Magnifying the Differences: Hannah Swensen Mysteries
Hannah Swensen’s baking and amateur sleuthing adventures have been wildly popular in both book and TV form, but there are some key differences between these two versions.
Spoiler alert! We’ll be looking at both series as a whole. While we won’t reveal any killers, there might be spoilers about characters and romances.
Physical Descriptions
We might not expect actors to look exactly like their literary counterparts, but there are some major differences between how the main characters are described in the books versus how they appear on-screen. In the book, Hannah is described as having frizzy unmanageable red hair, struggling with a little extra weight, and since she doesn’t care about fashion, she usually wears sweats and t-shirts. On-screen, she is portrayed by the lovely Alison Sweeney who is blonde and fit whose comfortable clothes are cute.
In the “Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder” book Detective Mike Kingston is described as “...the most intimidating hunk of man that Hannah had ever laid eyes on. He was tall, well over six feet, and he had reddish blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a mustache. He looked as fit as an athlete and only the deep lines in his face kept him from being classically handsome.” On-screen, actor Cameron Matheson is seen with darker hair and without a mustache.
The other love interest, Doctor Norman Rhodes is described in the books as “Norman certainly wasn’t movie star handsome, with his slightly thinning brown hair and stocky frame, but Hannah considered him one of the most attractive men she’d ever met. He had an open, friendly look about him and his sense of humor meshed with hers perfectly.” However, Gabriel Hogan as Norman is certainly Hallmark handsome.
2. Moishe and Cuddles
In the book series, Hannah’s beloved cat Moishe is named after a famous general who only had one eye. Moishe was a stray cat before Hannah adopted him and he has some battle wounds to prove it. This orange and white tomcat only has one eye and a torn ear. In the movie series, he has both eyes intact and his fur is more grey-brown. He is important to Hannah in both versions but definitely has more “screen time” in the books where we discover how sneaky he can be with his food and how he hurls himself into Hannah’s arms every time she opens the door as she returns home. In the book series, Moishe also has a best friend and kitty crush in Cuddles, the grey cat that Norman adopts from the Hollenbeck sisters. However, Cuddles has yet to make an appearance in the films.
3. The Love Triangle
This is a big one and the spoiler alert really comes into play here!
Both the books and movies begin with a love triangle where dentist Norman Rhodes and Detective Mike Kingston develop feelings for Hannah, but she has trouble figuring out her own feelings. However, in the movies, Hannah does make a decision! At the end of the first series of “Murder, She Baked” movies, Hannah chooses Mike, and when the movies resumed in 2021 under the title “Hannah Swensen Mysteries”, the couple was engaged. Things do look rocky at the end of the film, “Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery” but it’s clear they love one another.
However, as of book #28 “Caramel Pecan Roll Murder”, Hannah has still not decided. After a disastrous marriage (yes, see below), she is hesitant to love again. However, she has been spending more time with Norman.
It makes sense for this difference between the two formats, as on-screen, Hannah and Mike have great chemistry and Norman was written to care a little too much about appearance in the “Plum Pudding Murder” movie before becoming a perfect friend in the subsequent movies. However, in the books, Norman’s constant encouragement and how he goes above and beyond for Hannah (he built their dream house for her!) makes him seem like a very caring potential partner.
4. Hannah’s Marriage…?
Another big spoiler alert!
In the books, Hannah marries, but it’s not to either Norman or Mike! Instead, she marries her college friend, Ross Barton. They are reunited in book #8 “Cherry Cheesecake Murder” when he films a movie in Lake Eden, and Hannah finds herself comparing her three suitors. However, it isn’t until book #18 “Double Fudge Brownie Murder” that Ross reappears, sweeps Hannah off her feet, and proposes. At first, things seem great with Ross (even though readers might still be #teammike or #teamnorman). His television job is fun and they share college memories. However, after the weddings, Ross disappears and when he is found, dark secrets are revealed. Not only was Ross already married and his wedding with Hannah was a sham, but he is up to some shady practices. In “Chocolate Cream Pie Murder”, broken-hearted Hannah winds up investigating him.
However, as of now, Ross has not made an appearance in the films, and it’s unlikely that she will walk down the aisle with him.
5. Hannah’s Sisters
Hannah has two sisters, Michelle and Andrea. In the first set of “Murder She Baked” movies, Michelle was forgotten about. In fact, when Hannah and her mother Delores visit Andrea in the hospital after she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Delores remarks how happy she is that all her girls are there. However, in the next set of “Hannah Swensen Mysteries”, Andrea and her husband have moved out of town and Michelle surprises Hannah with her return. In both the book and the movies, Andrea is a beautiful real estate agent who is married Detective Bill Todd who becomes sheriff. She is a terrible baker (but learning) and enjoys helping Hannah solve cases as long as it’s not too dangerous. She has one daughter through the course of the films, but in the books has both Tracey and Bethany. Michelle is in college through most of the books and studies acting and business. In the movies, she is a bit of free spirit.
6. Lisa
Hannah’s helpful assistant Lisa is seen in both the books and the films. However, she just gets a lot more backstory and subplots in the books. In the films, we see her in The Cookie Jar and know she is married to Officer Herb Beeseman. However, in the books, we see that she cares for her father with Alzheimer’s, has a large extended family that visits and sends recipes, adopts two dogs, and loves to tell stories to the customers of The Cookie Jar - usually about Hannah’s adventures. In the books, Lisa starts working with Hannah when she is nineteen and becomes her business partner, making many smart improvements to the business and convincing Hannah to charge more for their quality products. In the movies, she is just as efficient, but she is an adult and not a teenager when we first meet her. We also see more of Lisa and Herb’s romance develop through the books, with Andrea being the one to plan their wedding.
7. Hannah’s Car
There is a lot told about Hannah’s cherry red (and often breaking) vehicle that always attracts attention in the books. However, in the films, she drives a more sensible van with The Cookie Jar logo as a small sticker on the side.