Plot Synopsis

The third installment in the Hallmark "Chronicle Mysteries" TV movie franchise. True crime podcaster Alex McPherson is beginning the latest edition of her podcast, "Recovered," and is revisiting the death of local vintner Colton Saunier that was ruled an accident, albeit an odd one. He was found in a wine vat, dead of CO2 poisoning. Alex joins Chronicle staffer Eileen Bruce, who tipped her off that the vintner's death seemed suspicious, in nearby Macklin. There, Alex meets the remaining members of the Saunier family, all of who benefited from his death. Drew and Chuck arrive in Macklin to research a story on land turnover in the town, surprising Alex and Eileen. Alex discovers that a winery employee, was the only police suspect at the time of death. Colton had mentored him, then he was caught writing company checks and was fired. He claimed he was framed and was never charged with Colton's murder. That evening, shots are fired at the winery and one of the family suspects is found dead. In further researching his land turnover story, Drew interviews Vivian Macklin, the matriarch of one of Maclin's original founding families. She reveals her disgust over what Macklin has become since the success of the winery. Like others, there is no love lost between Ms. Macklin and the Saunier family. With four Chronicle staffers now deeply involved in what has now become a double murder investigation, danger continues to mount as Alex gets closer and closer to discovering exactly who killed Colton and Gil Saunier. However, when they return to the vat room to revisit the logistics of the original crime, Alex and her ad hoc investigation team come face-to-face with the murderer, who is "locked and loaded" and ready to kill again.