- Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Kensington (Jan 29 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0758219725
- ISBN-13: 978-0758219725
- Product Dimensions: 17.9 x 13 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #75,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Following her successful debut, 2000's Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Fluke brings back amateur sleuth and Lake Eden, Minn., bakery owner Hannah Swensen for another delicious adventure. Hannah has the honor of serving as head judge of the first annual Hartland Flour Dessert Bake-off, which she anticipates will be good advertising for her already popular bakery, The Cookie Jar. Then one of the judges, high school basketball coach Boyd Watson, is found dead, face down in Hannah's strawberry shortcake, and suspicion falls on Watson's abused wife, Danielle. Determined to prove Danielle's innocence, Hannah ignores the warnings of romantic interest Mike Kingston, the supervisor of detectives at the Winnetka County sheriff's station, not to get involved. Tempting descriptions of meals served at the local establishments, mouth-watering recipes and a warm family of characters ward off the vividly depicted bitter chill of a Minnesota winter. While the other characters tend to be stereotypical, Hannah is a believable, down-to-earth protagonist who can't function without her morning coffee, justifies her passion for chocolate as a biological need for endorphins and deals with a matchmaking mother and a needy sister with understanding and humor. Add the ingredients of a cleverly crafted mystery and a realistic portrayal of smalltown life, and you have a superior cozy sure to leave readers satisfied... but hungry for more.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Cookie entrepreneur Hannah Swensen is recruited to judge a bake-off but gets embroiled in a bittersweet murder. The victims are not Lake Eden's finest; one is a wife abuser and the other is a snippety blackmailer, but the town is small, concern is rampant, and Hannah is curious. She and her sister Andrea begin sleuthing to prevent their friend (the wife of the first victim) from being accused of a crime she did not commit. The story is at times dense with detail, but the relationships among family and neighbors are pleasingly homespun-and occasionally sophomoric. Spanning the time of the bake-off, this whodunit is appropriately interspersed with mouthwatering dessert recipes. Readers who don't like guts or gore will enjoy this mystery and stick with the amateur detectives as they reach an action-packed conclusion.
Karen Sokol, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strawberry Shortcake Murder,
By ravenclaw29 (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Strawberry Shortcake Murder (Mass Market Paperback)
Hannah Swensen, baker of the highly successful bakery of The Cookie Jar, located in small town Lake Eden, Minnesota, returns once again to solve a vicious murder mystery when she finds a body, all the while baking up dozens of cookies for The Cookie Jar.The CEO of the Hartland Flour company decides to use small town Lake Eden, Minnesota, as the place for the first annual Hartland Flour Bake-Off. The CEO came up with the idea to help boost marketing sales for their flour. Everyone in Lake Eden is excited about the bake-off, but none as much as Hannah Swensen, since she's the head judge, and will be making her own dessert recipes live on Channel 4. But one of the other judges, Coach Boyd Watson, who Hannah knows full well physically abuses his wife Danielle, provides some downright destructive and cruel criticism for the losing contestants. Hannah, having some leftovers of the dessert she had made earlier on the bake-off show, Strawberry Shortcake Swensen, lets Boyd take the rest of it. Later, Hannah gets a breathless call from Danielle, in hysterics, who pleads for Hannah to come to the house. When Hannah gets there, Danielle, still recovering from the flu, leads her to the garage, where a bloody hammer lies on the floor, and blood is spattered all over the walls---mixed in with strawberry juice from the remnants Hannah's leftover strawberry shortcake. And the blood belongs to none other than Boyd, whose skull was ruthlessly smashed in by the hammer. Though Hannah's sometimes-boyfriend, Detective Mike Kingston, begs Hannah to refrain from her own little investigations on the murder, Hannah feels obliged to Danielle, her friend, especially since Danielle is the number-one suspect as Boyd's killer. Hannah can't let her friend be thrown into jail for a crime Hannah knows she did not commit, so Hannah decides to investigate Boyd's murder. Strawberry Shortcake Murder is a great mystery novel. Sure, it may not be the most intelligence-driven or the most suspenseful, but it does exactly what a cozy mystery should, and Joanne Fluke writes wacky characters, delicious desserts, and a lovable pet cat in to a doggone good any cozy or culinary mystery fans will surely love. Highly recommended!
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Nice Fluffy Read - The Series Grows on You,
By A Customer
This review is from: Strawberry Shortcake Murder (Mass Market Paperback)
I would have given it 5 stars but I was mad because I figured out who the killer was. Now THAT is annoying!But I will continues to read her books because I am hooked on the series. The books are not a hard read; I liken this series to the recipes included in them: fluffy and sweet, empty calories, but enjoyable! I would aslo highly recommend that one reads the series in order as the author mentions events in this book that happened in the first one, which is annoying if you haven't read the first book but great if you have because then you get to see how the characters are developping.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspires Baking...,
By
This review is from: Strawberry Shortcake Murder (Mass Market Paperback)
This series is great and the characters are ones that you want to read about more. I constantly felt the need to go bake (and sample!) the many great recipes that were included in the book.The mysteries are light, but not thoroughly transparent. I'll get the next book that comes out in this series!
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