Author: Joanna Fluke
Series: Hannah Swensen (Book 1)
Publication: Kensington; Reissue edition (May 3, 2011)
Description: Take one amateur sleuth. Mix in some eccentric Minnesota locals. Add a generous dollop of crackling suspense, and you've got the recipe for this delicious new mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking heroine whose gingersnaps are almost as tart as her mouth and whose penchant for solving crime is definitely stirring things up.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp.
My Thoughts: Hannah Swensen has dropped out of grad school after a broken romance and found herself back home in Lake Eden, Minnesota, where she is running a cookie bakery and dodging her mother's attempts at matchmaking.
When the delivery man for the Cozy Cow Dairy is found with a bullet hole outside of Hannah's shop, Hannah gets involved helping her brother-in-law solve the crime and get his promotion at work. The town is filled with a number of eccentric characters and Hannah suspects and then clears a lot of them.
We are introduced to a number of characters including two possible love interests for Hannah in the new-in-town dentist and the new-in-town Homicide detective. I'm curious to know which, if either of them, will turn out to be Hannah's love interest.
This was an engaging cozy mystery filled with great sounding cookie recipes that I really want to try. Written in 2000 and spending the past nine years on my TBR mountain did age the story. No one has a cellphone and cameras still have film. However, human nature is still human nature. This is the first book in a series that will reach 25 titles in 2020.
Favorite Quote:
As she started her engine and drove out of the school parking lot, she felt a little foolish about the elaborate precautions she'd taken. Modeling herself after a television detective was crazy unless she was dumb enough to believe that the prefix of every telephone number in the entire country was five-five-five.I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.
I've had this one for some time now too. Need to read it soon and I enjoyed your review. Glad you liked it.
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