A Blend of Christmas and Murder Mysteries Makes a Beloved Holiday Series

A mysterious death at a Christmas tree farm. A frozen body under ice skaters’ feet. While there seems to be a bit of a murder problem in the small Canadian town of Fletcher’s Grove, that’s all part of the appeal of Mistletoe Murders, one of Audible’s most bingeworthy listens. The murders happen in the most adorable place and at the coziest time of year, amid the sound of jingle bells, merriment and caroling. At the center of it all is Emily Lane, the savvy, sharp-witted owner of the town’s Christmas-themed store, but she isn’t who she says she is, and sweet Detective-Constable Sam Wilner keeps getting too close.

This is the magic recipe that’s spurred four seasons and counting, plus a spin-off Audible Original and a TV adaptation for Hallmark+. “I’ve always been into Christmas horror movies,” explains Mistletoe Murders creator and Canadian Screen Award-winning writer Ken Cuperus. He cites the cozy-but-spooky A Christmas Carol as “my favorite story of all time.” But he wondered why there weren’t as many notable mash-ups between Christmas and mystery.

In 2022, he started dreaming up such a series, which he mentioned in passing to his wife, producer Michelle Melanson, as she was heading to a pitch meeting with Audible. Melanson and Cuperus had just produced a children’s podcast and wanted to pursue another children’s audio project. “We loved this new, exciting way to produce content,” says Melanson, adding that audio is creatively fulfilling for its speed relative to “the usual TV development process, which can take years.” But Audible’s Jolise Beaton was looking for a different genre of original programming. She knew Audible customers loved mysteries and thrillers, but she also knew that after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world could use some lighter, gentler storytelling. She asked if Melanson had anything that fit the bill. “I pulled Mistletoe Murders out of my back pocket and presented it,” Melanson says.

Beaton was immediately onboard, but things had to move quickly. It was late July, and Audible wanted to make the production available to customers in time for the holidays, so Cuperus had six weeks to write six episodes. “We knew that Ken writes really well and we had the confidence he’d have the scripts ready to go,” says Beaton.

At first, the seasoned TV writer was a bit “terrified” by the switch to writing for audio, but he leaned into Emily’s inner monologue and how it allowed him to convey more about her secret identity and backstory. Meanwhile, Audible quickly put together the perfect Canadian cast, with Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) playing Emily, Raymond Ablack (Ginny and Georgia) playing Sam, and Anna Cathcart (XO, Kitty) voicing Violet, Sam’s teenage daughter who has a knack for helping Emily solve crimes. Cuperus and Melanson also jumped in to produce the title to get it over the finish line in time, and he says he was able to fine tune things on both the script and production side by doing both.

Sure enough, Audible listeners loved the series, especially Smulders’ performance of Emily as she switches back and forth between her cheerful, outward-facing persona and her darker, realer side. “What I also noticed from the customer comments is the way they can work this series into their lives at Christmas,” says Beaton. That’s because each episode is 30 minutes long, and two episodes equal one murder mystery, with a cliffhanger in the middle. Customers can listen to one bite-sized episode while wrapping gifts, or an entire hour-long mystery while baking cookies, or binge the entire six-hour season. “Customers begged us to release another season the next Christmas,” says Beaton.

Audible doubled down on Mistletoe Murders, producing the next three seasons in immersive Dolby Atmos sound, and it’s become a top listen in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia. We also adapted it for Canada’s French-language listeners as Meurtres Sous le Gui, with real-life father and daughter actors, Frédéric and Charlie Pierre, playing Sam and Violet, and that adaptation has become a top listen for Audible members in France, as well.

Soon, the series caught the attention of Hallmark, who worked with Cuperus, Melanson and Lionsgate Canada to adapt Mistletoe Murders for TV. “We attibute this quick success to Audible being so supportive of us on the Audible Original, and the wonderful promotion and marketing we received to make sure the audience was aware of the series,” says Melanson. In 2024, season one aired on the Hallmark+ streaming service, where it’s currently on season two.

Cuperus also writes the TV series, and he hewed closely to the Audible series for season one, but changed the murderer so as not to spoil anything. The following seasons of the TV series have all-new murders, as well as a different backstory for Emily (played by Sarah Drew in the TV version). This way, the audience — which comprises a sizeable crossover of listeners and viewers — gets to experience the same narrative, characters and world, but double the stories.

Now there’s even more to love: Cathcart’s Violet has been such a hit that she was given her own spin-off on Audible this summer, Middlebridge Mysteries, co-starring Eric McCormack (Will and Grace). The new series takes place at the college where Violet’s studying criminology. For Middlebridge Mysteries, Cuperus is working with an all-female writers’ room, including up-and-comers who are cutting their teeth in audio. “I had doors open for me,” says Cuperus, “and it’s part of the job to bring others up in the same way. It’s meaningful for me to impart what I’ve learned to a new generation.”

Meanwhile, Mistletoe Murders 4 is on Audible in time for Christmas, and it tops our editors’ curated collection of Christmas mysteries. Says Beaton, “It’s been amazing to bring so many Canadian voices, writers and production companies together and have a positive impact on the creative economy.” Some of the audio series cast appear in the TV series, but in different roles, and vice versa, which is something of a little gift to fans of both versions. After all, even in Fletcher’s Grove, Christmas is about giving.