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Celebrating Our Inaugural Season and Teasing Hallmark's 2024 Mystery Lineup · Hallmark Mysteries & More

• 0:00
  Eric: This podcast was created by fans or fans and is not affiliated with or sponsored by Hallmark or the Hallmark channel.
• 0:09
  Eric: This is Eric and this is Sydney, and this is Hallmark Mysteries and more Hello, hello, hello everyone.
• 0:21
  Eric: So this is the end of 2023 and the conclusion of season one.
• 0:30
  Eric: I can't believe that it's been a year that we've been doing this.
• 0:34
  Eric: It was just over a year when Sydney and I started talking about putting this whole thing together and outlying what we wanted it to be, and I have to say it's been a real adventure.
• 0:49
  Eric: I think back at our first episode and how it's progressed and hopefully you all agree that we got better and better.
• 0:58
  Eric: We had some amazing guests on from actors I mean Brennan Elliott, benjamin Ayers, jc Dotton could not be more excited about some of the talent who came on.
• 1:11
  Eric: We also had some writers Tracy and Dreen, and, of course, john Christian Plummer, who was so kind as to also give us the world exclusive on what would have happened to Travis and Amy in the never produced Mystery 101.
• 1:34
  Eric: So that was really exciting that we got to hear John share the whole story with us for that, and we could not be more grateful for how kind he has been, how kind everyone has been for us.
• 1:50
  Eric: So it's been a real exciting year and as the year winds down and we're getting ready for 2024, there's going to be some changes some kind of sad, some pretty exciting.
• 2:04
  Eric: So one of the things which I'm sure a lot of you have noticed was Sydney.
• 2:09
  Eric: This last couple months has been, you know, often on because she's been pregnant, moving into a new house and things going on with her job.
• 2:16
  Eric: Life has gotten really crazy for her.
• 2:19
  Eric: So we were just talking and, with her baby about to come, we decided it was probably best that she just step back and take a hiatus for a little while and focus on all her things that she needs to deal with.
• 2:36
  Eric: And the podcast turned out.
• 2:40
  Eric: One of the things that was a learning experience is it's a lot more work than one would think.
• 2:45
  Eric: So that's what we decided.
• 2:50
  Eric: It's a shame because I have so much fun talking all-marked mysteries with Sydney but at the same time, totally understand and agree and you know She'll be back and that's that's the big thing.
• 3:05
  Eric: But the exciting news is Andrea, who is filled in often as a guest host, is going to be stepping in as my permanent co-host in 2024 and With her coming aboard.
• 3:19
  Eric: You know she's a little different personality than Sydney and so we've been talking and we're going to be sort of altering the layout of the podcast a little bit to be a little more.
• 3:30
  Eric: You know Andrea and Erica have a feel for that.
• 3:35
  Eric: So I'm excited, I think it's going to be good.
• 3:39
  Eric: Let's start talking about 2024 2024.
• 3:43
  Eric: If you are a mystery fan, you've got to be excited, because Hallmark already has announced two mysteries out of the gate, one in January and one in February.
• 3:54
  Eric: So if you were worried, hallmark was maybe not as committed to mysteries, no, they.
• 4:02
  Eric: They said that they are and they are showing it first.
• 4:06
  Eric: We have for January 12th it's Friday, they're gonna be out on Fridays again we have a new mystery called true justice family ties and this is gonna said premiere on Friday, january 12th, 9 pm, eastern Pacific.
• 4:25
  Eric: So it's written by get this Nikki Deloach and her writing partner, megan McNulty.
• 4:31
  Eric: Now I knew, talking to JC and Amanda Khan, that they both have said just how talented Nikki is and how she can pretty much do everything.
• 4:44
  Eric: I did not know that included writing.
• 4:47
  Eric: So apparently she can write too.
• 4:51
  Eric: She can sing, she can write, she can act, she can produce.
• 4:54
  Eric: You know, I actually probably the curious cater really goes ahead and makes all that food herself.
• 4:59
  Eric: She is just so absolutely, incredibly talented at everything.
• 5:04
  Eric: So this is also how exciting this cast is, because not only is Nikki writing it, but she is also co-starring in it with Benjamin Ayers.
• 5:15
  Eric: And get this they are not the leads, they are supporting.
• 5:19
  Eric: You have two mega hallmark a-listers in supporting roles.
• 5:25
  Eric: That is this mind-blowing.
• 5:28
  Eric: So who is leading?
• 5:29
  Eric: We have Catherine McNamara, who is going to be starring as Casey If you aren't readily just jumping to who that is, she starred in love classified back in the spring of 2022, so she's a big star.
• 5:46
  Eric: So this is this is some really good casting with that.
• 5:51
  Eric: So hallmark scored there.
• 5:52
  Eric: Then we have mark mark Ian Terasic.
• 5:56
  Eric: I know I am totally slaughtering his name, sorry, mark Ian, doing the best I can with that, so, but you guys have seen him over on hallmark.
• 6:06
  Eric: He was in last year Christmas at the Golden Dragon, our Italian Christmas memories.
• 6:13
  Eric: He's also was in Hannah Swenson mystery sweet revenge, so he knows a little bit about the mystery genre.
• 6:20
  Eric: So now what actually is going on with this movie?
• 6:25
  Eric: Let me just read you what's going on.
• 6:26
  Eric: All right, casey, a lost student, is on a mission to prove her brother Marcus, was wrongfully convicted of murdering her.
• 6:36
  Eric: Oh, her friend from college, I guess Marcus murdered Casey's friend Casey, by the way, that's Catherine Beck-Namara turns to her classmates Eli, sarah, pj and their PI friend Liam, to help find the real killer, with a tip from her professor, that's Nikki.
• 7:01
  Eric: Casey and her friends begin to put all the pieces together, but the closer they get to discovering the truth, the more they all begin to question for their own safety.
• 7:12
  Eric: I believe that Benjamin stars as a DA in this.
• 7:19
  Eric: So there you go.
• 7:21
  Eric: So that's coming out in January.
• 7:24
  Eric: Like I said, it's written by Nikki and her writing partner, megan McNulty.
• 7:32
  Eric: So I have to say I'm excited.
• 7:37
  Eric: Jonathan Wright is also going to be the director for this one.
• 7:42
  Eric: So that's January Now.
• 7:46
  Eric: But what about February?
• 7:47
  Eric: February, they're coming in on the second.
• 7:51
  Eric: Once again, another Friday, with gilded Newport Mysteries Murder at the Breakers.
• 7:57
  Eric: And this is based off a book by Alyssa Maxwell.
• 8:01
  Eric: It's directed by Terry Ingram.
• 8:02
  Eric: You should all know Terry Ingram.
• 8:04
  Eric: He's essentially one of the premier Hallmark directors, so you've got some pretty strong support right there.
• 8:16
  Eric: So, and it's written by Carrie Berentz, f-e-r-e-n-c-z.
• 8:24
  Eric: So you go ahead and pronounce that one Way to go.
• 8:27
  Eric: Carrie, we are excited for this, so let's talk about this one.
• 8:31
  Eric: It's July in 1895.
• 8:34
  Eric: How exciting is that?
• 8:35
  Eric: We're going back in time, we've got a period piece for a mystery.
• 8:39
  Eric: Hallmark's never done that before, so we're really going and breaking some new grounds here.
• 8:43
  Eric: It's July 1895, and the New York elite have decamped to Newport, rhode Island, for a summer of balls, gardens, parties and yacht races.
• 8:56
  Eric: Covering these events for the women's pages of the Newport Observer is Emily Vanderbilt-Cross, played by Aly Scovby.
• 9:05
  Eric: Now, you don't know that name.
• 9:09
  Eric: You should, if you're a sleuther, because she played Abby, maggie's daughter, in the gourmet detective.
• 9:17
  Eric: So little Abby.
• 9:19
  Eric: I guess she went off to college so she was growing up, but little Abby now is in her own.
• 9:24
  Eric: Oh, no mystery.
• 9:27
  Eric: She stepped up.
• 9:28
  Eric: Maybe this means Brooke Burns will be in a guest role in one of the future episodes.
• 9:33
  Eric: That would be awesome.
• 9:34
  Eric: Okay, let's get back.
• 9:37
  Eric: So we've got LA Scovie is playing Emma Vanderbilt Cross, a fearless 21 year old writer with family ties to the wealthy Vanderbilt family.
• 9:49
  Eric: But writing articles about food and fashion is the last thing on Emma's mind when her half-brother, brady Cross, is arrested for the murder of Goddard, a longtime Vanderbilt business advisor.
• 10:02
  Eric: Hmm, we've got another mystery, with a falsely accused brother being falsely accused of murder.
• 10:11
  Eric: Hmm, kind of interesting that Hallmark's going back to back with kind of the same same plot.
• 10:17
  Eric: But all right, it's a very, very different movie because obviously this is 1895, with a 21 year old.
• 10:25
  Eric: So she decides to take matters into her own hands and sets out to prove her half-brother's innocence, discovering Goddard had more than his fair share of enemies, as Emma investigates, with the help of police detective and crush Jesse White, that's played by Danny Griffin, and housekeeper Nanny O'Neill, played by Gillian Barber, and a coroner's assistant, harriet Rice.
• 10:52
  Eric: So she's plunged into a world of intrigue and danger while attracting the attention of the town's new mysterious stranger.
• 11:01
  Eric: As Emma grows closer to the truth, goddard's true murderer goes on the offensive, but willing to stop at nothing to keep their identity a secret.
• 11:11
  Eric: All right, that sounds pretty exciting and, like I said, this is based off a book series the Gilded Newport Mysteries.
• 11:20
  Eric: I'm going to bust in and read that because you guys all know I like to read the book and then watch and see how the movie is similar or different and all that sort of stuff.
• 11:32
  Eric: But so you know, one big take of this is they're using LA Scalby, a 21-year-old who played a 21-year-old, which is pretty cool because if you think about some of the previous mysteries that Hallmark's done, you know, aurora Tea Garden, they got Candace Cameron-Barre who in the books Aurora is like in their mid to late 20s and then they cast Candace who was, you know, 10 years older than that.
• 12:05
  Eric: So you know, they kind of aged it.
• 12:08
  Eric: They did the same thing with Hannah Swenson and Allie Sweeney.
• 12:11
  Eric: So it's kind of interesting that rather than sort of alter the story, they really seem to be holding a little true to the roots there and going bold with a pretty darn young face, so you know, and someone who's not really established.
• 12:25
  Eric: So that's exciting.
• 12:26
  Eric: And also doing the period piece.
• 12:31
  Eric: That's really really bold there.
• 12:33
  Eric: So I'm excited for this one, I'm excited for both.
• 12:37
  Eric: But I do find it interesting that Hallmark is releasing two new mysteries back to back, basically the same plot.
• 12:48
  Eric: I'm sure they're going to be completely different, but essentially the heroine, snoopy detective, goes and finds the killer of her falsely accused brother.
• 13:03
  Eric: So we'll see.
• 13:05
  Eric: The other thing really is, as you know, we really want to see some of our favorite mysteries have more episodes, especially like Nikki and Nora Francesca Quinn, pi Cut Color Murder.
• 13:17
  Eric: We need to know what happened.
• 13:18
  Eric: I mean, that ended on a Darn-a cliffhanger.
• 13:21
  Eric: Why was he in the picture?
• 13:24
  Eric: We've got to know these answers.
• 13:25
  Eric: Case is a mystery lane.
• 13:29
  Eric: That was so good and they opened the door to be able to make more.
• 13:32
  Eric: We need more old and we need more birdie.
• 13:33
  Eric: We need more of their fashion.
• 13:35
  Eric: Oh my gosh, they look so good and they're so funny.
• 13:39
  Eric: So, mr Island, I want to go back.
• 13:42
  Eric: I want to see where that leaves.
• 13:44
  Eric: And then also Baroness Cheney.
• 13:45
  Eric: I mean, come on, she's one of the best characters that we've ever had in a mystery.
• 13:50
  Eric: She's awesome, she's hilarious, love her.
• 13:52
  Eric: So, oh, no, that's how we are.
• 13:56
  Eric: We want some more of these mysteries.
• 13:58
  Eric: You know where we stand on our platform of all mysteries should have basically at least three with a complete arc where, if they go more, they go more, but at least they give us three to really develop the characters, to develop their relationships.
• 14:12
  Eric: You know the one and done is just frustrating and you know we're getting two more mysteries.
• 14:19
  Eric: However, speaking of 2024, hallmark has green lighted and it's going forward with another chain mysteries, which is kind of surprising when you think about all the mysteries, because that seemed to be one of the ones that had the most lukewarm reception.
• 14:35
  Eric: Some people really loved it, but wasn't one of the ones where people were really coming out of the woodwork and just saying, oh my god, this is amazing.
• 14:45
  Eric: In cases of mystery lane, for example, just everybody loved that one.
• 14:49
  Eric: They couldn't stop talking about how good it was.
• 14:51
  Eric: So I'm kind of surprised that they are choosing this particular one to move forward with.
• 14:59
  Eric: But you know, hallmark's a business.
• 15:01
  Eric: They know their brand, they know what they're doing.
• 15:04
  Eric: They are way, way more successful than if I were running it.
• 15:09
  Eric: So I got to trust them that they are making the right decision for the right reasons.
• 15:14
  Eric: So that's that, okay.
• 15:16
  Eric: So that's all I'm pretty much going to say.
• 15:19
  Eric: I just want to wish everyone I hope everybody has as great of a 2023 as I did and, looking forward to 2024, I hope everyone has a wonderful, healthy, happy next year, and I just want to say goodbye to season one and welcome to season two.