Bakery owner Hannah Swensen just can’t keep her hands out of the batter when murder stirs things up in Lake Eden, Minnesota, leaving the sheriff dead, a deputy accused, and a killer on the loose . . . For Hannah, life seems to be lacking a certain flavor lately. Maybe it’s the local sheriff’s election that’s got her down. For years, Sheriff Grant’s been the iron hand in town. But now, Hannah’s … town. But now, Hannah’s brother-in-law, Bill, is giving the old blowhard the fight of his long, dubious career—and Grant’s not taking it well, especially once the polls show Bill pulling ahead.
But before anyone can taste victory, Hannah makes a very unappetizing discovery: Sheriff Grant’s body in the dumpster behind the high school where she’s teaching her cooking class. Worse, the poor man still has fudge frosting on his shirt from one of her cupcakes.
The number one—and only—suspect is Bill, but Hannah’s not swallowing it. Plenty of people had reason to hate Sheriff Grant. Soon, Hannah’s dishing up scandalous secrets, steaming hot betrayals, and enough intrigue to keep the gossip mill at The Cookie Jar going through several pots of decaf. And the closer Hannah gets to the truth, the closer she gets to smoking out a murderer with a very nasty recipe for silencing people . . .
INCLUDES TEN ORIGINAL DESSERT RECIPES FOR YOU TO TRY!
“For fans of culinary mysteries.”—Library Journal
“Scrumptious.”—Publishers Weekly
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Andrea is pregnant in this book, and watching the relationship between the two sisters is fun. You can see how they fight and get along. But when the sheriff dies in this book, the girls must bond because everyone’s a suspect. I didn’t really buy the whole “cops are the suspects” because of it being the sheriff. It made for a fun story tho.
Still a good series. I happened to catch 2 of the stories they made into a TV series on Hallmark (I think). I enjoy the cozy mystery… like-able main character but I think she needs to choose 1 of the 2 men soon. I would walk away if I were them at this point. 🙂
Have read all her books. Enjoy the recipes too.
Engaging, hard to put down.
enjoyed this book so much
Lake Eden is coming out with a cookbook, and Hannah is In charge of getting recipes from the locals. When Hannah is Given Alma’s famous fudge cupcake recipe she’s overly excited. But there’s only one thing there’s a 1/2 cup of a mystery ingredient. Alma was very secretive when it came to her recipe, guess you could say she took it to her grave. So the mystery of the missing ingredient is at the top of the list, but not for long when the sheriff is found dead in a dumpster. It really gets you feeling down in the dumps… to soon? Yeah… ok. All fingers point to Bill Hannah’s brother in law. He was running against him in the sheriff election and they were overheard having an argument. Bill storms out of GrAnts office where sheriff Grant is heard yelling over my dead body.
Murder and mystery ingredients aren’t the only thing on Hannah’s mind. When one of the locals spots Mike driving home with a blonde in the passenger seat of his truck. Shawna Lee is the blonde everyone is talking about. Mike suggested she comes and lives in lake Eden. What for? Who knows. She’s an old co worker at Mikes old job. So does this mean competition for Hannah. I mean it can’t be because Mike keeps talking about Shawna Lee’s fantastic brownies. Hannah makes a mean cookie. Aren’t cookies better then brownies?
As if Hannah doesn’t have enough going on in her life (, , & ), her brother-in-law is running for sheriff and Andrea’s on bed rest. Unfortunately the current sheriff is found (guess who finds him) murdered and Bill is the prime suspect. Then as if that isn’t enough, she catches Mike with Shawna Lee . Not caring if Mike likes it or not, Hannah investigates and finds the killer is closer than she thinks.
excellent
This is such a fun series. Five books in, I feel like it’s finally hit its stride. The characters are familiar. The format is consistent. I know exactly what I’m getting and, for a cozy mystery series, that’s the way I like it. I find the residents and cases of Lake Eden charming. I did figure out whodunnit correctly and fairly early on, but the story continued to be fun, probably because the characters make it so. Part of me is ready for Hannah to just make a choice already, between Norman and Mike, but then, I don’t know whose camp I’m in, so maybe she can take a while longer to decide. Looking forward to seeing where her exploits take her next time!
Joanne Fluke I have read everything she has written. I got five before the last Hurricane and went back to library for the rest after it. Hannah Swenson and family are delightful. So glad Hallmark Channel picked up some and made TV films to of them. A little different from the books, so read the books then watch the TV show. Recipe are good too, what a bonus.
Hannah’s brother-in-law Bill is running for sheriff, but then his opponent is found murdered in a dumpster. Can Hannah find the killer before the election? Another good mystery with these great characters