Mistletoe Murders: Poison in a Pear Tree (2024)
CSI: Hallmark - Season 1, Episode 1
Well, Hallmark must have seen something they liked last year, because after premiering on Hallmark+ in 2024and re-airing during Christmas in July 2025, not only are they re-airing Mistletoe Murders: Season One again in 2025, but it’s both the kickoff to the 2025 Countdown to Christmas and will be followed by Season Two during the Countdown as well. That’s a lot of CSI: Hallmark. Like 12 hours of super bland crime capers. I guess they saw the stats on how frequently women in particular watch true crime docuseries and wanted to get in on the action. “Action” might be an oversell…
This series airs as two-part episodes with each focused on one case. Why two parts? Beats me. I mean, if CSI: Miami (the best version, come at me) could solve a case in an crisp hour I am unclear why Hallmark can’t do the same, but I digress…
Setting the scene. Ok, Sarah Drew (Grey’s Anatomy alumna of >200 episodes… guess those residuals don’t pay what they used to) is Emily, the owner of a Christmas store with a mysterious past and deliverer of stilted narrator voiceovers. After a death at a Christmas tree farm, Emily takes on the role of amateur sleuth, replete with breaking and entering in search of evidence, stealing evidence outright for her own “investigation,” and evading cops standing mere feet from her. It’s like CSI if it was written by children. Another almost death adds to the mystery, but not for long as it’s all cleaned up by the close of the second hour.
Honestly, apart from the Christmas store, the tree farm, and the odd mention of yuletide merriment, this is not all that Christmassy.
Airing these during October and November 2025 feels like a Christmas/Halloween crossover event that I’m not sure we need, but here we are.
Maybe episode two, the Peril of the Belles airing next week, will be better.
You’ll like this if…
You enjoy true crime documentaries and Christmas movies, but like… only the super bland ones.
