Monday, February 24, 2020

Book Review: Coconut Layer Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

When Hannah learns that her sister Michelle’s boyfriend, Detective Lonnie Murphy, is the prime suspect in a murder case, she goes straight from a movie studio sound stage to the Los Angeles airport.
Back in frigid Minnesota, she discovers that proving Lonnie’s innocence will be harder than figuring out what went wrong with a recipe. Lonnie remembers only parts of the night he went out to a local bar and ended up driving a very impaired woman home. He knows he helped her to her bedroom, but he doesn’t recall anything else until he woke up on her couch the following morning. When he went to the bedroom to check on her, he was shocked to discover she was dead.
Hannah doesn’t know what to believe—only that exonerating a suspect who can’t remember is almost impossible, especially since Lonnie’s brother, Detective Rick Murphy, and Lonnie’s partner, Chief Detective Mike Kingston, have been taken off the case. Before everything comes crashing down on Lonnie like a heaping slice of coconut layer cake, it’ll be up to Hannah to rack up enough clues to toast a flaky killer . . .[summary via Amazon]

It's time for another visit to Lake Eden, and this time it is going to be Hannah Swensen's 25th mystery!! I can barely believe it's been 25 books since I picked up Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, one of the very first cozy mysteries I ever read. From that very first book, Joanne Fluke has been delighting me with suspenseful mysteries and mouth-watering recipes, and Coconut Layer Cake Murder is no exception!

In Coconut Layer Cake Murder, Hannah and her mom, Delores, are off to sunny California, to help a friend move back to Lake Eden. However, not all is sunshine and happiness. When Hannah receives a frantic phone call from her sister, Michelle, she must turn her back on the sunshine and head back to freezing Lake Eden to help clear Michelle's boyfriend, Lonnie, who is the number one suspect in a murder case.  It's up to Hannah, with help from Norman, and the rest of the Lake Eden gang to put their heads together and solve the crime before Lonnie is put away for life.

I've loved every book in the Hannah Swensen mysteries, and it's one of two very long-running series that I've kept up with every book. It always delivers the coziest of cozy towns (I want to move to Lake Eden - minus the murders of course!) and a page-turning mystery. This time, I guessed the mystery quite a while before Hannah and her sleuthing friends, but this didn't diminish my enjoyment. I love watching Hannah follow the clues, and solve the mystery. 

Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (book 24) leaves readers with a cliffhanger, and Coconut Layer Cake Murder picks up this storyline right away. For this reason I don't recommend starting this series with Coconut Layer Cake. Each book in this series builds on the previous, and it's best to read in order. I suggest starting with Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder. You won't disappointed, as this series is one of the most recommended, for good reason!! If you are a fan of "food-themed" cozy mysteries you need to read this series!

I'm looking forward to Christmas Cupcake Murder, coming out in September. From the start I've been #TeamNorman and I can't wait to see if my Christmas wish comes true!! I would love to see Hannah settle down with ever-lasting romance one of these days!!

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