Peach Cobbler Murder

This review contains complaining. You've be fairly warned.

Here's the one thing that drives me absolutely bananas about Joanne Fluke's cookie-baking Minnesotan heroine Hannah Swensen: She nitpicks about other people's grammar during conversations. I know that Hannah's background is of a potential MA in English before her dad dies and she goes home to Lake Eden to open her cookie business, but enough is enough. I'm a book editor and I am paid to fix bad grammar, but I don't get distracted by inner dialogue with myself when someone puts a preposition at the end of a sentence or mangles the objective case when I am talking to them. Hannah bakes cookies and solves murders, and this is why I keep going back for more. Informal spoken English show more is a lot different than formal written English, and it is the spoken language that will inform the written language over time as both forms of language develop. So your sister bobbles the subjunctive -- SUCK IT UP AND DEAL. Most people do bobble the subjunctive or occasionally misuse the objective case. You are a baker, Hannah. Let it go. When I am trying to unwind at the end of the day and put everyone else's bad grammar behind me, I don't need you grammarsnarking on your family members! CUT IT OUT!

Phew. I'm so glad I got that off my chest. show less

It’s February in cold, snowy Minnesota. Hannah is back with her cat Moisha (who is being recruited to hunt all the mice in town in exchange for bags of frozen shrimp—I laughed so hard at these scenes), and unfortunately, there’s a new bakery in town, too, courtesy of Shauna Lee, Hannah’s rival for Mike’s affections. This one was quite hilarious, with plenty of jealousy over whose baked goods were superior, real life worries over what to do when it looks like a small town can’t support two similar businesses, and of course, the great cat scenes I count on Joanne Fluke to write.

When Shauna Lee turns up dead, Hannah is a suspect, and has to find the real killer in order to clear her name. But since her rival had a habit of show more flirting with most of the men in town, not just Hannah’s boyfriend, and had other enemies besides, that leaves a long list of potential enemies. Many twists in this one, and an interesting mystery to solve. And the peach cobbler recipe… yum!

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

It’s February in cold, snowy Minnesota. Hannah is back with her cat Moisha (who is being recruited to hunt all the mice in town in exchange for bags of frozen shrimp), and unfortunately, there’s a new bakery in town, too, courtesy of Shauna Lee, Hannah’s rival for Mike’s affections. This one was quite hilarious, with plenty of jealousy over whose baked goods were superior, real life worries over what to do when it looks like a small town can’t support two similar businesses, and of course, the great cat scenes I count on Joanne Fluke to write.
When Shauna Lee turns up dead, Hannah is a suspect, and has to find the real killer in order to clear her name. But since her rival had a habit of flirting with most of the men in town, show more not just Hannah’s boyfriend, and had other enemies besides, that leaves a long list of potential enemies. Many twists in this one, and an interesting mystery to solve. show less

I don't believe in guilty pleasures. If you like something, you like it, regardless of how the rest of the world or your own little circle views it. I watch Beverly Hills, 90210 with pleasure and not a hint of ironic detachment. I love Mark Wahlberg's Rock Star. And any novel featuring fairies, werewolves, wizards, or vampires? Bring it on; I may not like it, but I certainly won't feel any guilt if I do. However, if I did believe in guilty pleasures, the novels of Joanne Fluke would fall firmly in that category for me. They're not at all well-written, the plots aren't original, the dialog is wooden, and yet...every now and then, when Ms. Fluke comes out with a new one or, as with Peach Cobbler Murder, I happen to notice it while show more browsing in the library, I feel an overwhelming urge to visit Lake Eden, Minnesota, where all the adults drink gallons of coffee, all the sex is missionary position, and the worst the bad girls ever do--or at least, the worst we ever know about--is to kiss someone else's boyfriend.

As Peach Cobbler Murder opens one of these bad girls, transplanted southern belle Shawna Lee Quinn, has opened a rival bakery in Lake Eden right across the street from the Cookie Jar. What? I hate her already. As always, the first hundred pages or so set up small town life, reintroducing the reader to the regular characters and their routines and establishing motive for the crime that is to come. And then, finally, there is a murder. And the victim is hardly ever a surprise.

Poor Shawna Lee, nobody much liked her anyway. Certainly not any of the women. And especially not Hannah, since not only has the Magnolia Blossom Bakery been undercutting her business dramatically since it opened, but Shawna Lee has set her sights on Sheriff Mike, as well. If we didn't know better we might think it was Hannah who shot Shawna Lee through the window of her bakery!

But it wasn't, and Hannah and her team of crack amateurs set out to solve the crime--which they do, while eating their way through dozens upon dozens of outrageously delicious sounding cookies. As always, read the recipe names and weep: Desperation Cookies, Chocolate Overload Cookie Bars, German Chocolate Cake Cookies, Rhubarb Custard Cake...and if you ever try any of these recipes, do let me know if they're as delicious as they sound, won't you? show less

Peach Cobbler Murder
Hannah Swensen, Book 7

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source:HC Public Library
Dates Read: 12/17/24 - 12/18/24
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Suzanne Toren

The Characters:

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

The Story:
Well, that was unexpected. I thought we’d have this foil for a long time. I knew something was up with Winthrop, I didn’t see it shaking out the way it did but I wasn’t shocked. Especially after that tour of his apartment. A good installment to the series. I can’t wait to see what comes next for Hannah and the crew.

So, my experience with the Hannah Swensen Mysteries series continues to dip in a negative way, as I am finding certain aspects of the stories are starting (or continue) to wear thin with me. This review is going to be a bit of a rant... apologies in advance. I don’t mind protagonists that tend to unwittingly and repeatedly expose themselves to dangerous situations. Some authors tend to write the stories this way on purpose to add suspense to the story, but Hannah’s hypocrisy is really starting to grate on me. I am growing very tired of Hannah’s “grammar policing”, correcting everyone’s grammar at a drop of a hat. *cue eyeroll* Also annoying is the whole love triangle. You cannot have a long term love triangle on the go and show more then get all uppity and complaining because one of your boyfriends might be seeing someone else. No Hannah, you can't have your cake and eat it too. No spoilers, but the ending to this one was just plain garbage IMO, as we have Hannah proving that she really is clueless and self-serving when it comes to personal (love) relationships. Yes, when push comes to shove, Hannah still doesn’t get her act together. Suffice to say, this type of contemporary romance drama does not appeal to me. Here is hoping it resolves in the next installment or I may just have to give up on the series.

On the mystery front, the mystery/murder cases continue to be predictable but I will give Fluke credit for tidy murder mystery details that, while somewhat implausible, still work. Too bad she didn’t pay closer attention to some of the non-mystery elements as some irregularities do crop up (kind of like continuity blunders that crop up in some movie scenes). I do like how this story picks up nicely from the previous installment and closes the loop on some unfinished business. You really do need to read this series in publication order to fully understand some of the character drama! Lake Eden residents continue to charm, but I am waiting for the day when Hannah pushes things too far with interfering in police business (she really came close to the mark in this installment, IMO, even if the chief of police is her BIL). I guess there wouldn’t be much of a series left if that did happen and she could only make inconsequential inquiries.

Overall, never a good sign when the protagonist starts to get on a reader’s nerves, so calling this one just a ‘meh’ read. show less

I don't often read cozy mysteries with a dessert theme because it always makes me crave food I can't eat (I'm on a limited sugar/carb restricted diet for medical reasons). But I make an exception for the Hannah Swensen series. There might be a lot of cookie-talk in the books because Hannah owns a bakery...but the series is so fun to read, that I don't mind reading about all the foods I can't have. Most of the recipes included in the books are desserts (I've made a few yummy selections for my family), but there are also usually some main courses and appetizers included as well.

Peach Cobbler Murder is the 7th book in the series. The Basics: The Cookie Jar is in financial straits when a new bakery opens up just across the street. Shawna show more Lee Quinn and her sister Vanessa run the Magnolia Blossom Bakery. Hannah can understand business...competition is the way things work. But, she doesn't have to like Shawna Lee flirting with Mike Kingston, local cop and one of Hannah's love interests. Hannah's business partner Lisa is getting married and Shawna Lee never shows up with the cobbler for the reception dessert table. Mike is a no-show as well. Later that night, things go from bad to worse when Hannah discovers Shawna Lee dead in the Magnolia Blossom Bakery. Hannah finds herself a suspect in the murder. Can she prove that she didn't kill Shawna Lee? And...who did?

I enjoyed this book, as I have the rest of the series. The mystery is engaging, not too obvious and the pacing is good. The recipes looked quite yummy as well. Hannah continues to be caught between two love interests though.....she can't make up her mind between Mike the Cop and Norman, a local dentist. After reading 7 books with her still being wishy-washy (especially after reading the last chapter in this book), I hope that Hannah is either going to choose one very very soon or just dump them both and get a new love interest. I have avoided reading any reviews of books later in the series as I don't want any spoilers. There are 20 books in this series....with a new book coming out in February. So I have a lot of reading to do! :) The books are fun, quick reads so don't be intimidated by the thought of 20 books.....they really are fun to read, light-hearted, and fast paced enough to keep a reader's attention from the beginning to end of the series. While it isn't completely necessary to read the books in order, some of the character interactions and relationships would be better understood by starting with book 1. But, someone could jump in at any point in the series and have enough background information to understand events just fine.

I'm moving on to book 8 now to see if Hannah gets any closer to answering the Mike/Norman conundrum. My goal is to catch up with this series. Only 13 books to go...ha ha!

Peach Cobbler Murder was made into a "Murder, She Baked'' movie on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. I enjoyed the movie -- but there were a few changes in the plot. Sometimes I'm not quite sure why they change plot points when they adapt a book for film. The changes were not huge....just minor differences here and there. None seemed like they were really necessary changes though. But, the directors know that business much much better than I do.....I just enjoyed the movie and told myself to stop comparing the book to the movie. The book is always better than the movie version....that doesn't mean that the movie can't be enjoyable! There are 4 Murder, She Baked movies based on the Hannah Swensen series. I highly recommend them! Very well done and enjoyable, even if there were changes made to Joanne Fluke's story.

Joanne Fluke also writes suspense novels in addition to the Hannah Swensen cozy series. To find out more about the author and her books, check out her website here. And if you like cozy mysteries, check out the Murder, She Baked movies on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries! show less