Hallmark Mysteries Channel: The Fixer Upper Mysteries

The Home & Garden Channel might have DIY shows, but Hallmark Movies & Mysteries has the Fixer Upper Mysteries. Kerry Hammond is here to tell us about the movies and the books they’re based on.

Singer and songwriter Jewel Kilcher has thrown her hat into the acting arena before, but her latest appearance is on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. She plays Shannon Hughes in the Fixer Upper Mystery series, based on the Fixer Upper book series written by Kate Carlisle. This series is one of the newest Hallmark mysteries, and so far two have been filmed: Framed For Murder and Concrete Evidence.

Shannon Hughes (Shannon Hammer in the books) grew up working with her Dad, a contractor in Lighthouse Cove, Oregon. She found she was quite handy with power tools and loved the work. She eventually took over her Dad’s business and renovates homes in the small town where she grew up. In the first movie, Shannon meets Mac Sullivan (played by Colin Ferguson), an investigative reporter who has come to town and purchased an historic home. 

Mac helps Shannon when she gets involved in the death of Jesse Hennessey, her friend Jennifer's uncle. It's hard to suspect someone of murder when you've known them all your life, so Mac's outsider input is invaluable to Shannon.

There are five books so far in Carlisle’s Fixer Upper book series. The first movie, Framed For Murder, is based on the second book in the series, This Old Homicide. Shannon’s name is changed for the movies (Hammer to Hughes), and her description in the books is quite different from Jewel’s physical appearance. Otherwise, I think Hallmark does a decent job of portraying Lighthouse Cove and the characters that make up the town’s residents....and murder suspects. The actors who play Mac and Shannon work well together and there is even a spark or two between them.

Carlisle also writes the Bibliophile Mysteries, and there are 11 books in that series, which follows book restorer Brooklyn Wainwright. 

Check out Hallmark's Aurora Teagarden mystery series and the Flower Shop series on Mystery Playground.