Review of "Chocolate Cream Pie Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (with recipes)" by Joanne Fluke

In this 24th addition to the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery books, we learn the truth about Ross Barton - a central character in the last few novels. If you're behind in the series this review will contain spoilers.

                   SPOILER ALERT/ SPOILER ALERT/ SPOILER ALERT



Hannah Swensen, owner of 'The Cookie Jar' bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota, devotes most of her time to devising new recipes and baking cookies/pastries.....an activity that provides a creative outlet and helps her relax.

As Valentines Day approaches Hannah - with the help of her sister Michelle and bakery partner Lisa - is creating new cookies and cakes to sell on the romantic holiday.



Hannah draws on her family, friends, and customers to be 'taste testers' for the nouveau sweets....which are usually accompanied by innumerable cups of strong coffee. 😊🍰🍪

Unfortunately Hannah won't have a 'honey' to celebrate Valentines Day with because Ross Barton - the man Hannah recently married in front of the whole town - vanished soon after they wed.



Hannah's best friends, Mike Kingston (the cop).....



.....and Norman Rhodes (the dentist), made it their business to track Ross down.



Hannah now knows where Ross went.....and that he's not coming back to her.

Everyone in Lake Eden is furious at Ross for hurting Hannah, and ready to throttle him if he shows his reviled face in town. This creates a problem for the detested cad, who left a lot of money and a mysterious key behind. Thus Ross has started to call Hannah, insisting she get him his money and give him the key.....OR ELSE.



Fearful about Hannah's safety, Mike organizes a protective detail so that Hannah is never alone.

Meanwhile, Hannah goes about her business - running her bakery; creating new confections; making meals for her friends; bringing goodies to her neighbors; chatting with the townsfolk; helping her mom organize a book launch; cuddling her cat Moishe; watching Moishe play with Cuddles (Norman's cat); etc. One of the strengths of the series is Hannah's interactions with the people in Lake Eden, who've become favorite recurring characters for many readers.

The requisite murder doesn't occur until about 80% into the book, and Hannah - a dedicated amateur sleuth - resolves to find out who did it and why.




Neither Hannah nor the police do much investigating, however, and Hannah solves the crime with a flash of intuition. Hannah's inner thoughts when the killer shows up - about whether to be confrontational or not - are odd and off-putting, and feel like amateur writing at best.

In my opinion Joanne Fluke REALLY jumped the shark with this novel. The author's Hannah Swensen books started out as mysteries with a few recipes thrown in. As the series progressed the 'story part' of the novels became smaller and smaller and the 'recipe part' of the novels became larger and larger.

Now Fluke has finally written what can only be categorized as a COOKBOOK.

This novel is approximately fifty percent story and fifty percent recipes.....and the 'story part' is MOSTLY about discussing, preparing, and eating baked goods - with the occasional savory dish thrown in. I'm surprised a publisher would let this book be marketed as a mystery.

I was already skeptical about continuing with this series, but this is the last straw. Unless I decide to open a bakery, I'm done with these books.

For me this is a two-star story but I'm giving the book three stars because of the enormous effort that went into the recipes. In her acknowledgements, Fluke thanks the people that helped her with the comestibles as follows:

"A big hug to Trudi Nash for her ability to read a recipe and know how it's going to taste....and for marrying a man who doesn't mind all the time we spend on food talk."

"Big thanks to Kathy Allen for the final testing of Hannah's recipes and coming up with her own recipes like the Frozen Sugared Grapes! And thanks to Kathy's family and friends for taste testing."

"Thank you to my food stylist Lois Brown for her expertise with the launch parties and the TV baking segments."

"Big hugs to all the Hannah fans who share their family recipes."

I think Fluke needed to spend more time on the plot and less time on the food.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Joanne Fluke), and the publisher (Kensington) for a copy of the book.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

*****

Since this is a cookbook (IMO) I'll give examples of some of the goodies.


Valentine Whippersnapper Cookies


Strawberry Bundt Cake


Peach Scones


Country Egg Bake


Chocolate Mint Cookies


Frozen Sugared Grapes (You have to be careful with these. They have an alcohol kick.)


Cheese and Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms


Pink Grapefruit Cake


White Chocolate Brownies


Pub Soup


Chocolate Cream Pie


Beery Good Beef Brisket


Apricot Coffee Cake


Pineapple Walnut Muffins


Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls (These helped Hannah nab the perp.)

Rating: 3 stars