Hallmark has produced a slew of popular TV shows over the years including When Calls The Heart to Chesapeake Shores, The Good Witch and The Way Home. Over the past couple of years, the network added a little more greenery to the Christmas schedule with Mistletoe Murders, a holiday series with a little bit of whodunnit flair.The show is back for another round amidst Hallmark's (extremely) popular holiday programming this year, with more intrigue, murder, fun fashion and guest stars than ever before.
A few months ago, I was able to visit the set of Mistletoe Murders in the hot, hot heat of the Toronto summer –yes, filming holiday content in the summer is not for the faint of heart. Ahead of the Season 3 premiere hitting the Hallmark schedule on Thursday, November 5th, I learned a lot about series leads Sarah Drew and Peter Mooney, as well as the big guest stars heading to our TVs this season. Without further ado, let’s talk about the mystery and mayhem coming down the pipeline.
Some Hallmark Favorites Are Heading To Mistletoe Murders In Season 3
There are a slew of famous names coming to Mistletoe Murders this season, but chief among them is Hallmark regular Holly Robinson Peete. She joins the series as a psychiatrist named Dr. Russo who is helping out a patient in Fletcher's Grove. Peete told CinemaBlend this is her second time playing a psychiatrist after having done so in a sitcom called For Your Love years ago. She’s also no stranger to a good murder mystery, having starred in the popular Morning Show Mysteries series for Hallmark prior.
Her character this time around will be yet another character making Emily “uncomfortable” after the show picks up 11 months after the drama's explosive Season 2 finale. We know very little about Robinson or her character's motivations so far, but she told CinemaBlend fans should prep for some "good drama."
She’s very smart and extremely inquisitive and intuitive. She has a sense about people where she can find out something about yourself that you don’t even know. So that’s like a superpower for her. She’s warm and friendly, but she’s also very sharp and she can see through lies and manipulation very very quickly. The cool thing about the character is that, even though she’s dealing with some of her patients of whom she’s very protective, with Emily she recognizes things that even Emily doesn’t yet. And I think that makes Emily uncomfortable. Which makes for good drama.
When we pick up in Season 3, time has passed in Fletcher’s Grove and some things have changed, including the addition of Peete’s character. There’s no word on whether or not this series is getting renewed for Season 4 yet, but Ms. Peete told CinemaBlend she was watching the show before getting cast, and she’d be game to do more should it continue.
I was a fan of the show, and so when they came to me and said, ‘Hey we’d like you to come on a couple of episodes.’ And then hopefully if we get a Season 4 I’ll be back. We’ll see.
It’s not just Holly Robinson Peete making a splash this season, either.
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Alongside Peete, the show has landed more notable guest stars, some of whom had prior Hallmark connections. Showrunner Ken Cuperus told me they were lucky enough to land an absolute Canadian icon for a murder mystery involving Santa’s workshop. They hit up veteran actor Patrick McKenna to join the Season 3 cast, and series lead Peter Mooney was pretty over the moon about it, telling me about the Santa-adjacent episode the team was filming when I was able to head to the set.
It’s really, really nice. Patrick McKenna’s in this episode, he’s Santa. He really is Santa. It’s alarming to see him. I knew him growing up from the The Red Green Show, which is an iconic piece of Canadian television. I loved him growing up.
I always love it when Hallmark holiday content dives into a good Santa theme, and this should be no exception, but I'm also pumped longtime Hallmark fans will get a reunion. Yes, Good Witch's Catherine Bell will be guest starring opposite Kylee Evans, who is already a regular on the show. That's not the end to the Good Witch connections, either. Mooney is actually married to Sarah Power, who was a mainstay on Good Witch during its run!
These connections across Hallmark run deep, and Mooney told me how cool it's been to be a part of that.
You know, the longer I’m in this Hallmark community, the more I realize it’s actually a pretty right community. You get to like overlap with people. Catherine Bell is amazing. My wife is Sarah Power and she was on a series with Catherine Bell for 7+ years. Our daughter was born during that series, so I’d be on set with a little baby Bjorn trying to get out of the way.
If you've wondered why you see so many familiar faces, Hallmark does employ a lot of Canadian stars, and works with a lot of the same people over and over again. It sounds like it works out great for everyone involved.
Let’s Not Forget The Fashion
I’ve been enamored with Emily’s casual but well-tailored Mistletoe wardrobe since Season 1. I was surprised to find out a lot of her looks are high end but thrifted, and the wardrobe team also has to factor in some wild non-clothing items. Think: Ice packs in coats and more. The team is thrifty and crafty, and if you talk to series lead Sarah Drew, they keep her very happy.
On set, I learned that in Season 3 Emily isn’t going to get a statement dress this year given the context of the mysteries she is solving and the storylines this season (boo), but Sarah Drew did tell me Hallmark has yielded her enough coats to last many lifetimes (yay).
I have so many Christmas coats and jeans. I’m set for life. Too many clothes. Turns out, when I go home, I don’t actually want to dress like Emily. Like she looks really cute because she has [wardrobe] tucking her shirt in before every take. When I’m living my life, it’s like a t-shirt that hits the top of the jeans, so no tucking required.
The best news for the actress? The team is always great about sourcing her favorite brand of jeans (also yay).
I pretty much only wear Mother. I’ve gotten now, so, picky about it. Every time I do a new project they’re like, ‘What kind of jeans?’ I’m like, I only wear Mother. They fit me really well, and often they’ll let me take them home so I have many Mother jeans.
As I mentioned before, the fashion is paramount for keeping things cool, particularly when Mistletoe Murders must film in the summer, as happened this year. They'll be more on that and other stories from the set to come, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend, and be sure to check out Season 3 when it hits the fall 2026 TV schedule on November 5th at 8 p.m. ET, with episodes streaming the next day for those with a Hallmark+ subscription.
