Steve Callaghan’s ‘Trivia Night Mysteries’ Cozy Crime Franchise Expands With Two Movies

EXCLUSIVE: There’s no question about it, Steve Callaghan‘s Trivia Night Mysteries is expanding.

The Nicely Entertainment-produced cozy crime franchise has wrapped production on its second and third instalments, Fit for a Murder and A Fatal Lesson, with stars Morgan Bradley (The Christmas Recipe Files) and Alex Trumble (A Scottosh Christmas Secret) reuniting in the lead roles as amateur sleuth Sara Keane and lawyer Reid Taggart, respectively.

Emmy-nominated Family Guy writer Callaghan has written the new TV movies, which Nicely says combines clever whodunits, character-driven humor, small-town charm, and the flirtatious chemistry between Sara and Reid.” Vincenzo Conrorio directs the new instalments.

The first movie in the franchise, Trivia Night Mysteries: A Question of Murder, makes its TV and streaming premiere in 2027. With production complete Fit for a Murder and A Fatal Lesson are expected to be completed and released in later next year, with pre-production on subsequent instalments already underway.

“I conceived of the premise, world, and central characters of Trivia Night Mysteries by combining my lifelong love of whodunnits with my experience writing and hosting weekly Zoom trivia quizzes as a personal hobby I took upon myself to help friends stay connected during the pandemic lockdown,” said Callaghan.

“Now seeing my initial concept grow into an ongoing series of multiple movies has been incredibly rewarding, and I’m enormously thrilled and grateful that my two leads, Sara and Reid, will be continuing their crime-solving and romantic adventures.”

“Trivia Night Mysteries has all the ingredients of a marquee feel-good franchise: brilliant writing, magnetic characters, genuine heart, and clever whodunits that leave audiences constantly guessing,” added Vanessa Shapiro, founder and CEO of Nicely.

“Successfully wrapping production on both movies number two and number three speaks volumes about the momentum behind this property. We fully believe in the international appeal of these stories, and we can’t wait to bring these next chapters to fans around the world.”

Today’s news comes ahead of MIPCOM in Cannes next month, where Nicely and its competitors will be shopping their latest wares to international buyers.

The Trivia Night Mysteries series follows freelance fact-checker and team trivia champion Keane, whose exceptional trivia knowledge and instinct for finding the right answer make her an unlikely but highly effective amateur detective. She works closely with charming, new-to-town lawyer Taggart, who becomes her increasingly close partner in crime-solving.

In Trivia Night Mysteries: Fit for a Murder, Keane is hired for a fact-checking job on a series of articles about women’s health for a national fitness magazine, only to discover her editor’s body, apparently having been strangled. As she begins to investigate, she needs to piece together the editor’s final days to unmask the killer.

Trivia Night Mysteries: A Fatal Lesson will see Keane attends an auction fundraiser for the school where her mother serves as Vice Principal, only for the school superintendent to be pushed to his death. Keane, Taggart and the rest of the trivia team dig into the administrator’s backstory to reveal the murderer’s motive and identity.

Shapiro and Scott Kirkpatrick, EVP of Distribution and Co-Productions at Nicely, serve as executive producers on the Trivia Night Mysteries movie series, with Callaghan another EP and the showrunner.

Focused on feel-good entertainment, Nicely makes cozy mysteries such as The Abigail Mysteries for Great American Family and Great American Pure Flix and The Christmas Recipe Files for QVC+, which also starred Bradley. It also makes Crossroad Springs, which has been renewed for a second season by Great American Media.

Callaghan remains a writer and executive producer for Family Guy, having worked on the series since its inception and spending nearly seven seasons as its showrunner. He was also a writer, executive producer and showrunner for American Dad! and has written for CBS’ Yes, Dear and MTV’s 3-South.