctantly accepts help from Miss Marple.

A policeman suspects that several bizarre deaths in the same family were murders and that the killer is a mysterious woman who just moved to the village.

A holiday-hating detective is forced to solve a murder — and save Christmas — with help from famous trainees who must improv their way through the case.

Aurora Teagarden is a beautiful young librarian with a passion for solving murders. After an exhaustive search for the perfect home, Aurora finally purchases her dream house, unaware of its murky history. As she prepares to move in, Aurora discovers that the family who once lived there mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

Centers on a murder that takes place at a high school reunion, unfolding during a snowstorm that leaves guests trapped in an isolated mansion.

Alice, a young and talented sous chef at NY's top restaurant, receives an invitation to judge a food competition for a prestigious annual fundraiser.

Christina's love life is stuck in neutral. After years of avoiding the hazards of a meaningful relationship, one night while club-hopping with her girlfriends, she meets Peter, her perfect match. Fed up with playing games, she finally gets the courage to let her guard down and follow her heart, only to discover that Peter has suddenly left town. Accompanied by Courtney, she sets out to capture the one that got away.

A male corpse is discovered with a smashed face and burned hands. Strangely, the cause of death is determined to be strangulation. When Detective Kaoru Utsumi attempts to corroborate the victim’s ex-wife’s alibi she discovers the mysterious neighbor and only a few small clues to help her disprove a seemingly "airtight" alibi...

A librarian with a sharp mind for murder, Aurora Teagarden is known around her small town as a master sleuth. When her friend Jane unexpectedly dies and leaves Aurora everything in her will, she also leaves a troubling murder mystery haunting her neighborhood. It is up to Aurora to piece together the clues—including a skull, its missing skeleton and a suspicious group of neighbors—and solve the murder before she becomes the unlikely killer’s next victim.

Percy, upon being released from prison, goes to the small town of Gillead, to find a place where she can start over again. She is taken in by Hannah, to help out at her place, the Spitfire Grill. Percy brings change to the small town, stirring resentment and fear in some, and growth in others.

As soon as Muffy St. John and her college friends arrive on her parents' secluded island, someone starts trimming the guest list... one murder at a time.

Bizarre back-to-back murders in an otherwise quiet Arizona desert town has rattled local Police Chief Jordan Sanders. The two dead women have no connection to each other – except they’re both named Maggie Moore. While unravelling a web of small-town lies and mysteries, the investigation gets even more complicated when Sanders begins a romantic relationship with one of the murdered women's neighbor, Rita.

When a down-to-earth Chicago baker and a soon-to-be princess discover they look like twins, they hatch a Christmastime plan to trade places.

Eden goes to a coveted 'Heaven and Hell' party, hoping to get a letter of recommendation to an elite university from the wealthy parents of her classmate, but the party quickly turns into a fight for her life.

The outrageous life of Reagan Collins, a model high school student with a "killer" after-school job that involves arranging “accidents” for his classmates' parents. When seasoned police detective Cliff Dawkins starts putting the pieces together, it's a battle of wits to see if Reagan can keep business booming.

A young woman who dreams of opening her own restaurant lands a job at a prominent restaurant whose head chef becomes her unlikely ally when the restaurant's unscrupulous owner, a Master Chef herself, plots to return the place to its former glory by presenting her new assistant's recipes as her own.

Set against the backdrop of a decaying Midwestern town, a murder becomes the focal point of three people who work in a doll factory.

In a small Midwestern town, a troubled teen with homicidal tendencies must hunt down and destroy a supernatural killer while keeping his own inner demons at bay.

A Madison Avenue executive, Amy, discovers an unusual Christmas surprise when she inherits her Aunt’s hometown bakery. The real surprise comes when she learns the other half of the bakery was left to her long-ago boyfriend, Jack. Unresolved personal issues resurface between them, as the exes return home to co-manage the store, along with its traditional holiday cookie bake-off.

Mary Giordano is a bright, intelligent student who goes to a catholic school. She also has an addiction to mystery novels and detective magazines, which inspire her to do her own detective work. When she starts snooping around on the case of a murderer of teenage girls, it gets her in hot water with her mentor Detective Jerry Gunn. But it also starts a team up with police cadet Tony Campbell. The two work together to find the murderer. But the closer Mary gets to solving the murder, the more danger she puts herself in of being the next victim.
