Book Review: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Hannah Swensen already has her hands full, between dodging her mother's attempts to marry her off, and running Lake Eden, Minnesota's most popular bakery, The Cookie Jar. But when the Cozy Cow Dairy's beloved deliveryman is found murdered behind Hannah's bakery with her famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, Hannah sets out to track down a killer. The more Hannah snoops, the more suspects turn up. This is one murder that's starting to leave a very bad taste in Hannah's mouth, and if she doesn't watch her back, her sweet life may get burned to a crisp.[summary via Goodreads]

Meet Hannah Swensen. She's Lake Eden's cookie lady and amateur sleuth all rolled into one delightful package. In her debut adventure Hannah must help her brother-in-law, police officer, Bill, solve the murder of local deliveryman, Ron La Salle. In between making cookies and hunting down a killer, Hannah must also fend off her mother's attempt to marry her off!!

I love this series! I'm re-reading the series from the first book, and the second time around I loved it just as much as the first. Hannah is a fun, feisty character, that loves her life exactly as it is - she runs her own business, The Cookie Jar, shares her condo with her delightful cat, Moishe, and enjoys living in picturesque Lake Eden.  Of course, her life gets a little complicated with her first murder investigation, and not to mention two potential love interests, dentist, Norman, and police detective, Mike. Add it all up and you've got a fantastic first book in a series!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder was a super, fun book! I loved all the recipes throughout the book, and it had me wanting to step into the kitchen to bake a few batches of cookies!! The mystery itself was great, and there were plenty of clues for me to collect and try to solve the murder before Hannah. I didn't quite get there with solving it before Hannah, and it was fun to see it all unravel.

If you're new to cozy mysteries this is a fantastic book to start with. However, be warned, one book won't be enough! You'll be wanting to read the whole series.

Purchase Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder from Amazon.

Series Readalong: the Hannah Swensen Mysteries

Quite often I discover a book in a long series and rather than reading the series from the beginning, I'm tempted to just read the recent release. However, I love reading series in order, so I might move onto a shorter series. Or as is the case with the Hannah Swensen Mysteries I read the first book in the series and I didn't get back to the rest of the series because of the overwhelming amount of books on my shelves. Well this summer I'm going to change that! I'm going to re-read the Hannah Swensen Mysteries from the beginning.

Have you read the Hannah Swensen books? Maybe you've seen the movie, Murder, She Baked, based on the first book, and you want to read the series? Then join me on my readalong adventure!

I'm going to read and review the books in order, bake some of her delicious recipes and watch the movies!

If you want to join along grab a copy of Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder from Amazon or your local bookstore or library and join us for a delicious mystery.

Take one amateur sleuth. Mix in some eccentric Minnesota locals. Add a generous dollop of crackling suspense, and you've got the recipe for this delicious new mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking heroine whose gingersnaps are almost as tart as her mouth and whose penchant for solving crime is definitely stirring things up. 

Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp.

Find out more about Hannah Swensen and the books and movies at Joanne Fluke's website here. Check out all the books on Amazon.