Sugar Cookie Murder- Joanne Fluke

If I were to have to name my top 5 favorite things (and I said THINGS, not people), 2 of those things would be recipes and a good story.  The Hannah Swenson series (of which this book is a part) combines both of those things into one fantastic binded bundle of happiness for me.  So I will give you a low down on the series before I give a summary of this book in particular.

Hannah Swenson owns a cookie shop (which I imagine as kind of being like all the cupcake stores that have popped up over the past few years) in a small town in Minnesota.  She is kind of dating 2 guys, one of them a dentist and the other a detective.  Her family all lives in town with the exception of her dad, who has passed away, and her baby sister, who is off at school.  Basically in every book, Hannah will find a dead body or is with someone when a dead body is discovered. Hannah then solves the murder. While the plot in each story may sound predictable, it is far from it. I love these books because: A. there are recipes. B. There are some surprising endings to the stories and C. the characters actually develop a lot throughout the series.  I love reading these books and finding out if Andrea (Hannah's sister) has had her baby or if Lisa (her partner at the cookie shop) is going to get engaged to Herb.  Like I said,the stories develop well and you get to keep up with the characters.

So now to the summary of this particular book.  The novel itself was 200 pages with an additonal 166 pages of recipes :)  YAY!  I won't lie, while I was reading this I noticed that there weren't recipes between chapters like there normally is and I got a little bummed. I flipped through the pages a bit to see if I was getting jipped and saw that there was a TON in the back and all was well.  ANYWAYS. . . in this particular story, Hannah is hosting a Christmas potluck for the town of Lake Eden.  The reason behind it is that she is collecting recipes and compiling them into a cook book that is getting published (they discuss this in some previous books. . . see continuing story line). She is kind of having a taste test thing and using the Christmas Potluck and as way to carry this out.  At the party, a recently divorced resident of Lake Eden shows up with his new wife, a Vegas showgirl.  As the party goes on, it is discovered that an antique cake knife that was supposed to be used on the desserts has gone missing. Hannah goes on the prowl to find it and discovers that it was used to murder the new Vegas showgirl wife. She grabs her sometimes man Mike the detective and they decide that most likely the murderer is still at the potluck because of the weather conditions so the building goes on lock down until the murder is solved. Hannah and her sisters end up solving the murder and the Christmas Potluck ends in success.

Like I've said, I love these books, so this one was no exception.  I love that stuff from previous books in the series carries in to this one.  This series is one that I would read in order, so I can't read another one until I buy the next book. Trip to Barnes and Noble anyone???? I recommend these books to anyone who loves a good mystery and a love of sweets.  I can't wait to attempt some of the recipes in the series!

Next up on my reading list: Mansfield Park.  I love me some Jane Austen!  I've actually never read this book before, but I love Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility, so I don't see why this one would be any different.

Sorry for the long post!

Happy Reading!

Tara