This fun new story from the Queen of Culinary Cozies is just the indulgence you need this winter! Cozy mystery fans know that a trip to The Cookie Jar—Hannah Swensen’s famous bakery—will always result in a delightfully page-turning whodunit… familiar cast of characters, all the while relishing the baking frame and the delicious-sounding recipes.”
—Booklist
“Another sweet-tempered outing filled with tempting sweets.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Spring has sprung in Lake Eden, Minnesota, but Hannah Swensen doesn’t have time to stop and smell the roses—not with hot cross buns to make, treats to bake, and a sister to exonerate!
Hannah’s up to her ears with Easter orders rushing in at The Cookie Jar, plus a festive meal to prepare for a dinner party at her mother’s penthouse. But everything comes crashing to a halt when Hannah receives a panicked call from her sister Andrea—Mayor Richard Bascomb has been murdered . . . and Andrea is the prime suspect.
Even with his reputation for being a bully, Mayor Bascomb—or “Ricky Ticky,” as Hannah’s mother likes to call him—had been unusually testy in the days leading up to his death, leaving Hannah to wonder if he knew he was in danger. Meanwhile, folks with a motive for mayoral murder are popping up in Lake Eden. Was it a beleaguered colleague? A political rival? A jealous wife? Or a scorned mistress?
As orders pile up at The Cookie Jar—and children line up for Easter egg hunts—Hannah must spring into investigation mode and identify the real killer . . . before another murder happens!
Features Over a Dozen Cookie and Dessert Recipes from The Cookie Jar!
more
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake is the 27th book in the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series. I know what you’re thinking… 27 books in the same series? But wait… 4 or 5 have been made into TV movies, several short stories with other authors have also been included in anthologies, and there are tons of products and services associated with this collection. It’s quite huge, and I am a fan, even if the mysteries are on the lighter side. It’s all about the town of Lake Eden and what Minnesota brings to the table.
Hannah is mid-30s, single (and dating 3 different men, depending on the book), and runs a bakery and coffee shop. She’s smart, headstrong, and independent. Innocent too… no canoodling before marriage, support your neighbors, never lie! She’s also very simple and easy-going, and the context of the series is truly more like the 1950s. Some might find this problematic. I do not (only because I get what’s happening and focus on different aspects). The author very clearly is commenting on a different time and style, and the behavior of many of the men in the book, even some of the women, is not meant to say how things should be or to help promote something that isn’t equal and fair.
Sure, it grates on my nerves when Hannah talks about losing weight to be more attractive. Sure, I can’t stand when Mike treats her like his personal cook or maid. When you look past that, you have a truly remarkable set of characters and imagination that a woman has built over three decades.
I feel like home in this series because I know exactly how Hannah will react in every situation. I learn new desserts to make. And I have a relaxing 90-minute read. This series is not for everyone. And in the middle it wandered too far. It’s back, and stronger than the last few books.
Half the content is still recipes and conversations that take 5 pages when it’s really just “How are you today?” and “Good, thanks. Now, about that murder…” But it sets the tone, so I enjoy it. In this one, the mayor is killed. He’s been around for 20+ books. We’ve heard about his affairs. We’ve seen his rudeness. We’ve wanted to clobber him ourselves. Now, some one did. Was it Andrea, Hannah’s sister who had a public right with him hours earlier? Or his own family who tired of his ways? Or someone else we haven’t heard about yet?
If you enjoy the series, this will give you some closure on a few areas. I can’t imagine the author will write too many more, but I will keep reading them and will be very sad when they end. Ah, Hannah, the perfect best friend, I suspect.
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke is the 27th A Hannah Swensen Mystery. This is not a book that can be read on its own (new readers would be lost). Hannah Swensen is currently living at Norman’s since the death of her husband, Ross. Hannah and Moishe are not ready to face the condo and the memories it holds. Mayor Bascomb is upset with Andrea’s husband, Bill because he arrested his nephew who was driving drunk. Bascomb has threated Bill’s position and Andrea has taken offense. She decides to chat with Mayor Bascomb and try to make him see reason. Unfortunately, Andrea ends up losing her temper after Bascomb makes some derogatory comments. That night, Andrea takes a piece of Hannah’s triple chocolate cheesecake to Mayor Bascomb to apologize for her actions (which will have readers laughing and applauding) and finds him murdered in his office (I am surprised it took this long). Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder is easy to read with steady pacing). This book can easily be read in a couple of hours. Hannah Swensen and all our favorites are back for another adventure. There is plenty of eating, coffee drinking, cooking, baking, and cat cuddling in this cozy mystery. Hannah is worried about Moishe because he cannot return to their condo. He gets upset each time they approach it. What is a cat mama to do? Hannah is busy baking up Easter treats at The Cookie Jar. The death of Mayor Bascomb has a multitude of suspects (how did this man get elected). The investigation takes a backset to cooking, baking, eating, coffee drinking, and chatting. The mystery is simple and can easily be solved early in the story. I prefer a more complicated mystery, but this whodunit does suit the book. I do feel that the last several books in this series are not on par with the earlier ones (like someone else is writing them). There is repetition of information and there are more recipes than content. Recipes are included for the various dishes whipped up in this tale. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder is a story for fans of the series who want to know how Hannah is faring after the death of her husband and wish to catch up with gang in Lake Eden. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder is a lighthearted culinary cozy with a surfeit of suspects, a fearful feline, a distraught sister, a scrumptious cheesecake, and a murdered mayor.
HEAVY ON RECIPES. LIGHT ON PLOT.
Not her best. I read it as it was part of a series
Where did the Hannah I know and love go? I understand that the whole Ross disaster changed things BUT SERIOUSLY? Andrea is being treated like a two year old, Michelle has taken over the condo and Hannah is letting other people run her investigation! I knew who the killer was as soon as they were mentioned and I figured out why pretty easily too, I don’t know the story just seemed to be missing something. I’m really hoping that the next book will be better .
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder is the 27th installment of the Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke.
Like the last few books in this series, the plot seems to get thinner while the talk about food/recipes increases. When the actual murder and detecting is being done, the story is good but the amount dedicated to the actual solving is novella worthy at best. There is so much discussion about food and how they prepare it – not to mention the overly detailed recipes that follow at the end of most chapters leaves this cozy mystery reader feeling like they’ve wasted their time and their money on this one. ($10.06USD – almost $13CDN)
Hannah’s internal “suspicious” versus “rational” mind debates got VERY old really quickly. On the other hand there were only a couple of very short descriptions of Hannah’s dreams. Also, in this book we’ve been spared from the “Moishe and Cuddles chases at dinner parties/gatherings” that have been overdone in previous books.
Character wise, I enjoyed reading more of Hannah and Norman spending time and working so well together. To me, they have an obvious connection and respect for each other. I was also happy to see that Delores was not her usual critical self but more compassionate and understanding. After Andrea’s initial strong confrontation with the mayor, her character seemed to become weak and in almost constant need of praise and reassurance.
Personally, I wasn’t surprised by “who done it” or why. I’d suspected the person several chapters earlier. Pity there wasn’t more detecting to actually make the case more interesting.
Recipe wise, it seems like Ms Fluke is shilling for name brand products as many are listed in her recipes and in general conversation. I didn’t see any acknowledgement of payments and/or free products she “may” have received but frankly readers should be made aware of this if that is the case. Yes, there are places where she states other products may be available but naming brands is advertisement placement and should be treated as such. There are almost always other brands that are as good and sometimes better than those stated in the recipes. Experiment!
By my count there are 32 recipes (including several for frostings) in this book and from what I could calculate via the page info on my Kindle, approximately 115 pages of the 326 page Kindle edition are dedicated to those recipes. That’s just over 1/3 of the book devoted JUST to the recipes – not to mention the seemingly endless conversations and description of the food preparations. Assuming, you may actually want to try any of these recipes, make notes of where they are as there is no recipe index in the Kindle edition.
The recipes themselves are almost all high in sugar and/or fat content. The directions are written in excessive detail. There are only two reasons I can think of for such detail:
1) she is being paid by the word
2) she thinks that everyone reading her books and recipes have little or no baking and cooking experience.
(The truth is probably a combination of the two!)
Overall, the book is a thin murder novella overstuffed with calorie laden talk of food and far too many recipes. Save your money. Borrow it from the library or wait till it goes on sale at a deep discount.
Read 2.20.2021
Sigh.
To start, I was actually looking forward to this one; we were back in the present time and now we can see Hannah moving forward after the whole debacle with hewhomustotbenamed. ALLLLLLL good things IMO. If only it was as easy as writing that sentence was.
I have read all of the Hannah Swensen books. Even the short stories. I have spent good money on these books. I read ALL the crappy books that were there for awhile [featuring hewhomustnotbenamed and some of the most ridiculous storylines I have ever read in my whole reading life]. I keep saying that I need to be done with this series because it isn’t enjoyable reading for me anymore. And I keep reading them because I hope that they will go back to being what they used to be and because aside from my immense dislike of Hannah, I absolutely love all the other characters. But this book might have broke me. I really do think that I have to be done. And this is why:
1. Hannah and her new “inner dialogue”. WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE??? This was truly the most annoying part of the book [besides the end]. It was almost constant and there were at least two chapters where that was how 98% of the whole chapter was written. NO. Just no. Please stop. Hannah doesn’t need to be any more annoying than she already it. THIS is both unnecessary and LAZY writing. It needs to stop. It was absolutely horrible.
And the whole “Hannah ignored the inner dialogue/inner conflict” was even more annoying. THIS WAS NOT NEEDED. UGH.
2. How is it, that all of the sudden, ALL THREE OF THE SISTERS have become helpless waifs? None of them have ever been that [especially Michelle and Hannah], and they have all become…helpless and simpering. And it was gross. They are all absolutely used to the men in their lives both helping them and taking care of them, and to have them all of the sudden become simpering, hand-waving, helpless-acting waifs was really annoying. Thankfully, this only happened a few times, but this is also something that needs to stay out of the next book. NONE of these women are helpless waifs [especially the sisters – their father taught them about life and cars and such and to imply otherwise, when previous books have talked about how he taught them is insulting]. Please stop writing them as such.
3. ALL. OF. CHAPTER. 7.
We absolutely did not need a chapter where Hannah and Norman fight over who is nicer [that is easy – Norman. Hannah isn’t really a nice person when you come right down to it, though, she breaks some of that mold in this book, much to my delight. More on that later] and it really goes on for WAY too many pages. Like a whole chapter. I may or may not have sprained my eyes from rolling them so hard whilst reading that chapter.
4. WHY WHY WHY is Andrea suddenly acting like she is FIVE??? She is a successful business woman. She sells real estate. She is the wife of the Sheriff. She has two amazing kids and she is a very good mother [even though she does rely on Grandma McCann a lot]. She may not be the greatest cook, but she is not a childish, clingy person. THIS portrayal of her is a huge disservice to her character. Andrea went from being a snappy, critical, character, to someone who I really like and who has developed into an amazing character and this book took that all away from her. I can understand her initial clinging because finding a dead body is horrible. But the rest of it was really lame and just meh. At one point, when she was so “happy to be helping in the kitchen”, I thought she was going to squeal and clap her hands like she was a little kid [and Hannah treating her as such – that involved some rather mean “inner dialogue” which was unnecessary] and I actually cringed.
I know that Andrea isn’t a great cook and that her whippersnappers are her crowing glory, but WHAT GROWN UP GIRL FROM A SMALL TOWN doesn’t know how to make a green salad? Really?
STOP. DUMBING. THESE. WOMEN. DOWN.
5. There is so much repetition in this book, that most chapters was just the same information, told to you twice, just in different ways [and sometimes, not so different ways]. It was like being hammered over the head with the same information so you didn’t notice that there wasn’t much of a plot and that everything going on was rather lukewarm and that the only thing going on was food and cooking and recipes [all very good things, but there WAS a murder to solve and it was such a weak, weak, investigation] and Hannah’s constant inner monologue with herself. In one chapter, Hannah explains to Michelle what desserts she is bringing and why and Michelle is all on board. Fast forward to the middle of the chapter and Michelle asks about the desserts and Hannah tells her what she’s brought and why and Michelle goes “That’s awesome Hannah. You always think of everything”. Uh….what?? Y’all had the conversation just a few short hours before. THE SAME CONVERSATION. <--That is the repetition I am talking about. 6. Hannah at one point says she has never been in love [her inner self asks about hewhomustnotbenamed and her other inner self retorts "that was LUST" and I rolled my eyes. If it was lust we still wouldn't be dwelling on it now would we?]. WHAT?? WHAT has she been doing with Norman and Mike all these years? Has she not had any feelings at all for these two men that she continually has led on? WHY WHY WHY is she still with them if she doesn't LOVE THEM? Or even have a glimmer of a stronger feeling that like for them? WOW. That was just...WOW. She needs therapy. 7. W T H was that reveal/ending?? R E A L L Y?? Meh. 8. Are we even sure that these are still be written by the author? Because this book seems like it was written by someone who has never, ever spent time with these characters. I will say that there was a moment towards the end of the book [even though I was shocked that Andrea didn't know how to make a freaking green salad, but I digress] where Hannah shuts down the inner monologue and actually HELPS her sister learn how to cook/make something. She works WITH her and doesn't criticize and lets Andrea do it on her own. And then tells everyone that Andrea was the one that made it. And that was a huge step for Hannah. That was one of the few really good parts of the book. I know this is long and if you have stayed with me for the whole thing, thank you. I hope that you understand why I have had to be brutally honest about what I have read. After 27 books, you have a certain expectation and when that hasn't been [and hasn't been for some time] met, you feel the need to let others along WITH the author the reasons why [and in reading other reviews, I am not the only one who has been continually disappointed by these recent books] the book was just one or two star worthy and what should be changed. Unfortunately, I am not sure the tiny amounts of good in this book is enough for me to continue on to book 28 [should there be one]. And that, after years of reading a series, is very, very disappointing. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I like this series and this author!
Good easy read, like most of her Hannah Swensen books.
This series is more recipe book than mystery. It has become a shadow of the favorite cozy mystery series I’ve been very fond of.
Another stop at quaint and quirky Lake Eden, another body found. By now, you would have to know the drill with this cheesy little cozy mystery series, or I have to question what you’ve been doing all this time.
What I liked about “Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder”:
The outcome – This series tends to follow a particular formula, and having read close to three dozen books, it jumps out at me when something is a little different. The final confrontation with the killer had a somewhat different spin than typical and I appreciated that it wasn’t what I was expecting, even though the case itself was pretty easy to unravel even before the big reveal.
Hannah and Norman – Don’t get up in arms, I’m not spoiling anything you don’t already know from earlier in the series. I just happen to enjoy the particular dynamic they have going and I am hopeful we may…someday…get resolution.
What I didn’t care for:
Andrea – When did Andrea get so needy and insecure? We’ve known that Andrea hasn’t ever been much of a cook, but she was once a successful, confident real estate agent, and now it seems as though she is unable to function without gaining Hannah’s approval after each and every action. That’s kind of a turnoff.
The two voices – Hannah’s inner monologue is enough to send me ’round the bend. I’m about done with that little feature.
As usual, this isn’t the best writing I’ve ever encountered, not even in this genre, but the series is comfortable, and the offenses are few, if you come into each installment knowing what you’re getting. Barring something entirely uncharacteristic, I foresee myself sticking with Hannah for the long haul, because I really need to know how her story will end, assuming it will. Team Norman forever.
It was an okay book in the series. There were too many recipes and not enough story.
Hannah and her family are great. There is always someone killed, but the fun time they have solving the “who did it” is good. You don’t always know right away. You may think it is one character then it ends up being someone else. Very enjoyable reading.
Awesome
Love this series. The cookie recipes are wonderful too.
So, a friend of mine set out a small public library. I got this book from the library. A few days later, I take some time to read it. The first thing I noticed was that I don’t really understand the situation the author is describing. Why did the mayor do this? Who is Bill? Who is Hannah? Are Andrea and Hannah related? This is probably because I didn’t read the rest of the series. But usually books like this can be read stand alone. The other thing I noticed, was that I didn’t know ANY of the characters. Andrea, Hannah, mother, Mike, Doc. Who are these people? Again, it’s probably because I didn’t read the entire series. And again, every other mystery book I read introduces most characters so that I understand. I only made it to chapter five. Aside from the two problems, the author just went too quick. Now, I don’t like a slow book, but I want the situations to be explained. Why was Hannah cooking dinner? What was the occasion? I wouldn’t recommend getting/reading this book. Others may like it, but it just wasn’t my book. Also, why where there so many recipes????? Usually, the author just puts them in the back of the book. Not this time. I don’t like books that put recipes in the middle of text..
Always good!
Easter is coming, and The Cookie Jar is awash in orders, keeping Hannah Swensen, her business partner Lisa, and the rest of their staff busy. But that doesn’t mean that Hannah doesn’t have time to help her sister Andrea when she calls in a panic. She’s just found Mayor Bascomb’s dead body in his office hours after having a very loud fight with him. The police wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t consider Andrea a suspect, so Hannah springs into action to figure out what really happened. Can she prove her sister is innocent?
I’ve been reading this long running series since the beginning, and I keep reading because I do enjoy catching up with the characters. If that is your reason for picking up the book, you’ll find they are as charming as always. I was pleased to see the soap opera of the previous few books has died down, and we see growth in a surprising direction in one character. Sadly, the love triangle is no closer to being resolved. The mystery is decent with enough suspects to keep us engaged. However, the focus is on the food. There is plenty of talk about food and how much the characters love what they are eating. With 24 new recipes for us to try, there is certainly plenty of new food to talk about. The dialogue is repetitious, an example of why realistic dialogue is better than real dialogue in a novel. While I still want to catch up with the characters, I find myself skimming the book instead of reading it closely. If you are like me and want to keep up with the characters, you’ll be glad you picked up this book. But if you haven’t started the series yet, you’ll want to go back to the beginning to find out why there are readers like me who still enjoy visiting the characters. And if you’ve given up on the series, you can safely skip this one.
Love to read her books. Been a fan for a long time. Every time she has a book out I get it.
Hannah is back at it again. This time Mayor Bascomb is the victim after an altercation with Hannah’s sister, Andrea. Hannah enlists just about the whole town to help her solve the murder.
Opinion
This series is an old favorite of mine. Ms. Fluke has created this perfect small town vibe for her cozy mysteries. The reader has all the fun trying to solve the mystery and none of the gore. Add in the awesome recipes and you have one hell of a book.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.