Sugar Cookie Murder

Oh, I was sold on this one from the moment the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head and Hannah was having a bake-off with the police detective’s ex-girlfriend. So cute! This was perfect to read in between getting my pies ready for Thanksgiving… it got me into such a holiday baking mood. Hannah and crew are having a potluck dinner for the entire town, and this is just another thing I love about Joanne Fluke’s writing… when she does a Christmas book she goes all out 5-reindeer on it, and it’s small-town Minnesota cozy as well.

There’s a CRAZY snowstorm going on, Hannah’s sister is about to have a baby, there’s a priceless antique cake cutter everyone better keep their eyes on and of course, all the small town gossip. show more The middle school jazz band even comes to play! The town characters are a real treat with all those conflicting personalities, and of course the recipes just make you want to go to your kitchen and start baking. show less

Hannah Swensen is helping to compile a town cookbook. The final recipes will be tested at a holiday buffet with many of the town's residents in attendance. Hannah's mother's contribution to the event is a recent acquisition – a valuable antique cake knife that she insists that Hannah use. The arrival of Martin Dubinski with his new wife, a Vegas showgirl, creates a stir. Her presence upsets someone in the crowd enough to murder her – with Hannah's mother's cake knife. Fortunately, Hannah's policeman boyfriend Mike is at the event, so when Hannah stumbles over the body, she immediately informs him of the death. However, Mike's presence doesn't keep her from doing her own investigating.

The events leading up to the murder and its show more conclusion take place over the course of a single day. A snow storm strands the guests at the party, giving the police – and Hannah – plenty of time to conduct a discreet investigation without raising a general alarm. I think Fluke could have come up with a better reason for the gathering. Recipe testing provides the author with an excuse for filling the book with recipes, but it's a weak excuse. I've been involved with several community cookbooks and none of them required recipe testing. We've already sampled most of the contributions at church pot lucks or similar gatherings.

The Christmas novels in this series are enjoyable fluff for the busy holiday season, but I couldn't tolerate a steady diet of this series. Hannah's unwillingness to commit to just one of her two boyfriends annoys me. Her relationship with Mike is more adolescent than adult. He brings out the worst in Hannah – jealousy, keeping score, and one-upmanship. On the other hand, dentist Norman treats Hannah with respect. I have a strong urge to sit down with Hannah and talk some sense into her. show less

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

While I was thinking about this book after I finished reading it, I had two distinct opinions about it. First and most prominent was the idea that this book was very disappointing. The murder was more boring than the previous entries. I did like the idea of all the suspects being together in a building during a blizzard where no one could leave. That felt all Agatha Christie to me. However Hannah felt more forced and less personable then usual. Even the secondary characters felt like caricatures of themselves. I didn't care about the victim or the suspects. Wow, this series is going downhill I thought. Half the book is recipes so it reads more like a short story or entry into an anthology then it did a regular Hannah Swenson murder show more mystery. Joanne Fluke for a fact, gets tons of comments and complements on her novels. It's almost like for some of her readers, the recipes are the best part. Everyone's always wanting more. I think Joanne wrote this book to do something different for her faithful readers. I think this is a Christmas gift to them, in a way. I refuse to make any judgements about this book not being up to par or going downhill until I read the next full volume in the series. Two stars given because the story is too short, too many recipes for my taste, and a plot that could have been planned out a little better. I'm also about sick of Mike snapping at Hannah and then being forgiven because his kisses are so "hot". Its time for Hannah to settle down with Norman, who would NEVER snap at her. I think together the two of them could make for some great future adventures. Hannah wouldn't suffer as a character at all for her marriage. All of Fluke's characters need to be evolved a little bit. Thanks for the gift here, but I think I'd prefer another full book any time. show less

"You have got to stop finding dead people, Hannah. People are going to get the wrong impression of you!''

Sugar Cookie Murder is the 6th book in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series by Joanne Fluke. Hannah owns a bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota. In between baking cupcakes, cookies, pies and all things sugary and delightful, she also has a bad habit of finding dead bodies. In her sixth adventure, Hannah and many other residents of Lake Eden are gathered together for the annual Christmas Buffet. This year, the buffet is also the final test for recipes gathered for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook.

Festivities are in full force when a blizzard hits and Hannah discovers a dead body in the parking lot. It seems Martin Dublinski's new wife, a show more beautiful girl he married in Las Vegas after a whirlwind 5-day affair, has been stabbed to death with an antique cake knife. Everyone is trapped by the snowstorm at the community center.....and one of them is a murderer.

I love this series. It's cute and fun, plus the recipes are yummy. Sugar Cookie Murder is a fun, quick read. And, the book includes 200 pages of recipes ranging from appetizers, to desserts & even main courses. All the recipes mentioned in the book are included! :)

Hannah is funny and feisty, although I do wish she would make up her mind about her love life. She has been stringing along 2 men for six books now....and I do wish she would just choose one. I have several more Hannah Swensen books on my TBR shelf....I hope that further on in the series she makes up her mind! The love triangle thing is getting a bit old. I do love how Joanne Fluke portrays her small town characters with humor and love. The relationship between Hannah, her sister and her mother is hilarious and touching at the same time.

I do have to suspend all reality when reading most cozy mysteries. If one person continually found dead bodies all the time, I do believe they would find themselves interrogated and arrested, rather than being allowed to help the police with the investigation. But.....it's part of the fun of cozy mysteries to just forget about that fact. Jessica Fletcher found a dead body every week on Murder, She Wrote and nobody batted an eye. So it's ok for Hannah Swensen to discover a body in each of the 21 books in this series. Why not? :) I can ignore it if you can.

The Hannah Swensen series is currently being made into movies by Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. The series of movies is called Murder, She Baked. So far, they have adapted four of the novels: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, The Plum Pudding Murder, Peach Cobbler Murder and Fudge Cupcake Murder. The movies don't follow the book plots completely, but are fun to watch just the same. As always, the books are better than the movies, in my opinion.

There are 20 books in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series, with the 21st, Banana Cream Pie Murder, scheduled for release on Feb 28th, 2017. There is also a collection of recipes, Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook. For more information on the author and her books, check out her website here show less

Hannah and her friends are holding a buffet and testing recipes for the new community cook book. An awful snowstorm strands everyone at the center, including the no-longer-flamboyant murder victim and the murderer. It’s not exactly a closed room murder, but it’s close enough. Mike is his usual obnoxious self while investigating the crime, and Hannah, as usual, is a step ahead of him. This is an entertaining and delightful Christmas cozy, but it’s good any time of the year you want to read it.

The Sugar Cookie Murder is the sixth book in the in the popular Hannah Swensen mystery series and the first one in a new subset called a “Hannah Swensen Holiday Mystery”. Hannah is the host of the Lake Eden Christmas buffet party, which is also being used as the test kitchen for her upcoming cookbook. There's a winter storm brewing outside and all the residents of the town are gathering for the party, including Martin Dubinski and his new wife, Brandi Wyen, a Las Vegas dancer. Apparently they were married after knowing each other five hours. It's not long before Hannah finds another dead body, this one stabbed in the back with her mother's antique cake knife.

This book is a slightly different format from the author's previous show more mysteries. In this one, the mystery takes place in the first half of the book and the second half is comprised of the recipes that will be going into the “fictional” Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook. If you are a fan of the series, you'll enjoy this one. It has some very humorous sections and of course, it's a cozy series, so the murders are not graphic at all.

It's a bit of festive run to read this time of year. I don't often read cozy mysteries but when I do, I always reach for this well written series. The character are interesting and, if you come from a small town, you'll recognize many of them. I look forward to visiting with Hannah and her friends again next year. show less