Plum Pudding Murder

Christmas time in Eden Lake, Minnesota finds the community college students jumping off the edge of the parking lot. [They’re taking a ride on a slider, courtesy of the college’s shop class.]

And between the lovely green trees and his little shop, the owner of the Crazy Elf Tree Lot seems to be doing a booming business.

But when Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar, finds Larry Jaeger dead, his business comes under scrutiny and, as the investigation begins, the list of suspects begins to grow when it becomes apparent that Larry was swindling the good folks who’d invested in his Crazy Elf Tree Lot business.

So which one of the disgruntled folks is responsible for the murder?

In this, the twelfth outing for the Eden Lake gang, all show more the expected characters are in place. Things are pretty much status quo for the little town where everyone knows everyone else and secrets are never kept for long. Hannah manages to find the body [again] and figure out who’s the culprit [again] by morphing from baker into town meddler cum busybody-investigator. [Maybe she should join the police department or get a private investigator’s license and up her credibility a notch or two.]

Or perhaps she could [finally] make a choice between dentist Norman and police detective Mike. For many readers, the Norman/Hannah/Mike triangle has definitely passed its shelf life. In the last several books in the series, Mike has been working hard at making himself particularly unlikable; perhaps readers are being primed for a choice in the near future?

Astute readers will easily identify the culprit as the story unfolds. It’s predictable and occasionally annoying, but it’s also a satisfying, undemanding read. And, as irritating as Hannah can be, there’s a pleasing sense of small-town camaraderie in these stories that’s hard to ignore.

And then there are all those recipes.

Fans of the series will find much to enjoy here.

Recommended. show less

Plum Pudding Murder is one of a long series of food-oriented mysteries by Joanne Fluke. I received it from the Library Thing early reviewers program. It is a pleasant, light and cozy story, but no one will mistake it for deep or intellectual literature. Hannah runs a cookie business – the small Minnesota town is preparing for Christmas. There is a murder and it is solved, but that seems secondary to cookie baking, Hannah’s life with two boyfriends, a cat, her mother and sister and assorted fellow residents of town. Fully 20 percent of the book is recipes, with very thorough instructions – and probably an equivalent length as discussion of details of kitchen prep, plugging cars in to keep the heater block from freezing and other show more arcane details that don’ t advance the plot, or develop the characters. It was a pleasant read, but I will not be racing to the library for more cookie mysteries- too sweet and simplistic for me- and I found myself annoyed by the level of detail in the recipes- does anyone really need to be told how to beat eggs before adding them to cookie dough? And I’ve never before been told to pack the flour down in the measuring cup—seem to guarantee different amounts of flour depending on how had and how damp the day is..
If you want to escape into a cozy world for a couple of hours, and like thinking about baking, you will probably enjoy Plum Pudding Murder. I enjoyed it to a degree, but will try for more complicated stories for my general reading. show less

A pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours, but nothing new or earth shattering here. I am getting a bit tired of the Mike-Norman-Hannah trilogy and wish the author would either have Hannah pick one of the two gents or ditch them both altogether. The recipes in the book look wonderful, so I am definitely going to give them a try.

Hannah is off her diet and no more mention of it. It's Christmas and Hannah is experiencing her first tree/cat meeting. This one was a Hallmark movie and they played it pretty close to the book. More suspicion of Mike and more niceness from Norman and an old flame resurfaces. I read some reviews of these books that were somewhat negative and wondered what the reader expected from a series. The second review complained about not enough explanation in a story to give her background on the characters...she had not read the series. The poor author trying to please a newbie who is going to read on book as a standalone and the faithful reader who has read every novel. It is a true balancing act between too much repetition and still giving show more enough information for the single book reader. Sometimes I feel like writer's can't win. These books are not intended to be great literature. They are comfort food or one of those never ending pots of soup that sat on the wood stove that is kept warm and every day changes slightly with new ingredients. Inexpensive, tasty not gourmet. show less

The Hannah Swensen mysteries are a light, "sweet" weekend read. Plum Pudding Murder picks up the story line of Hannah, her family, her two love interests, and the folks of Lake Eden, a really small town in Minnesota. Life is pretty bland except for, as usual, Hannah stumbles upon a murder. Folks stay warm with coffee and cookies, recipes included. I keep reading the books in this series; there is just something appealing about the characters.

It's Christmastime again in Lake Eden, MN and Hannah Swensen is busy baking cookies to supply the Crazy Elf Tree Lot. Larry Jaegar and his fiance Courtney run the tree lot. It seems to be doing good business, but Mayor Bascomb tells Hannah that Larry is losing money. He's selling the trees too cheaply and Bascomb is worried he will lose his investment in the business. The books don't balance either. There are several people upset with Larry, but one person is angry enough to kill. Hannah and her sometimes-boyfriend Norman find Larry shot to death in the office at the tree lot. Was he killed over money? Or something else? Hannah and her friends are on the case again. What's Christmas in Lake Eden without a murder?

Plum Pudding Murder is show more the 12th book in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series. There are 20 books so far, with the 21st, Banana Cream Pie Murder, coming out on February 28th! To get the full background on all the main characters it might be advisable to start at the beginning of the series, but it's definitely possible to jump into things in the middle of the series and still enjoy the mystery. There is enough background sprinkled here and there so a new reader could follow and understand the book without having read all of the ones before it.

The Hannah Swensen series is my favorite cozy mystery series. I like the characters. They remind me of people I knew growing up in a small town. I am getting a bit weary of a love triangle with Hannah's two main love interests....Mike and Norman. In this book, that situation is in the background and not integral to the plot....but it is still there. Hannah needs to make up her mind and stop stringing them along. It really does seem like she is just hanging on so she isn't alone while waiting for a better man to come along. Mike is a bit of a jerk, and Norman is a push-over. Because I am still 8 books behind, I'm being very careful to not accidentally read any spoilers about what happens between Hannah and her men. I'm going to catch up with this series and find out ASAP.....I am really beginning to hope that they both dump her and she finds someone else better suited to her. If either Mike or Norman was what Hannah needed, she would have made a decision a long time ago. It's like a soap opera. I dislike her stringing two men along for 12 books..... but I can't stop reading because I want to find out what happens. So, while I roll my eyes each time she has both men making goo-goo eyes at her and complain that I'm getting tired of that subplot......I secretly really really want to know who Hannah ends up with. Maybe she will in the next book -- Apple Turnover Murder!

The recipes in Plum Pudding Murder are all holiday dinner or party related, ranging from entrees and side dishes to desserts and biscuits.

Plum Pudding Murder and 3 other Hannah Swensen stories have been made into movies by Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel. The movie version of this book differs from the book a little bit, but not much. The Hannah Swensen movies are fun to watch! Cozy mystery fans will definitely enjoy all four of them. But, as usual, the books are better than the movies.

Joanne Fluke has also written several thriller/suspense novels. For more information on the author and her books, check out her website: www.murdershebaked.com show less

Maybe I’m not allowed to review this, having never had plum pudding! But I was intrigued by the idea of zany Christmas baking and murder mysteries when I saw the library had this. And oh, the recipes! This is a sweet book, set in cold, snowy Minnesota, where Hannah bakes cookies and helps her sister find Christmas trees. I was salivating after just the first two recipes, for cheesy biscuits and molten chocolate cake. Yum!

Puppy and Kitten adorability is at five overstuffed tabby cats mangling a Christmas tree. LOVED the cat in this one. Holiday cheer is at five snowflakes as well. This was SUPER holiday-focused. And although this one is not very romance-based (which is okay, it’s not billed as a romance), it gets super bonus points show more for all the FOOD. I think I literally gained five pounds just reading all those recipes. YUM!!! So many cookies! Definitely reading more of these while wrapping presents and when it’s time to decorate the tree!

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