It’s been a sleepy summer for the folks of Lake Eden, Minnesota. In fact, it’s been a whole four months since anyone in the Swensen family has come across a dead body—a detail that just made the front page of the local paper. And that means Hannah Swensen can finally focus on her bakery. . .or can she?Life is never really quiet for Hannah. After all, her mother’s wedding is a … wedding is a little over a month away and guess who Delores put in charge of the planning? Yet just when Hannah believes her biggest challenge will be whether to use buttercream or fondant for the wedding cake, she accidentally hits a stranger with her cookie truck while driving down a winding country road in a raging thunderstorm. Hannah is wracked with guilt, and things get even worse when she’s arrested. . .for murder! But an autopsy soon reveals the mystery man, his shirt covered in stains from blackberry pie, would have died even if Hannah hadn’t hit him. Now, to clear her name, Hannah will have to follow a trail of pie crumbs to track down the identity of the deceased, find a baker who knows more about murder than how to roll out a perfect pie crust—and get herself to the church on time. . .
Indulge In Joanne Fluke’s Criminally Delicious Hannah Swensen Mysteries!
Red Velvet Cupcake Murder
“Culinary Cozies Don’t Get Any Tastier Than This Winning series.” —Library Journal
“Loaded with mouthwatering recipes and clever plotting, the latest Hannah Swensen mystery delights.” —RT Book Reviews
“If your reading habits alternate between curling up with a good mystery or with a good cookbook, you ought to know about Joanne Fluke.” —The Charlotte Observer
Cinnamon Roll Murder
“Fans of this wildly popular series will not be disappointed. Fluke has kept this series strong for a long time, and there is still plenty to enjoy for foodie crime fans.” —Booklist
Devil’s Food Cake Murder
“Fabulous.” —Publishers Weekly
Apple Turnover Murder
“The ever popular Fluke writes engaging cozies with one part great characters, one part gentle story, and three parts the best recipes in the genre.” —Library Journal
Cream Puff Murder
“Entertaining and sprinkled with tempting recipes. It’s a sweet treat of a novel.” —The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
more
I’ve been trying to catch up on the Hannah Swensen series this summer, so I picked up the 17th book in the series, Blackberry Pie Murder, written in 2013 by Joanne Fluke. All I can say is I just can’t get enough of this silliness. The murders and mysteries are very light, but the characters are fantastic. I want to live in Lake Eden and be Hannah’s new best friend solving crimes together. No, I don’t want to be killed… just putting that out there!
In this one, Hannah accidentally hits someone with her car. She’s then charged with vehicular manslaughter because of a few interesting traffic laws. Although it’s completely not how it should happen, the laws are actually in place and could be used to convict someone. After 17 books, you have to cut the author some leeway to make the reason for the mystery be something stronger. For that reason alone, I give 5 stars to Fluke for coming up with this one…. but then it gets a bit dull with the actual investigation once we learn the guy was already beaten up and likely to die from a head injury. And he’s really not connected to many people we know, so for those reasons, I dropped it down to a 3.
That said… I still want to read more and it’s fun for 2-3 hours of light reading. Bring on more!
I love all of Joanne Flukes’ books. I love the recipes. The characters are great and I love how they get together to try to solve the murders. I have read all of her books and I highly recommend them. And the cat Moishe is just the cutest.
Great book. I still don’t like the recipes in the story that stop the action. It does not keep me from reading theml
Poor Hannah. It was bad enough that Hannah had her accident and was later arrested by her brother-in-law, But Delores going into dramatics about it being in the newspaper was so uncalled for. She (Delores) gets on my nerves something fierce. We were left with a bit of a cliffhanger at the end but it doesn’t bother me to much since I know that Hannah will be fine. (She has faced more life and death situations than anybody and she’s been fine so far).
I love the series
As with all of the books in this series, quick and enjoyable reads. I think I’ve read almost all of them. The storyline is predictable but always a fun read.
I love Hannah Swenson and her family. They have become my friends as I have traveled through this series…always a good read.
By far and away, my least favorite book in this series to date. It showcased a real social issue, which I appreciated, but the rest of the story felt awkward at best.
What I liked about “Blackberry Pie Murder”:
I learned something new about Hannah – It’s always fun when you can get seventeen books deep in a series and learn something about the protagonist that feels natural. I enjoyed discovering that Hannah likes baseball, though I wondered how we’ve known her so long and I don’t recall it ever coming up before. I also recognize that I may have enjoyed this Hannah trivia because *I* like baseball as well, and some of the appeal and the references may be lost on someone who has no real knowledge of the game. It wouldn’t spoil the story for them, but maybe just seem out of place.
What I didn’t care for:
The case itself – It felt strange and disjointed right from the start for me. This did not improve when the second “case” connected to the first, at which point it felt contrived. I saw the connection coming as the dots connected, but I still didn’t really feel connected to the events, which showed when the inevitable high-stakes confrontation occurred and it wasn’t a heart-thumping page-turner.
Little inconsistencies – While you might get away with revealing new depth of character at this point in a series, such as the baseball point I made, you definitely can’t throw in that Hannah always starts the day by saying to Moishe “daylight in the swamp,” when usually the best we get from Hannah when the alarm goes off is zombie-like trudging toward the kitchen for coffee before she can even tell you her name.
Hannah’s role – Are you seriously putting Hannah in the lineup, as it were, in back to back books? Last book, she was a suspect, and this time she’s arrested and put in jail? I might have bitten on that bait if these situations had taken place with at least several installments separating them, but putting her in the hot seat in two consecutive books? Nah.
The cliffhanger – Are you KIDDING me??
There is zero chance I will give up on this series. I am committed at this point, at least beyond one unsatisfactory trip to Lake Eden. The two-star rating, despite my heavy criticism with little to balance it on the complimentary side, hinged on that fact that the overall arc of the story progressed and kept me reading. I am hopeful that my next visit with Hannah and the gang will put the nonsense in this book to rest and we can get back to some fun sleuthing and crazy hi-jinks, and less of this angst and turmoil.
Easy read from Joanne Fluke. She never disappoints.
Highly recommend!!
While I enjoy most in this series, this one didn’t thrill me. Not up to her previous books. It seemed like this one and what followed are awesome recipes strung together with a weak plot. Just being honest. I’ve not even purchased the last two.
could not put it down.
I love this series. Light reading and lovable characters.
I love all the Hannah Swenson books
My least favorite of this series. I didn’t like the subject of this book. The beginning of the books in this series that all have hooks to get you to read the next book.
It’s been four months since Hannah last found a dead body, and the only thing on her mind is getting her mother to settle on something for her wedding. That is until a sever summer storm forces Hannah to lose control of her car and hit a man, killing him. But no one recognizes him. Who is he? And what was he doing in Lake Eden?
There is little that changes in the lives of the characters, but I still enjoyed visiting them again since I found them their normal charming selves. The cliffhanger at the end definitely made me want the next book out soon.
Just like Hanna’s cookies, one book is not enough. Leaves you anticipating the next tasty story.