Sugar Cookie Murder
Ratings20
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings20
Average rating3.4
The holidays are the icing on the cake for bakery owner Hannah Swensen. Surrounded by her loved ones, she has all the ingredients for a perfect Christmas—until murder is added to the mix...When it comes to holidays, Minnesotans rise to the occasion—and the little town of Lake Eden is baking up a storm with Hannah leading the way. The annual Christmas Buffet is the final test of the recipes Hannah has collected for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook.The recently divorced Martin Dubinski arrives at the buffet with his new Vegas showgirl wife—all wrapped up in glitter and fur. His ex-wife, however, seems as cool as chilled eggnog. And when Hannah’s mother’s antique Christmas cake knife disappears, its discovery in the decolletage of the new—and now late—Mrs. Dubinski puts the festivities on ice.With everyone stranded at the community center by a blizzard, Hannah puts her investigative skills to the test, using the ingredients at hand: half the town of Lake Eden—and a killer. Now, as the snowdrifts get higher, it’s up to Hannah to dig out all the clues—and make sure that this white Christmas doesn’t bring any more deadly tidings…
Reviews with the most likes.
This is a very simple mystery as the murder almost seems secondary in this book. So much talk of food I was hungry all during reading it.
This is the first Hannah Swensen book I have read and it was delightful! It's full of well-loved characters from a little small town in Minnesota, Lake Eden, and everyone is sufficiently gossipy. Also the main police officer in the book is a sexist jerk, which I personally appreciate. It Definitely takes place in the early 2000s, especially when someone goes on and on about their new caller ID on their landline. But it's not smothering; it's actually very amusing. I also loved the way that the recipes in the back of the book have a little “flavor” to them, about the character who supposedly “wrote” them. This book really made me feel like I was a part of this town, watching this mystery happen.
Fast facts:
Main character: Hannah Swensen
Murdered: Brandi Dubinski, the new fancy wife of Martin Dubinski, heavily implied to be a gold-digger. Also every is mean about her changing her name from Mary Kay
Police involvement: Sexist jerks!
Location: Christmas potluck in a town called Lake Eden in Minnesota
POV: Third person
Animals: None
Bonus: Recipes!!!
Star rating: 4.5 stars (basically perfect except for them being mean about Brandi's old name, which felt too close to deadnaming for me)
It took way too long to get to the mystery portion of the story and recipes took up like a third of the pages, leaving something to be desired as mysteries (even cozy-mysteries) go. Hannah and her sisters spent most of that remaining page real estate running around like chickens in a snow storm (sorry/not sorry...the setting is Minnesota and there is a blizzard in the story) and the resolution fell flat.
Only 167 pages of story, the rest was recipes. This is just a short story, nothing more.
Featured Series
26 primary books31 released booksHannah Swensen is a 29-book series with 26 primary works first released in 2000 with contributions by Joanne Fluke, Fern Michaels, and 4 others.
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