Parents' Guide to A Christmas Mystery

In A CHRISTMAS MYSTERY, when George (Drew Powell) is arrested for the theft of the town's most valuable artifact, a set of sleigh bells that supposedly dropped from Santa's flying sleigh, 11-year-old Violet (Violet McGraw) just knows that kindly George couldn't have done such a thing. He's the dad of her best friend, Kenny (Santino Barnard), who's devastated that his dad will be in jail for Christmas, a few days later. The events engage Violet and her sleuthing talents. She's certain that even though her father is the sheriff (Eddie Cibrian), the crime won't get solved without her ingenuity. From years of watching her dad and his deputy Terry (Christoph Sanders), she's internalized step-by-step police procedure and knows to look for anyone with "means, motive, and opportunity." Soon she's enlisted the help of her older sister Maddie (Lauren Lindsey Donzis), and Kenny's bitter older brother Harrison (Leonardo Cecchi), who thinks it's possible his dad may have done it just because he'd had a past run-in with the law. Maddie describes to Harrison the heartbreak of losing her mom to cancer and cautions him to appreciate his father before "it's too late." Romance blooms between them. Looming in the background is a mayor (Beau Bridges) running for reelection and his fraught relationship with his son, the bumbling deputy Terry. Dogged and gritty, the four kids find evidence the police ignored, proving that kid power isn't to be trifled with.