When is Mystery 101 returning?

I’m dying to know!

Since Hallmark Movie & Mysteries seventh installment of Mystery 101, “Deadly History”, fans (myself included) have been clamoring for another film and rumors have been circulating about its release.

Mystery 101 stars Jill Wagner as Professor Amy Winslow who begins investigating real crimes instead of only teaching about literary ones when they occur near her college. Kristoffer Polaha plays Detective Travis Burke who is not a fan of crime fiction but begins to become a fan of Amy’s when he realizes how helpful her “meddling” truly is. In addition to the murders that must be solved and the amazing chemistry between Professor Winslow and Detective Burke, the series is made all the more delightful by the addition potential romance between the TA (Preston Vanderslice) and police officer (Sarah Dugdale), and the literary career of Amy’s best-selling thriller writer father, Graham Winslow played by Robin Thomas.
Both Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha have stated that they are committed to returning to Mystery 101 and sources have said that a script for an eighth movie has been written. However, Hallmark has not scheduled a date to begin filming.

With Hallmark losing some of its usual stars to GAC Family and the creation of new mysteries that follow a slightly different mold (such as Nikki & Nora: Sister Sleuths and Francesca Quinn, P.I.), it is clear that Hallmark is reevaluating their mystery lineup. They have canceled some of their series (such as Picture Perfect Mysteries) so it might be a good sign that Mystery 101  was put on hiatus rather than outright canceled. Some series such as Signed, Sealed, Delivered and The Gourmet Detective had really long periods of time between their movie releases. 

I sincerely hope that Hallmark Movies & Mysteries does continue with this series because, honestly, if they leave things where they are after the seventh movie, it seems cruel to its fans. 

SPOILER ALERT

After six movies, watching the relationship between Amy and Travis grow, we finally saw them in a happy place together at the end of the seventh movie, after overcoming investigative hardships and their own personal issues. It was very satisfying… but then they added a tag ending scene! In this “one year later” scene, we see Detective Burke at a crime scene and learn that the victim is Amy’s fiance. It’s clear things have changed drastically between the characters that we had watched fall in love.

Not only is this not a very “Hallmark” ending to a franchise, but it’s a very unsatisfying ending to any franchise. Here we see something built up over seven movies undone in a few minutes without any real explanation.

We might face unanswered questions and saddening surprises in the real world, but that’s why we turn to cozy mysteries - to see a place where mysteries get solved and happy endings can play out. 

I am hopeful that Mystery 101 will return and will continue searching for clues about when this might be.