If you came to the Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries through a rainy Sunday on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, you have probably wondered two things: how many are there, and which book goes with which film. The first question has a tidy answer. The second does not, and it is worth being honest about that.
Quick answer
There are four Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries films, all on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, released between January 2020 and May 2021. Watch them in air-date order. The films are based on the novels by Philip R. Craig, but no individual film is credited to a specific novel.
All four films in order
| # | Film | First aired |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Beautiful Place to Die: A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery | 12 January 2020 |
| 2 | Riddled with Deceit: A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery | 23 February 2020 |
| 3 | Ships in the Night: A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery | 17 January 2021 |
| 4 | Poisoned in Paradise: A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery | 16 May 2021 |
The premise, and who is who
Jesse Metcalfe plays Jeff Jackson, a Boston police detective who retires on medical grounds and goes home to Martha’s Vineyard. The island does not cooperate with his plan to rest.
- Jesse Metcalfe as Jeff Jackson, the retired detective
- Sarah Lind as Zee Madieras, doctor and medical examiner
- Eric Keenleyside as Chief Madieras, the police chief and Zee’s father
- Chelsea Hobbs as Jackie Shawl, a local reporter
- Sunita Prasad as Britt Prajna, a hotel manager and Zee’s best friend
What makes these watchable is the island itself. Hallmark shot them to look like a place you would want to be stuck in, and the Jeff-and-Zee slow burn carries the gaps between murders. Four films is short for a Hallmark mystery wheel, and the run ended without a fifth being announced.
Do you need to watch them in order?
Each film resolves its own case, so you can drop in anywhere. But Jeff’s standing on the island and his relationship with Zee both move forward across the four, so air-date order reads better. Start with A Beautiful Place to Die.
The books behind the show
Philip R. Craig wrote a long-running Martha’s Vineyard mystery series published by Scribner, and Hallmark’s films are based on those novels. Here is the honest caveat: the film credits do not tie any one film to any one book, so the usual film-to-novel chart you see on fan sites is guesswork. We would rather point you at the publisher’s own series page than invent a mapping.
Craig died in 2007, and the later books in the series were completed and published after his death. If you want the full book list in publication order, the publisher’s series page is the place to get it — linked below — and we will add our own verified in-order list once we can check each title against a publisher page.
FAQ
Will there be a fifth Martha’s Vineyard Mystery? None has been announced. The fourth film aired in May 2021.
Is it the same Jesse Metcalfe from Chesapeake Shores? Yes, the same actor, different Hallmark corner.
Which film should I watch first? A Beautiful Place to Die, from January 2020. It sets up Jeff’s reason for coming home.
Keep reading
- Hallmark Mystery Movies Based on Books
- Garage Sale Mysteries in Order
- Gourmet Detective Movies in Order
Sources
Film titles, air dates and cast above were checked on 29 October 2026 against:
- Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries — the film list and cast
- Hallmark Channel — the network’s own listings
- Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries by Philip R. Craig, Simon & Schuster — the publisher’s series page for the novels
We did not publish a film-to-novel chart because no source we trust credits individual novels to these films. If you know of a credit we have missed, tell us in the comments and we will check it.
Did you watch these when they aired — and would you have kept going for a fifth? Tell us in the comments.