A Christmas Mystery

A Christmas Mystery follows Violet Pierce, a young amateur sleuth in a small American town whose holiday season is upended when the community's cherished Christmas bells go missing. Her best friend's father, Sheriff Pierce, is blamed for the theft, so Violet and her friends set out to clear his name and identify the real culprit before Christmas arrives. The film blends family comedy and light mystery with seasonal drama.

Alex Ranarivelo directed and co-wrote the screenplay with John Ducey. It was released in late November 2022, the same year as the director's other holiday film, I Believe in Santa, and his seventh feature overall. The cast includes Violet McGraw as Violet, Eddie Cibrian as Sheriff Pierce, Christoph Sanders as Deputy Terry Donovan, Drew Powell as George Bottoms, Lauren Lindsey Donzis as Maddie Pierce and Santino Barnard as Kenny Bottoms. Ali Afshar, Daniel Aspromonte and Ava Rettke produced for ESX Entertainment and Lila Lane Pictures.

The film runs 87 minutes. On IMDb it holds a 6 out of 10 from roughly 1,400 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.4 out of 10 from a much smaller sample of about 55 votes. Both figures point to a modest, generally favourable response from viewers rather than a widely acclaimed title.