Fudge Cupcake Murder

Things are on the verge of change in Eden Lake, Minnesota. Hannah’s sister, Andrea, and her husband, Bill, are expecting their first child. It’s election time for the sheriff and Bill is running against Sheriff Grant. And, as always happens in an election year, Sheriff Grant is taking credit for cases closed by his officers so that he will look good to the voters.

Hannah, meanwhile, is working on the Eden Lake charity cookbook. She has a copy of Beatrice Koester’s mother-in-law’s fudge cupcake recipe, but one of the ingredients is listed as the “secret ingredient.” And Hannah is trying different additions as she makes batches of cupcakes, trying to find the recipe that tastes “just right.”

When Sheriff Grant wanders show more through The Cookie Jar’s kitchen, Hannah gives him one of the fudge cupcakes she’s made. And it isn’t long before she finds his body, his shirt smeared with fudge frosting from the cupcake she’d given him earlier.

So, who did in the sheriff? Bill becomes the prime suspect, but any of the other officers who’d had credit for their work unfairly snatched away by the sheriff might be just as likely to have done the deed.

The fifth installment in the Hannah Swensen series finds all of the expected characters moving in and out of The Cookie Jar. Eden Lake anchors the story with its strong sense of place; Hannah, as usual, finds the body and inserts herself into the investigation. But as the story unfolds, the twists and turns in the plot take it in unexpected directions, giving the mystery a bit of substance. A less-serious mystery involving the unidentified cupcake ingredient is a perfect counterpoint to the murder mystery. Now, if Hannah could show just as much determination in deciding between Norman and Mike . . . .

Fans of the series are sure to enjoy this quick-read story. And, of course, there are all those recipes. [But could we please have some fancy cookies that DON’T have oats in them?]

Recommended. show less

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’s Hallowe’en and Hannah is running in all directions. She is so busy putting together a community cookbook, trying to avoid wearing a costume at her shop, working hard at enticing her cat to eat his senior food and take his vitamins, deciding if she’d rather be with Norm or with Mike, deciphering a secret ingredient that’s missing from an heirloom recipe, and dealing with her family that she hardly has time investigate a murder. But, of course, she does. This fun cozy is a fast and entertaining tale, and chockfull of great sounding recipes.

It’s October. Minnesota is getting cold. Hannah is teaching a baking class, trying to figure out the “secret ingredient” in a long-deceased town elder’s fudge cupcake recipe, and her brother in law is running for sheriff against the current sheriff. Then, the current sheriff turns up dead… with chocolate cupcake smeared on his shirt. Hannah is working to clear her brother in law’s name, and find that missing ingredient. The trouble is, everyone had a bone to pick with the old sheriff so the suspect list is a mile long. Also, Mosiha won’t eat the cat food the vet wants him to (been there) and only wants cheap “Kitty Crunchies.” How will Hannah get his vitamins into him? As usual, a delightful mix of baking, murder show more mystery, and fun small-town characters.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Among the few active series of cozy mysteries I'm following, this one, and to be more precise, this book, is the one who steps up a gear. Indeed, no other books I've read had the guts to kill off the town Sheriff. To sum it up, Sheriff Grant is murdered and the heroine, Hannah's brother-in-law is suspected due to lack of alibi. He's suspended from work, by Hannah's beau, Mike. This is interesting. It would translate well to the screen as a television movie. Or as an animated series, if it were all up to me.

Like a classic hero, Hannah has well defined quests. She has to cater to the culinary needs of her geriatric (and methinks, highly detestable) cat. Secondly, she must solve the identity of the secret ingredient in a recipe that has a show more publishing deadline. Also, the main quest is that of course, the murder has to be solved. A minor quest, that of the precedents of Harrington, is not uncovered here. It will, no doubt, be in the next book, which I'm dying to read.

Hannah has green fingers it seems, for her workplace has the grapevine running through it lustily. This solves the need to juggle her work and her sleuthing. Detectives interrogate suspects, but Hannah talks to friends. That's what it looks like. The gradual progression in the case was more intriguing, interesting and intricate than ever before. There are no annoying characters this time. The author shows us new situations and uses barely used words. All of them were appealing to me. If the book was a hundred pages leaner, I'd rate this four stars or more. I liked the climax. For someone so quick, Hannah really put her life in jeopardy by taking a senseless risk. I'm amused at how casually Hannah and Andrea discuss her involvement in the case, forgetting that it's life-threatening at all times. I should have guessed the identity of the murderer, as it didn't take a genius to know. But I forgot who was who and I guessed a bit too late. Until next time. show less

Continuing with my Hannah Swensen Mystery binge audio reading. While the charm of the stories is not as delightful as my first encounter, I do still enjoy the sibling banter between Hannah and Angela, the community and small town life aspects of the stories. What I really liked about this one is there are two mysteries to solve: the expected murder mystery and a bonus culinary mystery. There is nothing more intriguing, IMO, than a closely guarded family recipe that lists a "secret ingredient". While I had no difficulty in solving the murder mystery - and listened as Hannah once again uselessly exposing herself to the risk of yet again finding herself in a murder's cross-hairs (so to speak) - the culinary mystery was a fun head show more scratch-er! I had a couple of ideas and was pleasantly surprised when the secret ingredient was finally revealed after numerous baking attempts by Hannah and Lisa, her Cookie Jar partner. On the downside, Hannah's love life drama is starting to grate on me.

Overall, another fun visit to the murderous sleepy town of Lake Eden. show less

Election time and Sheriff Grant's office is being challenged by Hannah's brother-in-law, Bill. Grant isn't particularly happy but it seems that Lake Eden citizens are ready for a change. Bill is in the lead and all is looking good.

When Hannah finds Grant's body in a dumpster on the high school campus where she is teaching a cooking class, things start looking pretty grim for Bill. It also looks bad for Hannah, as Grant has the remnants of fudge frosting on his mouth and shirt. Frosting from cupcakes that the sheriff was eating before he was murdered.

Bill may be the prime suspect, but Hannah thinks otherwise and sets out to prove her point. Along the way she discovers scandals, betrayals and the stuff you'd expect to see in the gossip show more rags. Lake Eden is just as bad as the big cities when it comes to politics.

I am still reading this series in sequence and thoroughly enjoying it. Also the delicious recipes that are included in the book. show less