Gingerbread Cookie Murder

When Hannah Swensen finds her neighbor dead in his condo, she has a perfect excuse for snooping into the police investigation. Mike, her sometimes beau as well as a police officer, asks her to prepare snacks for the crime scene investigators. She goes all out and fixes an entire meal, figuring she can eavesdrop while they eat. All of the evidence is circumstantial, and when the police believe they have enough to make an arrest, Hannah is convinced they've got the wrong person. With the help of her other boyfriend, Norman, will Hannah be able to find the true murderer?

In another novella, part-time journalist Lucy Stone is upset when a cute 4-year-old boy is kidnapped right before Christmas. She has a soft spot for little Nemo. When she show more finds little Nemo's father's body in his car, with evidence that Nemo had been with him, she becomes very alarmed. Is Nemo still alive, and if he is, can she find him before Christmas?

The Hannah Swensen mystery isn't bad if you ignore the fact that Hannah and her sister tamper with police evidence, as is their habit. It's a wonder that Mike and Hannah's brother-in-law, Bill, still have jobs with the police department. They'd be in a heap of trouble in real life. The Lucy Stone mystery wasn't as well plotted as others I've read in this series. However, I really like Lucy and her family and I like to check in on them occasionally. I'm quite upset with her son, Toby, and his in-laws. What kind of son plans to take his parents' only grandchild on a Christmas cruise for the first Christmas he's old enough to appreciate? The families live close enough that, if the in-laws had stayed home, they could have all seen little Patrick on Christmas day. And to wait until just days before Christmas to tell your mother you won't be home? Well, that's just thoughtless.

I decided not to read the third novella in this collection. I haven't cared for the other Jaine Austen mysteries I've read. Why make myself read something I probably won't enjoy? Usually I'd feel compelled to read it anyway. This time I was able to talk myself out of it. show less

I loved all of these Christmas novellas featuring gingerbread cookies. In the first, Hannah Swenson searches for a murder suspect after her condo neighbor is found with his head bashed in next to her box of gingerbread cookies. Since he had been putting on an extremely obnoxious Christmas music and laser light display show (which seems to be a thing in the Midwest) he had plenty of annoyed neighbors to pick from as suspects. This was classic, wonderful Hannah Swenson, with great characters in every scene, and I enjoyed it immensely.

In the second, Jane Austin is picked to help with a play at her parent’s retirement community. Unfortunately, the deceased had many jilted lovers and the suspect list is long. This one was delightfully show more snarky, had a great mystery, and I will definitely be checking out more books by the author (the other two are already on my must-read list.)

In the third novella, Lucy Stone is preparing for Christmas, lamenting the fact that not all of her children will be able to come home for the holiday, when a young boy is kidnapped outside his home. Nemo, (who we’ve met in previous books) had just chatted with Lucy at the supermarket and begged his parents for a cookie. But something seems fishy (other than Nemo’s name) about his parents’ living situation and as the town grows increasingly frantic trying to find the lost child, Lucy takes action.

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

This was a fun holiday collection of three stories featuring gingerbread cookies. written by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meier. I am familiar with Ms. Fluke's books,but I had never read anything by Laura Levine and Leslie Meier before. After reading this book, I have decided to read both of these authors.

The first story in this collection by Joanne Fluke finds Hannah's neighbor Ernie with his head bashed in and her gingerbread cookies on the floor of his condo.

The second story is by Laura Levine whose character Jaine Austen, is visiting her parents retirement community in Florida, which I found absolutly hilarious at times.

The last story by Leslie Meier finds Lucy Stone helping in the search for a missing five year old named show more Nemo. One of the clues to Nemo's disappearance is a trail of gingerbread cookie crumbs.

Overall, I found this collection to be a nice, quick paced read. In each case the "whodunit" is almost obvious, but that is not the point here. The point is to enjoy the season and try some of the yummy recipes! show less

This was a collection of three holiday themed cozy mysteries from different authors.  One author I had read and enjoyed previously and two new authors.  Each mystery revolved around a gingerbread cookie theme and were the usual cozy reads that I enjoyed very much.  The best story in the lot, IMO, was The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies" by Laura Levine.  I had not read any books in the Jaine Austen series before but definitely will find others.  The story was hilarious because of Jaine's parents.  Her family dynamic was similar to my own and the antics of her parents reminded me of the antics of my own parents. I really enjoyed reading all three stories, but that one bumped my rating up to four stars."

A collection of three short mysteries. I haven't read the Lucy Stone series by Leslie Meier or any of Laura Levine's books, but their short stories were a fun read.

Gingerbread Cookie Murder was another fun installment in the Hannah Swensen series. I wasn't able to figure out who the killer was before the reveal, so, well done!

Gingerbread Cookie Murder presents three tales of Hannah Swenson, Jaine Austen, & Lucy Stone. Hannah’s story is intense with a her finding yet another murdered person after trying to get Christmas music turned down. Full of Hannah and her snooping ways and family, this story is hard to put down. The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies, is my first introduction of the character of Janie Austin. Upon visiting her parents for the holidays, Janie stumbles upon a murder and a retirement center full of suspects. This story is funny with her dad trying to help her solve the case, her mom spoiling her cat and eccentric characters however Janie often complains about her clothing found that she wears which makes the reader question why isn’t she show more wearing her own clothing. The last story that of Lucy Stone (also my first introduction to the character), is different from the other two stories as the story has Lucy as a secondary character whom has no real impact into the storyline. Although interesting to read, it lacks relatability to the reader making it hard to not get bored which is the reasoning behind this review. All in all, Gingerbread Cookie Murder is an ok book. show less

This was the third and final Hannah Swenson book I brought to read by the pool while on vacation in Florida. I didn't realize this was an anthology with stories by three different authors. Each story had to be centered around Gingerbread cookies.

Gingerbread Murder by Joanne Fluke: When Hannah finds her noisy, annoying neighbour Ernie Kusak dead on the floor of his condo with her plate of Gingerbread cookies smashed on the floor, she immediately tries to solve the crime. His head has been smashed in with a water pitcher. Did his murder have anything to do with his recent lottery win? Was it a disgruntled neighbour angry with the loud incessant music? Maybe his ex-wife was upset with him for indulging their children? Even though this was show more a novella, there was still a lot of baking, time with her two beaus and help from her family to solve this crime.

The Danger of Gingerbread Cookies by Laura Levine: Jaine Austen has gone to Florida for Christmas with her parents. Of course Prozac, her spoiled cat, goes with her. Her mother, wanting grandchildren, spoils Prozac even more. Their retirement community puts on a Christmas play each year, and due to her parents bragging that she is a big Hollywood writer, she has been asked to watch the rehearsal and let them know what she thinks. The play, entitled The Gingerbread Cook That Saved Christmas, is awful, but Jaine does not tell them that. When the star of the show, Dr. Preston McKay, dies at the play, foul play is suspected. It appears that the cable that whisks him away has been cut. When Jaine's mother's best friend is suspected of the crime, Jaine tries to figure out who was responsible for the murder. Was it a jealous lover? Was it the handyman who was embarrassed by the good doctor? Was it one of the ladies that thought he was going to marry them? Of course the humour thanks to her father and her cat that are customary in Ms. Levine's books is here even in this short story.

Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots by Leslie Meier: It is close to Christmas and Lucy is trying to get her Christmas preparations finalized when she finds out that two of her children will not be home for Christmas. She decides that she will "adopt" Nemo, the cute little boy for Christmas. She and her two remaining daughters head off to shop for the children. On the way home for the store, with Nemo's gifts in the SUV, Lucy finds out that Nemo has been snatched from his front yard. She begins to investigate and things do not seem to be what his parents have said happened. Who took Nemo? Was there a ransom demand? Was this a kidnapping for hire? Where is Nemo now and is he still alive? Lucy has to strike out on her own if she wants to solve the mystery and save Nemo.

All these stories follow the formula that these authors write in. They are fun, simple to solve, and have some laughs. Of course, I can't forget the recipes that are included, they do seem yummy. A nice light read when you do not want anything heavy or something that will make you think too hard. show less