One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery

The film opens with Hannah Swensen teaching a guest baking class at Lake Eden College, where she meets the charming but polarizing Professor Bradford Ramsey. During a collaborative class session between baking and literature, a stove explodes, nearly injuring a student named Willa. Shortly after, Hannah goes to meet Bradford to discuss grades and finds him murdered in his office, stabbed with a knife from her own professional set. Detective Lonnie Murphy, newly promoted, takes the lead on the case, but Hannah is initially considered a prime suspect due to the murder weapon and her presence at the scene. Hannah begins her own investigation, focusing on Bradford's harsh grading system which provided motive for several students, including Kyle Williamson, who was failing and recorded the earlier explosion. A parallel subplot involves Hannah's mother, Delores, who has secretly opened a 'boutique' private investigation agency and is currently tailing the boyfriend of Bradford's ex-wife, Stacey. Hannah discovers a custom greeting card at the crime scene, which leads her to a student artist named Pam. As the investigation deepens, Hannah realizes that Willa, the student from the explosion, had an obsessive crush on Bradford. The tension peaks when Hannah and her friend Norman visit Willa's dorm and realize that Willa's brother, Perry, is the true culprit. Perry had caused the classroom explosion to scare Bradford, but when Bradford threatened to report him and ruin his future, Perry killed him. Willa, out of sibling loyalty and grief, attempts to help Perry escape. Perry and Willa kidnap Hannah and Norman at gunpoint, forcing them into an alley. Hannah resourcefully leaves a trail of cupcake liners as 'breadcrumbs' for the police. Lonnie and Delores follow the trail, leading to a standoff where the police successfully apprehend Perry and Willa. The film concludes with Hannah being cleared of all charges, Delores's PI business booming, and a hint of a new professional rivalry or spark between Hannah and the stern county prosecutor, Chad Norton.