Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder and Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Flukeby
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder introduces cozy mystery heroine, Hannah Swenson.
From back cover: In this story, 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.
Strawberry Shortcake Murder is the second book in this series.
From Back Cover: When the president of Hartland Flour chooses cozy Lake Eden, Minnesota, as the spot for their first annual Dessert Bake-Off, Hannah is thrilled to serve as the head judge. But when a fellow judge, Coach Boyd Watson, is found stone-cold dead, facedown in Hannah’s celebrated strawberry shortcake, Lake Eden’s sweet ride to fame turns very sour indeed.
My Review: I love these books and have ordered three more in the series. Both of these stories are engaging and kind of folksy – enjoyable reads for Spring Break! I feel good when I read these books – because they are about people I could really know. People who have real problems with lots of mystery thrown in. Small town Minnesota is a great setting. I enjoy the setting because I lived in Iowa for eight years. Hannah is a single woman near or at about 30 years old. Everyone is trying to marry her off, and she has two semi-serious boyfriends as different as night and day. One of the main characters is her cat Moishe – a finicky feline.
The pet, the home, the humor, and the cooking (including mouth-watering recipes) give Fluke’s books charm and create a high level of interest. Hannah’s relationship with her mother and sister, Andrea, are easy to identify with. Her mixed feelings about men and her curiousity and impatience with the system to solve murders ring familiar bells with me.
While there is not a super amount of psychological suspense in these stories – there is SOME suspense, definitely enough to keep turning the pages. I love these books and am reading the third – Blueberry Muffin Murder right now and plan to read all the books in this series. They are refreshing and lots of fun!
Strawberry Shortcake Murder (from back




