Joanne FlukeCritiques

Book number 10 in the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series, set in Lake Eden, Minnesota.

In this episode a family reunion is spoiled when a prodigal son returns, only to be murdered. Hannah and her sisters must, of course, get involved with solving the case. This time, the police actually ask for their help!

I read these mostly when I need something to fit a particular challenge. The book is a fast read and has some tasty recipes included. But I am over the love triangle between Hannah, Norman and Mike.

3.5 stars is accurate
This is a complete, no thinking required, fluff book that is a light, easy and quick read. Some how no matter where Hannah is, she finds herself in the center of a crime, most often murder. This time she's one of the suspects. Of course, when she's not baking cookies or cupcakes, she strikes out to find the real murderer. This book is sprinkled with recipes for some good sounding cookies, although she really dumbs down the recipes: "1/2 cup (1 stick, 8 ounces, 1/4 pound) salted butter, softened" or "Add the sofened butter, (the butter should be at room temperature, unless, of course, you're working in a drafty kitchen in the middle of a cold Minnesota winter, In that case you'll have to soften it a bit more)" So the average recipe goes on for 4 pages. That aside, I find this series fun to read.

How cute! This is the kind of peaceful mystery series I grew up with, and it's easy to see why Fluke has such a strong following. Each book, set around the crime investigations of a Minnesotan baker and the lives of her family and friends, also contains several recipes that relate to the plot.

An adorable concept. The tough thing about this type of book, admittedly, is that several of the characters are recurring and unlikely to be revealed to be killers (although, having only read 1 of a series of 30, who am I to judge?). So I wasn't that surprised by the killer. But enjoyed the experience. Might return again to this world some day.

It took a surprisingly long time to get to the actual murder, and I'm not quite sure there was much detective work actually done. The characters were shallow, and I would emphatically recommend not starting with this one, because it operates under the assumption that you've read the other 19 and little in the way of character development or explanation is provided herein.
A quick vapid read, that I guess got me in the spirit of Christmas?

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder
Hannah Swensen, Book 4

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: BC Public Library
Dates Read: 4/2/24 - 4/3/24
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Suzanne Toren

The Characters:

Hannah Swensen:
:
Mike, Norman, Lisa, Mother, Michelle (baby sis), Andrea (middle sis),

The Story:
I wonder if Hannah, like another fictional heroine of many novels I’ve read, will forever have two suitors. I also wonder if it will ever get old for me. So far, no. I figured out the killer early on and I’m proud of myself.

The Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke is a 2003 Kensington publication.

This is the third installment in the Hannah Swensen series, and I think maybe I’m finally beginning to settle into it.

Gearing up for the Lake Eden Winter Carnival, Hannah is super busy doing her part- but the town is all abuzz over the celebrity lifestyle guru, Connie Mac, stepping in to bake the Carnival cake. But Hannah thinks the woman is a fake, entitled, uncharitable and difficult. Still, it comes as a big shock when she finds Connie Mac dead in her bakery….

I’ll admit I knew almost from the beginning who the murderer probably was- but I had no clue what the motive or connection might be- so it was still a mystery and a good one at that. I am starting to warm up to Hannah now that I understand her better and enjoy her little ‘love triangle’ musings, her cat, her sister, and her annoying mother, too- all of which is quite entertaining.

Overall, this was a quick, fun cozy- and I’m starting to enjoy the series more and more as I go!

4 stars

*This story is found at the end of Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Paperback Edition*

Candy for Christmas
Hannah Swensen, Book 1.5

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Paperback
Source: CC Public Library
Dates Read: 2/25/24 - 3/10/24
Stars: 4 Stars

The Characters:

Hannah Swensen
Candy “R”
Norman, Andrea, Bill, Lisa

The Story:

I am not mature enough for this title to not sound dirty. The fact that it’s a very sweet story that reunites a family is crazy. It was short and sweet with like 5 recipes. This is the first paperback I’ve picked up in forever and I have mixed feelings about that.

I liked all three short stories. The Hannah Swensen story was my favorite, only because I knew all of the characters already. I would gladly read more of the books in Leslie Meier and Laura Levine's mystery series.

Mystery

One in a series of cookbook mysteries. OK story.

Delicious fun, and I did not see the end coming.

Of course, I was also confused because my copy from the library also had the novella in it "Candy for Christmas." I had not noticed this, so I was not expecting the murder mystery to wrap up for another 100 pages or so! Ha!

Another fun installment in the Hannah Swensen mystery series. I wish that Hannah would make a decision about Mike and Norman and choose Norman. Yes, Mike seems to make her weak in the knees and get her heart all a twitter but Norman is steady, good looking, caring, helpful, and so much more.

Blueberry Muffin Murder
Hannah Swensen, Book 3

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: AudiblePlus
Dates Read: 1/17/24 - 1/19/24
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Suzanne Toren

The Characters:

Hannah Swensen
Andrea, Mike, Norman, A bunch of other people….like really a lot.

The Story:

Hannah solved more mysteries in this one book than Sherlock Holmes in his whole series. I won’t recap because there were many but she handled everything with grace and aplomb. Also her man situation... whew. And I don’t think I’ll ever like her mama.

Not for me, but the included recipes look interesting especially if you are into baking and lots of sugar.

A fun one, but it felt unfinished because of the court case cliffhanger.

The Summer Solstice Celebration has come to Lake Eden and surprise, surprise, so has another murder. But this time Hannah's mother, Delores, is a prime suspect.

As usual the goodies described took center stage being that the mystery was very light.

The only thing that saved this book from one star is that it was so terrifically badly written that it became comical. I kept laughing out loud at things that I was absolutely not supposed to be laughing about. Like, for example: "The huge floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the hallway looked out on the lake, and the other side had a lovely view of the pine forest. But Hannah had no time to appreciate the beauty of nature tonight, not when she was being chased by P.K.'s killer!" Just, wow.

This was a super quick listen!! I thought this book was fun and i will still read this series but i think some of the way this story was told is just weaker, i liked all the side characters and plots but this series is fine but the ending was a suprise!!

I think this was fun read. i also liked how this book formate was a bit diffrent from previous books. Sometimes the over explaining of and how the author writes is not my favorites and i something think the dialogue it a bit bland. This book did not really feature the characters that i love as much. There was a big ending at the end of this book and i am excoted to see how this book effect the future ones!! a cute read and def a new favorite in this series

At this point, I am super invested in this series. I dont love the character development and growth in the reads, but I really do love the small town feel and also the small town elements that happen in this novel. I also thought this mystery in this read, was stronger then the other ones and I liked how this story connected to the town more then the pervious books in this series.

This was a super cute read. I liked that it was a different take on murder mystery. I found it to be super fun read. I liked how this book was a dive back into the past. It was a super fun read. I can def see the structure of the book is a bit repetitive. But it put a smile in my face and just was fun quick read!! Hope to catch up on this series soon!

It was nice to venture back to this world. This was a fun read. I liked that mystery and murder was closely tied to hannah family and felt a lot of buy into the the mystery. I thought his book did feature more of the towns and the side characters then have seen in the previous couple of books. I did not see the ending coming until it was right under my nose. def a new fav in series

I want to be more invested in this series. I really did like the world buiding and just how she creates the world and the characters. The mystery just did now wow me yet again. I felt for a book that included murder in the title, murder was jut not the focus of this novel and I just wanted more out of this novel. After 24 books in the series, i am in for the long haul!

All i can say is there better be next book in this series! THE CAN'T END IT LIKE THAT!

I did enjoy this book. I did not predict the end or the killer. Still very formulaic but i loved coming back to this world. It is a fast pace read and like a good pair of jeans.