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Hannah Swensen Mysteries by by Joanne Fluke, Kensington, Rating: A

The order of this series is:

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER 4/2000
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MURDER 3/2001
BLUEBERRY MUFFIN MURDER 3/2002
LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER 3/2003
FUDGE CUPCAKE MURDER 3/2004
SUGAR COOKIE MURDER 10/2004
PEACH COBBLER MURDER 3/2005

While I'm only on book three so far I'm really enjoying this series and am sorry I hadn't picked it up sooner. Hannah is a likeable character, she's smart but not too smart. She seems to stumble upon her answers at times, but that's okay. These books have humor in them as well. I've actually found myself explaining situations to my husband and reading him dialogue I found parts so funny. And there are recipes in each book that sound delicious! I can't wait to try them. The writing reminds me a bit of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. They're not quite as funny and Hannah is in the baking business not in the bounty hunting business, but they have that feel to them.

The other characters involved are great, too. Hannah's sister, Andrea, their mother Delores. There's a second sister we haven't met yet as of the point I'm at in book three anyway. There's the dentist, Norman, that moved back to Lake Eden to take over his dad's practice and is interested in Hannah. There's Bill, Andrea's cop husband, who Hannah helps and turns over clues to (though she doesn't always turn them over in a timely fashion!). And there's Mike, the new detective from Minneapolis, who is Bill's partner and supervisor. There are other townspeople as well that are sprinkled throughout the books to give them a true Minnesotan flavor.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com


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