HANNAH SWENSEN MYSTERIES (By Joanne Fluke)

The Hannah Swenson Mysteries books in order of publication:

Book 1 -  CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER

Take one amateur sleuth. Mix in some eccentric Minnesota locals. Add a generous dollop of crackling suspense, and you've got the recipe for this delicious new mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking heroine whose gingersnaps are almost as tart as her mouth and whose penchant for solving crime is definitely stirring things up.

From the Book Jacket :

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 Crunches 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.

In addition to the original novel, this special edition also contains a novella about Hannah and 9 new recipes.

Jo’s written a novella for the special hardcover edition of CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER and it picks up right where the first book in the Hannah Swensen series ends. The story starts with a question – Who broke into The Cookie Jar on the coldest night of the year? Hannah sets a trap to find out. When she catches the teenage runaway who’s sleeping under the Christmas tree in the coffee shop, she’s faced with even more puzzles. Where did the teenager come from? Is her name really "Candy"? Who taught her how to make the most delicious confections Hannah and Lisa have ever tasted? Hannah and her friends must do some sleuthing to discover Candy’s real identity, learn why she ran away, and get her back home again in time for Christmas with her family.

Book 2 -  STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MURDER

In her debut mystery, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, intrepid amateur sleuth and bakery owner Hannah Swensen proved that when it comes to crime, nothing is sweeter than a woman who knows how to really mix it up.  Now, the flame-haired, tart-talking (and baking) heroine is back, judging a contest where the competition is really murder.

From the Book Jacket:
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.
Between perfecting her Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie and Chocolate Crunches, Hannah's snooping into the coach's private life and not coming up short on suspects.    And could Watson's harsh criticism during the judging have given one of the contestants a license to kill?  The stakes are rising faster than dough, and Hannah will have to be very careful, because somebody is cooking up a recipe for murder...with Hannah landing on the "necessary ingredients" list.

Book 3 -  BLUEBERRY MUFFIN MURDER

Bakery owner Hannah Swensen is back--and the cookies are crumbling - as acclaimed author Joanne Fluke serves readers another helping of murder, mayhem, and mouthwatering mystery...
 
With charming characters, a quaint small-town setting, and exciting plot twists, BLUEBERRY MUFFIN MURDER is a tempting treat that will leave mystery readers hungry for more.

From the book jacket:
Preparations are underway for Lake Eden, Minnesota's annual Winter Carnival- and Hannah Swensen is set to bake up a storm at her popular shop, The Cookie Jar.  Too bad the honor of creating the official Winter Carnival cake went to famous lifestyle maven Connie Mac--a half-baked idea, in Hannah's opinion.  She suspects Connie Mac is a lot like the confections she whips up on her cable TV cooking show--sweet, light, and scrumptious-looking, but likely to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

Hannah's suspicions are confirmed when Connie Mac's limo rolls into town.  Turns out America's "Cooking Sweetheart" is bossy, bad-tempered, and downright domineering.  Things finally broil over when Hannah arrives at The Cookie Jar to find the Winter Carnival cake burnt to a crisp--and Connie Mac lying dead in her pantry, struck down while eating one of Hannah's famous blueberry muffins.

Next thing Hannah knows, the police have declared The Cookie Jar's kitchen crime scene off-limits...she's a baker without an oven--and the Carnival is right around the corner.  Hannah's only alternative is to cook up a plan to save her business--by finding the killer herself.  But there are more suspects in this case then there are ingredients in Hannah's Multiple Choice Bar Cookies.

There's Connie Mac's assistant, Janie, who's been MIA since the night of the murder--and a local photographer who got fed up with the home-making diva's incessant demands.  Not to mention all of Connie Mac's  disgruntled employees, including a driver she callously canned, and her unhappy attorney, Alan Carpenter.  Hannah's starting to realize that she may have bitten off more than she can chew--and that solving this crime won't exactly be a piece of cake.

Book 4  - LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER

Hiro Kimura, the cover artist, has done it again! Lemon meringue pie has never looked so delicious and so menacing.

Here’s a little taste of the story to whet your appetite for Hannah Swensen’s next adventure:

The residents of Lake Eden, Minnesota, are planning to paint the town red, white, and blue to celebrate the Fourth of July – but the fireworks are already going off at Hannah Swensen’s bake shop, The Cookie Jar…

Hannah Swensen thought she’d finally discovered the recipe for a perfect life. But her sometime beau Norman Rhodes tosses a surprise ingredient into the mix when he phones to tell her he’s just bought a house from local drugstore clerk Rhonda Scharf – which he plans to tear down in order to build the dream home he and Hannah designed. It seems the plan has been cooking for quite some time, and Hannah’s shocked. Especially since her ring finger is still very much bare.

The good news is that the soon-to-be-torn-down house is full of antiques – and Norman has given Hannah and her mother first dibs. They uncover some gorgeous old furniture, a patchwork quilt… and Rhonda Scharf’s dead body. Not exactly what they were looking for. A little more sleuthing turns up the half-eaten remains of a very special dinner for two – and one of The Cookie Jar’s famous lemon meringue pies. It’s obvious Rhonda was expecting someone for dinner – perhaps one of the men she was secretly dating. Now it’s up to Hannah to turn up the heat – and get busy tracking down clues. Starting in her very own kitchen…

Book 5 -  FUDGE CUPCAKE MURDER

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, an innocent deputy accused, and a killer still on the loose...

For bakery owner Hannah Swensen, life in Lake Eden, Minnesota, seems to be lacking a certain flavor. It's not that she doesn't enjoy teaching a weekly "Potluck Cooking Class" at the community outreach center. Or that she's not excited about her sister Andrea's bun in the oven -- watching the very pregnant Andrea try to sit on a stool at The Cookie Jar is worth it every time.

Maybe it's this year's sheriff's election that's got her down. For years, Sheriff Grant's been the iron hand in 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 in stride, especially once the local polls (and The Cookie Jar gossip) show Bill pulling ahead.
But before anyone can get a taste of victory, things go sour. Just as Hannah's emptying the trash, she makes a very unappetizing discovery: Sheriff Grant's body in the dumpster behind the high school where she's teaching her cooking class. And if that weren't bad enough, the poor man still has fudge frosting on his shirt from the cupcake she gave him earlier. She'd been trying to find the secret ingredient left out of the recipe. Now she has a more important mystery to crack.

The number one suspect is none other than Bill. In fact, he's the only suspect. But Hannah's not swallowing it. Plenty of people had reason to hate Sheriff Grant, starting with all the deputies whose cases he stole during election years just so he could take the glory. Even his long-suffering wife Nettie isn't blame-free. Rumor has it the Grants were doing some serious feuding and had a skeleton rattling around in their closet. Soon, Hannah's dishing up scandalous secrets, steaming hot betrayals, and enough nastiness 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. Will Hannah be able to stand the heat when someone wants her out of the kitchen... for good?

Book 6 -  SUGAR COOKIE MURDER


Hiro Kimura's cover artwork is incredible, as usual.

The holidays are the icing on the cake for bakery owner Hannah Swensen.  Surrounded by her loved ones, she has all the ingredients for a perfect Christmas--until murder is added to the mix . . .

When it comes to the holidays, Minnesotans rise to the occasion--and the little town of Lake Eden is baking up a storm with Hannah leading the way.  The annual Christmas Buffet is the final test of the recipes Hannah has collected for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook.

While Hannah is baking the day's goodies at The Cookie Jar, the evening's plans begin to jell.  Start with the best Lake Eden culinary creations, add two of Hannah's  "sometime" boyfriends, a pinch of her ready-to-pop pregnant sister, and a dash of her mother and a new significant other, an actual British lord, and what do you get?  A recipe for disaster, but the juiciest ingredient is yet to come . . .

The recently divorced Martin Dubinski arrives at the buffet with his new Vegas showgirl wife--all wrapped up in glitter and fur.  His ex-wife, however, seems as cool as chilled eggnog.  And when Hannah's mother's antique Christmas cake knife disappears, its discovery in the décolletage of the new--and now late--Mrs. Dubinski puts the festivities on ice.

With everyone stranded at the community center by a blizzard, Hannah puts her investigative skills to the test, using the ingredients at hand: half the town of Lake Eden--and a killer.  Now, as the snowdrifts get higher, it's up to Hannah to dig out all the clues--and make sure that this white Christmas doesn't bring any more deadly tidings...

Book 7 -  PEACH COBBLER MURDER

With The Cookie Jar, Hannah Swensen has a mouthwatering monopoly on the bakery business of Lake Eden, Minnesota.  But when a rival store opens, tensions begin to bubble...

As she sits in her nearly empty store on Groundhog Day, Hannah can only hope that spring is just around the corner--and that the popularity of the new Magnolia Blossom Bakery is just a passing fad.  The southern hospitality of Lake Eden's two Georgia transplants, Shawna Lee and Vanessa Quinn, is grating on Hannah's nerves--and cutting into her profits.

At least Hannah has her business partner Lisa's wedding to look forward to.  She's turned one of Lisa's favorite childhood treats into a spectacular Wedding Cookie Cake.  And Lisa's aunt will be bringing her famous Peach Cobbler to the reception.  But Hannah starts to steam when she finds out that Shawna Lee has been invited--and is bringing her own Peach Cobbler.

Hannah doesn't like having the Georgia Peach in the mix, especially when both Shawna Lee and Hannah's sometime-boyfriend, Detective Mike Kingston, are no-shows to the wedding.  Hannah has suspected that Mike is interested in more than Shawna Lee's baking abilities.  So when she sees lights on at the Magnolia Blossom Bakery after the reception, she investigates--and finds Shawna Lee shot to death.

Everyone in town knew The Cookie Jar was losing business to the Magnolia Bakery--a fact that puts Hannah at the top of the initial list of suspects.  But with a little help from her friends, Hannah's determined to prove that she wasn't the only one who had an axe to grind with the Quinn sisters.  Somebody wasn't fooled by the Georgia Peaches and their sweet-as-pie act--and now it's up to Hannah to track down whoever had the right ingredients to whip up a murder...

Book 8 -  CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER

Hannah Swensen and her bakery, The Cookie Jar, bask in the glow of Hollywood glamour when Main Street becomes a movie set.  And although tensions simmer as the cameras roll, no one expects the action to turn deadly...until it's too late...

There's no such thing as privacy in Lake Eden, but Hannah never thought things would go this far.  Everyone has been telling her what to do ever since she got not one but two marriage proposals.  The votes are evenly divided between Detective Mike Kingston and town dentist Norman Rhodes.

Movie mania soon shoves Hannah's marriage dilemma into the background and even gives her cat a shot at stardom.  The Cookie Jar serves as snack central with Main Street rented out for the week.  Hannah is stunned to see producer Ross Barton, an old college buddy who is now handsome, famous, and single.  She stirs lots of fresh gossip whipping up treats for cast and crew, including demanding director Dean Lawrence's favorite--cherry cheesecake.

Everything's on schedule until Dean demonstrates a suicide scene with a prop gun that turns out to be all too real.  Hannah's on the case in a flash.  There are plenty of suspects to go around, starting with the lead actress Lynne Larchmont--one of a slew of female visitors to Dean's trailer--whose husband Tom is financing the film.  Then there's Tom Larchmont himself, forty years his wife's senior, and smitten enough to be motivated by jealousy.  Ross Barton was constantly keeping Dean out of trouble...could he have had enough?  Local Winnie Henderson publicly threatened to kill Dean to stop him for moving her brother's statue.  And what about male star Burke Anson?  He's argued with Dean about something mysterious the morning of the murder.

As filming continues, Hannah shifts through the clues, hoping against hope that the person responsible for Dean's death is half-baked enough to have made a mistake.  When it happens, Hannah intends to be there--ready to rewrite a killer's lethal script with the kind of quirky ending that can only happen in Lake Eden

Book 9 -  KEY LIME PIE MURDER

It’s Tri-County Fair time and Lake Eden, Minnesota, is buzzing with more than mosquitoes. Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar, is hot on the trail of a killer whose perfect carnival prize would be getting away with murder.

It promises to be a busy week for Hannah Swensen. Not only is she whipping up treats for the chamber of commerce booth at the fair, she’s also judging the baking contest, acting as a magician’s assistant for her business partner’s husband, trying to coax Moishe, her previously rapacious feline, to end his hunger strike, and performing her own private carnival act by juggling the demands of her mother and sisters.

With so much on her plate, it’s no wonder Hannah finds herself on the midway, only moments before the fair closes for the night. As the lights click off, she realizes that she’s not alone among the shuttered booths and looming carnival attractions. After hearing a suspicious thump, she goes snooping – only to discover Willa Sunquist, student teacher and fellow bake contest judge, dead alongside an upended key lime pie. But who would want to kill Willa and why? Before long, Hannah is sifting motives and a list of suspects which include a high school student Willa flunked, the hot-blooded brothers of a disqualified beauty contestant, a rodeo cowboy, a baking competitor who failed to win her yearly blue ribbon, and the college professor Willa was dating.

As fair week draws to a close, Hannah cranks up the heat, hoping that the killer will get rattled and make a mistake. If that happens she intends to be there, even if it means getting on a carnival ride that could very well be her last.

Book 10 - CARROT CAKE MURDER

Summertime has finally arrived in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar bakery, is looking forward to warm, lazy days, eating ice cream, and sharing picnics with friends.  But when a family reunion takes a deadly turn, it's up to Hannah to find a killer...

Hannah Swensen has a lot on her plate, baking up a storm for The Cookie Jar.  But she'll always make time for her business partner, Lisa, who's preparing for a big family reunion.  Everyone is delighted when Lisa's long-lost uncle makes a surprise appearance.  No one has heard from Gus in twenty-five years.  Uncle Gus is immediately the hit of the reunion.  He's almost as popular as Hannah's scrumptious carrot cake.  But the next morning, as the whole family gathers for the group photo, one person is missing.  Hannah offers to track down Uncle Gus, but her search leads to a shocking find.  Over by the bar at the pavilion, she spots two slices of her infamous carrot cake, frosting side down on the floor -- and Gus's corpse with an ice pick jutting out of his chest!

A little snooping reveals that not everyone was celebrating Gus's return.  And when Hannah unearths secrets from Gus's past, she discovers many more people with an axe to grind.  Now Hannah's got to sift through a long list of suspects to find a killer -- even if it could be a recipe for her own demise...

Book 11 - CREAM PUFF MURDER

Winter in Lake Eden, Minnesota, is the perfect time to curl up by a cozy fire with something - and someone - sweet. But while bakery owner Hannah Swensen can provide herself with the confections, cuddling will have to take a back seat to sleuthing when her sometime-squeeze becomes a murder suspect...

With the launch party of her mother's novel around the corner, Hannah has a dress to fit into and a date with her sister, Andrea, at Lake Eden's new health club, Heavenly Bodies. Dragging herself out of bed on a frigid Minnesota morning for exercise, of all things, is bad enough. Discovering a dead body floating in the gym's Jacuzzi? Okay, that's worse. Nor does it help that there's a plate of The Cookie Jar's very own cream puffs garnishing the murder scene. The fact that they were purchased by none other than Hannah's part-time flame, Detective Mike Kingston, is simply the icing on what's shaping up to be one very messy cake...

Mike may be the prime suspect in the murder of man-eating bombshell Ronni Ward, but he's by no means the only one. Ronni, a fitness instructor at both the Sheriff's department and Heavenly Bodies, made a nasty habit of throwing her own heavenly body at every man, eligible or not, who crossed her path. Plenty of Lake Eden's ladies won't miss Ronni, including her ex-fiancé's former girlfriend, the angry mother of one of her would-be conquests, and even the mayor's wife. Could any of them have wanted her gone badly enough to make it happen? Mike's recruited Hannah to find out, and, as any suspended, suspected detective would, he's micromanaging her every step of the way...

Between trying to narrow the list of Ronni's enemies down to fewer than half the town's female population and resisting the urge to remove Mike from the running by throttling him herself, Hannah has her plate full. Trouble is, when it comes to cookies - and to murder - there's always room for one more.

Book 12 - PLUM PUDDING MURDER

The yuletide season in Lake Eden, Minnesota, guarantees a white Christmas, delectable holiday goodies from Hannah Swensen's bakery, The Cookie Jar—and murder.  As a shadow hangs over her friends' Christmas wedding, Hannah's determined to cook a killer's goose before anyone else get burned...

The Cookie Jar's busiest time of the year also happens to be the most wonderful time...for Christmas cookies, Hannah's own special plum pudding—and romance!  Holiday orders are high, and Hannah's slated to provide dessert at the Reverend Knudsen's upcoming nuptials.  She's busy as can be and loving it.  She also gets a kick out of Larry Jaeger's Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot, a kitschy carnival taking place smack-dab in the middle of the village green.  Larry thinks he's crazy like a fox with his wild business schemes, but this time, the entrepreneur may have bitten off more than he can chew.  Rumor has it that Larry's in the red—an idea that takes a sinister turn when Hannah discover the man himself dead as a doornail in his own office...

It seems quite a few people would have like to fill Larry's stocking with coal and then bash him with it—including his bitter ex-wife, his ex-partner's daughter, a woman he was wooing, and the Crazy Elf Tree lot's extremely exasperated investors...

Now, with so many suspects to investigate and the twelve days of Christmas ticking away, Hannah's running out of time to nab a murderous Scrooge who doesn't want her to see the New Year...

Book 13 - APPLE TURNOVER MURDER

It's early summer in Lake Eden, MN and The Cookie Jar is bustling with orders for wedding showers, graduation parties, and family gatherings.  Hannah's just wondering how they can get it all done when Mrs. Bascomb comes in to order twelve-hundred cookies for the opening luncheon at the 3-day charity event she's holding on the campus of Jordan High.  The theme of the event is "Turn Over a New Leaf" the mayor's wife explains.  She wants people to give twice as much as they did last year.  Lisa loves the theme -- why don't they make turnovers to sell at the event?  "Turnover" a New Leaf... get it?  Mrs. Bascomb thinks that's a marvelous idea.  Hannah thinks they're overworked as it is, but she guesses they can manage if Lisa has a good turnover recipe.  Lisa doesn't, but her mother-in-law Marge makes the best apple turnovers in the world, and they set up an apple turnover assembly line after work in The Cookie Jar kitchen.  Now every hour in Hannah's day is filled.  Thank goodness there hasn't been a murder to investigate for a while!

Hannah vows not to take on any extra work, but she simply can't refuse when Herb asks her to be his magician's assistant at the charity event talent show.  At least she had the foresight to give that hideous purple dress she wore last time she assisted him to some Jordan High students for a clothing drive.  Now she'll never have to wear it again... she thinks.

The Amazing Herb and his red-haired assistant stop the show -- literally.  Right after their act Hannah finds the MC of the show, Bradford Ramsey, dead with one of her apple turnovers in his hand.

Everything is happening at once for Hannah.  There's Norman, who's not being forthcoming about his 3-day trip to Minneapolis.  There's Mike, who's beating himself up over something.  There's Delores, who's not a bit lonely now that Carrie and Earl are away on their honeymoon because all the single men in town are squiring her around, There's Andrea, who's afraid that Bill will take a job in Florida and they'll have to move.  And there's Moishe who's decided that he wants to learn how to bake.

There's one other concern for Hannah, perhaps the most important one.  She must solve thus murder case before the authorities start asking probing questions.  No way she wants her former relationship, and her sister Michelle's not-so-former relationship, with the poetry professor to become the newest topic on the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline!

Book 14 - DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE MURDER

These days, everyone in Lake Eden, Minnesota, is buzzing with activity, and Hannah Swensen is no exception. But no matter how busy she may be, Hannah can always find time to help a friend in need―especially when he's been murdered...

Hannah Swensen has to admit that her life is pretty sweet. Things are going well in the romance department, and her bakery's delectable confections are selling almost as fast as she can bake them. Even her good friend Claire is on Cloud Nine, head over heels with her new husband, Reverend Bob Knudson. If only they could find time to take their honeymoon!

When Bob's childhood friend, Matthew Walters, comes to town, it seems like divine intervention. Matthew, like Bob, is a Lutheran minister with a stubborn sweet tooth. Since he's on sabbatical, Matthew is happy to fill in for Bob while he and Claire that that long-awaited honeymoon. It sounds like the perfect plan―until Hannah finds Matthew in the rectory, face-down in a plate full of Devil's Food Cake, a single bullet in his head.

Determined to find out who killed Mathew, Hannah starts asking questions―and discovers that the good Reverend wasn't quite the saintly fellow he appeared to be. But could the gold Sacagawea coins in Sunday's collection plate hold the key to solving the crime? Or is the murder connection to that big jewel heist out in Minneapolis? Is it possible that Matthew's love of chocolate somehow led to his downfall? It will take some more digging to find out, but Hannah is sure of one thing: even the most half-baked murder plot can be oh so deadly...

Adapted from http://www.murdershebaked.com/books.htm#strawberry and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.