Hallmark Media has renewed Mistletoe Murders for a third season, keeping Sarah Drew’s holiday whodunit on the network’s 2026 “Countdown to Christmas” slate. Production is set to start later this year, with new episodes slated for late 2026.
The series centers on Emily Lane (Drew), the owner of a year-round Christmas shop in the small town of Fletcher’s Grove, who keeps crossing paths with local detective Sam Wilner (Peter Mooney) as suspicious deaths pile up. Drew, who serves as an executive producer, said she is eager to “resolve that giant cliffhanger” from the second-season finale and return to filming in Toronto with what she called her “beloved community.” Mooney said the cast and crew have “so much fun making it.”
Season 2 ended by forcing Emily’s secret past into the open. After Sam asked her on a date, Emily told him she once worked in intelligence and had been hunting someone who betrayed her. She identified that person as her ex, Aaron (Aaron Ashmore), tied in the show to a hacker group funding terrorist networks. The final beat set the hook for Season 3: Sam texted that he was coming over with coffee and pastries, yet the knock at Emily’s door revealed Aaron instead.
Hallmark executives framed the renewal as a response to viewer appetite for a romance-forward mystery that still plays fair with weekly cases and long-running secrets. “Mistletoe Murders embodies” the romance, community, and Christmas vibe audiences expect, programming chief Michelle Vicary said, adding that the company plans to keep peeling back Emily’s backstory. Showrunner Ken Cuperus promised more of the ingredients fans respond to, calling the chance to keep telling Emily’s story “one of the great joys” of his life.
