Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke’s dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crimes one delicious clue at a time has made her a bestselling favorite. And it all began on these pages, with a bakery, a murder, and some suddenly scandalous chocolate-chip crunchies. Featuring a bonus short story and brand new, mouthwatering recipes, this limited edition of the very first Hannah Swensen mystery is sure to have readers coming back for seconds.

Hannah Swenson already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota’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.

Who would have the sheer audacity and the motive to kill the most punctual delivery man Hannah ever had? Topping the list is the high school football coach. What exactly was his wife doing, making the rounds with the milkman? Could Max Turner, owner of Cozy Cow Dairy, have had a secret he didn’t want to share with his top employee? The more Hannah snoops, the more suspects turn up. Why has Lake Eden’s most prominent prodigal son, Benton Woodley, just resurfaced? And what about the mysterious Mr. Harris who seemed interested in buying the property next to the dairy, but then disappeared? 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, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.

WARNING!!!
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK ON AN EMPTY STOMACH!

This was a fun and enticing read. I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Fluke is an awesome mystery writer and an even more awesome cook. First there's the setup for the story; Lake Eden. Not a real town but a simple small town where everyone knows person they just happen to pass by on the street. There's no Desperate Housewives type scandal just the ocasional homicide. I like Hannah. She's the milder version of my mom with my love of baking. Speak of [baking] did I mention that the cookies in this novel can be duplicated in your kitchen. Yes, Joanne also gives you a run down of Hannah's creation for you to create also. It's genius! Apparently, this isn't the first series to do this but it is for me so please excuse my starstruck behavior. the sad part is that since this is yet another audio book (read by Suzanne Toren-- beautifully I might add) I listened to I currently do not have copies of these recipes. But no worries there's the internet more specifically Google and if that doen't work the Library works really well too. I really reccomend this book and the rest of the series (even if I haven't read the other books yet). So check out your local library and read and copy Hannah's books.