The Best Hallmark Channel Mystery Movies Of All Time, Ranked By Reviews

In 2014, Hallmark bestowed a new name upon its second cable channel: Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Bill Abbott, who was the company's CEO at the time and later headed up Great American Media, confirmed that the brand stood for "the lighter side of the mystery genre," per The Hollywood Reporter. On March 6, 2024, the channel shortened its name to Hallmark Mystery. Many of Hallmark's best-known mystery franchises premiered on it. The premises for these mystery flicks are as eclectic as the sleuths leading them. One is about a game show host who is murdered on set, while another tells the story of a cookbook that puts everyone who owns it in danger. 

In fact, there's even a bookstore owner hunting a KGB double agent, of all things. The one element they all have in common is that they're counted among Hallmark movies worth your time, especially if you're into cozier whodunits. Indeed, it isn't necessarily the mystery that keeps people coming back. These movies are all about their characters and the drama in their personal lives. And some of them, as you'll find, have been at it for years. Lori Loughlin first played Jennifer Shannon in 2013, and she was still solving cases in a new "Garage Sale Mysteries" movie in 2026. Here's how each of them stack up, in terms of user reviews across IMDb, Letterboxd, and Rotten Tomatoes. 

Hallmark Channel's "McBride" movies star John Larroquette as the titular Mike McBride. He is a defense attorney on his second career (McBride was formerly a police officer) with a weakness for underdog clients. In "The Chameleon Murder," which premiered February 4, 2005, McBride represents a client charged with killing a woman, and digging deeper with his partner, Phil (Matt Lutz), learns that there's much more to the story than meets the eye. "McBride" was part of Hallmark's first wave of Friday-night mysteries all the way back in January 2005, alongside "Mystery Woman" and "Jane Doe." "The Chameleon Murder" currently holds a score of 7.1 on IMDb, with around 420 votes, and the majority of ratings on Letterboxd gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

The "Garage Sale Mysteries" franchise stars Lori Loughlin as Jennifer Shannon, an antiques dealer who keeps stumbling onto murders. In "Murder in D Minor," the 15th(!) movie in the series, she wins an antique Welte-Mignon player piano at an estate auction only to discover the man who owned it has a darker reputation than everyone realizes. It originally aired on August 26, 2018, and as of this writing, holds a 7.0 on IMDb (based on around 960 votes), alongside a 3.1 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd. It's worth noting that Loughlin's career has had some highs and lows, and amid the college admissions scandal, Hallmark announced in March 2019 that it would no longer be bringing her on. However, she returned to the channel on September 19, 2026 in, what else, "Garage Sale Mysteries: Murder Takes the Stage."

In her second mystery franchise on this list, "Mystery Woman," Kellie Martin's Samantha Kinsey has a fascination with whodunits, and when she takes over a bookstore, Samantha starts solving real-life cases. "She's so nosy, she's really smart, she can't keep quiet and she wants to help," the actor remarked of her fan-favorite character, per The Washington Post. "In the Shadows" is the 11th movie in the franchise and its final entry, turning Samantha's attention towards a spy hunt as she tries to unmask a KGB double agent. It aired in January 2007 and, as of this writing, sits at 7.1 on IMDb with some 620 votes. The bulk of reviewers on Letterboxd gave it a 3 out of 5.

In "Hailey Dean Mysteries," Kellie Martin is Hailey Dean, a former prosecutor turned therapist, still haunted by her fiancé's murder. "A Will to Kill" is the sixth movie in the franchise, wherein a college student's disappearance leads Hailey back to an unresolved case after 15 years, and she finally learns the truth. The story, based on the book series by Nancy Grace, took inspiration from real-life events, with the author drawing on her life and what happened to her own fiancé, Keith Griffin. "A Will to Kill" premiered on June 17, 2018 and currently has a score of 7.1 on IMDb with approximately 860 votes. Most reviewers on Letterboxd gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

In "Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead," Lacey Chabert reprises her role as Tess Harper, a crossword editor at a fictional New York newspaper, who one way or another seems to always end up next to Brennan Elliott's detective, Logan O'Connor, solving murders. In this fifth entry in the franchise, Tess becomes a contestant on a game show, and the gig turns deadly when the program's host is killed. The movie premiered on April 11, 2021, and it currently holds a score of 7.0 on IMDb with around 1,200 votes, and a 3.2 out of 5 on Letterboxd. The franchise at its conception featured Will Shortz, the crossword editor for The New York Times, as a co-creator, so it had a claim to the name beyond mere styling.

The "Gourmet Detective" is true to its name, starring Dylan Neal as ex-chef turned culinary sleuth Henry Ross. Opposite him is Brooke Burns as Maggie Price, a detective with the San Francisco police. "Roux the Day" marks their fifth outing together. The trouble starts with a beloved cookbook, and the strange fact that everyone who has owned it seems to end up in danger. "Roux the Day" premiered on January 19, 2020, and also holds the franchise's top score on IMDb, currently sitting at 7.1 with more than 1,000 votes. As for other platforms, viewers gave "Roux the Day" a 3.1 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd.

The "Darrow & Darrow" franchise features a mother and daughter who both practice law, but while Claire Darrow (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) does it out of principle, her mom, Joanna Darrow (Wendie Malick), chases a paycheck. The series also stars Tom Cavanagh (of Eobard Thawne fame in "The Flash") as a regular supporting character in the role of District Attorney Miles Strasberg. Claire's name is a nod to legal history, having been based on Clarence Darrow, a legendary figure in American criminal defense. "Body of Evidence" is the third movie in the series, and it premiered on October 14, 2018. Score-wise, at the time of writing, it sits at 7.1 on IMDb with about 730 votes and at 3.2 out of 5 on Letterboxd.

In the "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries" series, Candace Cameron Bure stars as the titular character, an amateur detective operating in the small town of Lawrenceton. In "Haunted by Murder," the 18th installment, an old case comes back to life and Aurora's journey takes her to a house the locals swear is haunted. It's the same place she and her friend Sally found a body as teenagers, and now the past is coming back for her. Flashbacks show the teen Aurora, played by Bure's real-life daughter, Natasha Bure. It premiered February 20, 2022, and currently sits at 7.1 on IMDb with 1,400 votes, and 3.2 out of 5 on Letterboxd. Bure left Hallmark for GAC Family (now known as Great American Family) in 2022, making "Haunted by Murder" her last Aurora film.

Tom Selleck portrays the lawman at the center of Robert B. Parker's crime novels in the "Jesse Stone" franchise. The series' 10th outing, "Lost in Paradise," features Stone as he digs back into a cluster of old killings. "Jesse Stone" is the one series on this list that began life somewhere else, with the movies previously airing on CBS before the Hallmark Channel revived them on October 18, 2015 through "Lost in Paradise." It even landed an Emmy nomination in 2016 for Jeff Beal's score, and remains among the most popular Hallmark movies to date. "Lost in Paradise" currently holds a score of 7.3 on IMDb with more than 4,500 votes, 3.3 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd, and 57% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hallmark's "Mystery 101" series pairs Jill Wagner's Professor Amy Winslow with Kristoffer Polaha's Detective Travis Burke. The lovable duo solves murders together, and in "Killer Timing," they track down a serial killer freshly broken out of jail, who sets his sights on Travis. One of the best-reviewed Hallmark mystery movies belongs to a franchise fans still want back, since the last movie doesn't tie everything up. The media company shut down the series in April 2023, but Polaha, for one, is still hopeful for a return someday. "Killer Timing" aired on March 21, 2021, and sits at 7.4 on IMDb as of writing with around 1,200 votes, and 3.3 out of 5 on Letterboxd.

Notably, this list reaches as far back as the Friday-night whodunits Hallmark aired in the mid-2000s, taking both channels, Hallmark and Hallmark Mystery, into consideration. Also, it's worth bearing in mind that critics rarely review these films, but that doesn't mean they go unnoticed, especially by viewers, who often take the time to rate them on IMDb, Letterboxd, or Rotten Tomatoes. For this list, we ranked the movies based on those user scores and broke any ties by the number of votes and their aggregates. Likewise, each franchise is represented by only one entry.