New York Times Bestseller: A baker in small-town Minnesota finds the heat is on after a musician is murdered… Before the festival even begins, tragedy strikes when the tour bus overturns. Among those injured is Buddy Neiman, the band’s beloved keyboard player. His injuries appear minor, until his condition suddenly takes a turn for the worse—as in dead. Hannah’s no doctor, but she suspects that the surgical scissors someone plunged into Buddy’s chest may have something to do with it.
Fortunately, she’s on the case, because she knows from experience that nothing’s sweeter than bringing a killer to justice…
Features cookie and dessert recipes from The Cookie Jar, including Peaches and Cream Cookies and Chocolate Caramel Bars!
“Joanne Fluke is the doyenne of deadly desserts with her deliciously popular Hannah Swensen series.”—Publishers Weekly
“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
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Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke is the 15th book in the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series. I borrowed this book from the library as I couldn’t find it in the store last week, and I’m trying to finish them all up this summer before I take on any new lengthy series. I love these books… sometimes the recipes take up more than I’d like, but any time I get a chance to spend time in Lake Eden, Minnesota, I’m a happy camper.
In this caper, the Cinnamon Roll Six jazz band sweeps into town during a storm. When their tour bus ends up having an accident, several players are admitted to the local hospital. One dies, and it’s definitely murder. Hannah soon realizes he’s not who he said he was… but she’s also busy trying to figure out if the new woman in Norman’s life is good or bad. When the two stories collide, all hell breaks loose. Hannah’s almost killed for the 15th time… even if she were Moishe, her lovable cat, don’t they only have 9 lives? Maybe she’s doubling up by counting the new addition, Cuddles. So if there’s 18, she’s got 3 to spare! Except there are ~25 books in the series. Maybe she’ll get a third cat…
Oh well… doesn’t matter, this is always a pleasant 2 hour read. The murder story was good but I felt like a few parts were left open. I’m not sure I had enough time to get invested in all the characters, too. Ignoring those parts, it was a good short mystery. Thanks.
Very tasty read!
This makes two excellent installments in a row for the Hannah Swensen mysteries. It didn’t take me long to get reeled in because things picked up right where they left off in Book 14. (Not right the next minute, but Joanne Fluke didn’t miss a beat in catching the threads right where they were left dangling.)
What I liked about “Cinnamon Roll Murder”:
Another fast-paced, well-constructed mystery – I wasn’t sure how exactly this would weave together but it turns out that it did. As the story progressed, the pages begged me to keep turning them.
The ongoing storyline has some great content – There was Norman and Dr Bev, and Dolores and Doc Knight, all with mysteries to unravel. One of them reaches a conclusion (one I found quite deliciously satisfying) and the other isn’t showing its cards quite yet. I am wondering about the ripple effect of the one that got resolved though. And I loved the insight we got on Hannah as well.
What I didn’t care for:
A terrible need for a better proofreader – Lord, have mercy. There were so many errors in the edition I read, that I almost felt compelled to make copies of the pages that contained them, pull out my red pen, and mail the marked copies back to the publisher. I mean, *seriously*. It didn’t prevent me from seeing the book to completion but did someone honestly get paid to look this one over?
One detail was left completely unaddressed – THIS ONE IS A SPOILER SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OR SKIP TO THE CLOSING PARAGRAPH!! – While I thought it was clever that Buddy’s murder was linked to both Dr Ben and Dr Bev, and I loved the way the connections were made, we never circled back to the bus driver’s mysterious death. We learned what killed him but we didn’t ever find out why or who. Not to mention, the rest of the band and its entourage pretty much dropped off the face of the earth once Hannah interviewed them. I don’t mind when our main cast of characters is left with a cliffhanger but this doesn’t really feel like something we’re going to pursue later.
I feel like this series has really found its stride. I like the characters, flaws and all, and I’m curious what they’ll do next. Sure, there will be more cases to solve, but it’s actually their ongoing life situations that really keeps me coming back!
Love this series, especially all the delicious recipes.
You just can’t go wrong with this book series. Each book is a great read, alone or in the series.
Well-written. Enjoyable characters. The reader receives as many facts at the same time as Hannah receives them.
Series is always entertaining and light mystery when you’re not in the mood for anything heavy.
These books are always a fun read and this installment is no exception. There’s lots of small town charm and plenty of amateur sleuthing from Hannah and her friends. I always enjoy a visit to Lake Eden!
I like the recipes—fun read
Another great read from Joanne Fluke.
I love this author’s books
Norman dodged a huge bullet. Everyone was after Hannah to interfere and they didn’t need to, Norman had it handled. I totally had the killer wrong but thank goodness Hannah had it right. I hope that things get back to normal now but not too normal (otherwise it’s not as good to read) .
Great cozy mystery series.
The stories seem to get kind of predictable.
Keeps you guessing, excellent mystery
I’ve read all the books and tried some of the recipes included. Tasty treats.
Awesome Books
Fluke is always fun to read – cozy mysteries
I love this series. Light reading and lovable characters.
When the piano player of a jazz band is killed, Hannah springs into action to find his killer. Meanwhile, she’s also looking for a way to stop Hannah from marrying Dr. Bev. The characters were great as always, and the mystery was fun. But the Norman/Dr. Bev story was unrealistic. I’m hoping, however, that it is leading to the end of the Hannah/Norman/Mike love triangle.