Lemon Meringue Pie Murder

Hannah is back with the 4th of July right around the corner. Her cat is up to no good, she’s forced herself onto a diet, Norman has bought a house, but hasn’t proposed, and does she even want him to? There are lots of cookies to frost for a wedding, and pies to bake, and of course, anywhere Hannah goes, murder follows. When someone turns up dead in Norman’s new house, Hannah decides to investigate… especially since one of her pies was left out on the counter. Armed with her steno pad in hand, and fighting a muggy Minnesota summer, she and pregnant sister Andrea hunt down clues and gossip about the victim’s last known contacts.

I love the Hannah Swenson books. Every time I open one I know I’m going to get the same characters, show more Moisha the cat, fun recipes, Hannah’s mother interfering, and an interesting murder to solve, all in a nice relaxing read without things getting too gruesome or violent. This one was great with little mini-mysteries to uncover alongside the main course. And now on to the next… fudge cupcake, I believe, yum!

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

Hannah Swensen thought she'd finally discovered the recipe for a perfect life. But her sometime beau Norman Rhodes tosses a surprise ingredient into the mix when he phones to tell her he's just bought a house from local drugstore clerk Rhonda Scharf - which he plans to tear down in order to build the dream home he and Hannah designed.
It seems the plan has been cooking for quite some time, and Hannah is shocked - especially since her ring finger is still very much bare. The good news is that the soon-to-be-torn-down house is full of antiques - and Norman has given Hannah and her mother first dibs.
They uncover some gorgeous old furniture, a patchwork quilt ... and Rhonda Scharf's dead body. A little more sleuthing turns up the half-eaten show more remains of a very special dinner for two - and one of The Cookie Jar's famous lemon meringue pies.
Now it's up to Hannah to turn up the heat - and get busy tracking down the clues. Starting in her very own kitchen. show less

This is a pretty good cozy mystery, sort of like Diane Mott Davidson books but a little more down to earth. I haven't read any in this series before so it's nice to find a new series I can investigate. The recipes interleaved in the book look good and I've copied a few to try in the future.

Hannah Swenson is the co-owner of The Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minnesota. Her mother asks Hannah to accompany her to a house that is about to be torn down to look for antiques for her mother's store. (Her mother has an ulterior motive because the owner of the house is one of Hannah's boyfriends and she thinks if she throws them together the boyfriend will pop the question.) Her mother is shaken up to discover the vendor of the house dead in the show more basement. One of Hannah's lemon meringue pies is sitting on the kitchen table with only one piece taken out of it. Hannah is persuaded to investigate the murder despite the fact that her other boyfriend is one of the cops officially investigating the crime.

Lots of false leads later, Hannah solves the crime but almost loses her life. My biggest criticism about the book is the way Hannah goes about losing weight because she can't fit into the summer pants she bought last year. Instead of going on a sensible eating plan and exercising, Hannah cuts out everything except lettuce, cottage cheese and coffee. It's a wonder she didn't die of kidney failure or at least have heart palpitations. show less

DNF. I stopped reading at the line, "Instead of taking the easier way out and giving her daughter up for adoption, Luanne had decided to raise Suzie as a single mom." YIKES.

In the first few books I was able to ignore the errant comments about various people being fat, but this book takes it to a whole other level. It's annoying and entirely unnecessary. Also, Hannah does absolutely nothing while her business partner does all the work to keep their business afloat. I was able to ignore all this stuff in the first few books, but this one did me in early on.

The Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke is a 2012 Kensington publication. (Originally published in 2003)

In this fourth installment, Norman has purchased a house, though he plans to demolish it and build the dream home he and Hannah designed together. But, before any of that could take place, Hannah’s mother discovers a dead body in the basement of the old house…

Despite Hannah’s vow to stay out of the investigation, nearly everyone feels she should try and help solve the murder…

It took me three installments to finally feel like I was warming up to Hannah. Her disposition was a little hard to adjust to in the beginning. But, I really liked the third installment, so I thought I had a good handle on things now, and was eager show more to touch base with Hannah and the other recurring characters, hoping to finally settle into the series once and for all.

Unfortunately, that didn’t exactly pan out with this installment. I’m wondering… have I missed something? Is this a series set in the past? It just feels more dated than it should have been. Yes, I realize this installment was written over twenty years ago, but some of the attitudes and language were more suited to the seventies and eighties than the early aughts.

Hannah’s internal thoughts are still a bit rough at times-maybe even a little mean spirited or judgmental, though she’s better at keeping those thoughts to herself now.

Despite that, the mystery was really good. I struggled with the treatment of a mentally challenged character, which again, felt very dated, but other than that, I was engaged in the story and was taken by surprise by who the murderer was, which was an improvement over the last installment.

But I do feel sort of like I’m back at square one, not quite sure how I feel about this series. Part of me wants to stick it out and see how it progresses and the other part of me is wondering if maybe I should retire this one… but it is early days for me, at least, so I’ll probably need to give the series one more chance before throwing in the towel. Besides, the love triangle is quite a tempting lure…

Overall, great mystery with this one, but a giant step backward with the characterizations. I still enjoyed the story for the most part, despite some uncomfortable dialogue.

2.5 rounded up show less

As I mentioned in my earlier review of "Blueberry Muffin Murder" readers shouldn't expect a deep involved mystery from Joanne Fluke. These books definately run in the 'cozy' category. My 6th grade step-daughter reads and enjoys them, as well. In my opinon each of the four novels have gotten progressively more interesting. (I seem to read them each a little quicker than the previos volume as well!) This volume finds Hannah involved in the murder of one of the town's residents. She also finds out about an old bank robbery, and some suspicious activity involving a local mentally handicapped man. How do these relate, if at all, Hannah wonders. By now, residents of Lake Eden are used to Hannah involving herself in murder investigations show more despite the lack of encouragement from local law enforcement. As a side note, things seem to be coming to a head in Hannah's love triange with handsome policeman Mike, and fun and earnest dentist Norman. Readers know all these characters now, and probably everyone has their favorites. We enjoy Hannah's attitude and delight in the antics of her sisters, mother and niece. There are flaws here, hence my three star rating. Readers obviously have to suspend reality when reading Fluke's novels. Medical information is quickly given to parties it shouldn't be. Everyone seems to run their mouths and volunteer information. Hannah has yet to meet someone who kicks her to the curb for questioning them. I guess the clues and information come across a little too conveniently. Still the entertainment value here is high. This is a fun series to hook yourself on. If you question whether or not to buy it, especially if you haven't tried a Hannah mystery before, borrow it from the library or buy it here used cheaply. show less

Another fun mystery visit with the folks of Lake Eden. Yes, some of the dialogue and social expectations come across a dated. Hey, the story was written in 2003 and we are talking about a small lake town community - not some bustling metropolis - so while Hannah's "leaps" of concern regarding her "kid" sister's fashion (and boyfriend) choices and her reason for going on a diet tended to make me roll my eyes - Hannah has a re-occurring habit of making some interesting assumptions without knowing all the facts - it is what it is and probably should be tempered considering her own interesting "playing the field". No big surprises with this mystery. I enjoyed this story more for the overall community spirit - and the recipes, especially the show more pecan praline and orange snap cookie recipes - but I have to admit, not the greatest story in the series so far, but still entertaining to listen to while I am out walking. show less