Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39225 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Independent-minded Hannah Swenson makes her debut in a cleverly plotted cozy, full of appealing characters and delicious cookie recipes. Returning after her father's death to her hometown of Lake Eden, Minn., Hannah opens her own shop, the Cookie Jar, where much of the town's gossip percolates along with the strong coffee. Early one morning, she finds the driver of a delivery truck shot dead in the alley behind her shop. Hannah's brother-in-law, Bill, the county's deputy sheriff, recruits her to help him chase down the culprit. A surprising number of suspects emerges, but due to her cafe business and catering of local social events, Hannah is admirably placed to hear all, see much and investigate a little. Motives ranging from blackmail to extortion abound, as do descriptions of clothing and shopping. Cat fanciers will appreciate knowing how Hannah found her cat, but separating the wheat of the significant from the chaff of the irrelevant can be challenging. Fluke also stretches the imagination when Bill leaves most of the sleuthing to Hannah and when the sheriff's men fail to discover a second body at the dairy where the first victim was employed. But these are minor lapses in a story satisfyingly packed with plot twists and red herrings. The Pecan Chews recipe is especially recommended. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Hannah Swensen, amateur sleuth, runs an eat-in cookie establishment in little Lake Eden, MN. When the well-liked milkman is murdered in the alley near her shop, Hannah joins forces with the deputy sheriff, who just happens to be her brother-in-law. While delivering cookies, catering scouting events, and otherwise gadding about the community, Hannah gathers important clues. Family and other connections, concern with finding Hannah a "steady," and several cookie recipes lend this debut series a small-town, rural flavor. This mystery is pleasant and easy to take.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Hannah Swensen of Lake Eden, Minnesota, has a better excuse than most of fictions lady sleuths to excuse her nosiness: her sister Andreas husband Bill Todd is deputy sheriff for the county and Hannah tirelessly maintains that shes helping him. During her inter-snooping hours, she runs The Cookie Jar, a coffee shop serving and selling the goodies Hannah bakes in the back of the store. Her supplies are delivered daily by Ron LaSalle, whom she often passes on her way to work. On this fateful day, Rons truck is soon parked behind the store, but he fails to reappear. When Hannah finds him seated in the truck, the window open, a bullet through his chest, shes inspired to work her way through the townspeople, looking for a motive for Rons death, even as she manfully resists her widowed mothers attempts to find her a husband. The annual bash given by wealthy Del and Judith Woodley pairs Hannah with pleasant dentist Norman Rhodes, but Hannah is soon caught up by the latest scandal: the disappearance of Nat Turner, owner of the huge Cozy Cow Dairy, who didnt show at the Buttermakers Convention, where he was to make the opening speech. Needless to say, its Hannah who finds Maxs body and evidence of the loan-sharking activities that provide a likely motive for his murder. Hannahs a likable sort despite her bent for taking over; the authors style is easygoing if slowed by too much inane chatter. In all: a modestly entertaining debut with some delectable recipes as a bonus. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Hannah Swensen, renowned baker and owner of the popular bakery The Cookie Jar in small town Lake Eden, Minnesota, never quite expected that she about to become the thirty-something, sassy, amateur sleuth of Joanne Fluke's new cozy culinary mystery series.

The title of the novel says it all: When Hannah is inside The Cookie Jar early one morning, and exits the bakery to take the trash out to the dumpster in the parking lot behind The Cookie Jar, she discovers Ron LaSalle, the beloved deliveryman of Cozy Cow Dairy Farm, shot in the head, in cold blood, in his delivery truck, with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies scattered around Ron's body.

So, in an effort to help her brother-in-law, Detective Bill Todd, her younger sister Andrea's husband, Hannah sets out to do some little investigations of her own, and figure out who ultimately killed poor Ron LaSalle.

Wacky, delightful characters are sprinkled all across the novel---Andrea Todd, Hannah's glamorous and dazzling sister; Bill Todd, Hannah's kind police officer brother-in-law; Tracey Todd, Hannah's adorable, cute little niece; Delores Swensen, Hannah's controlling mother, who often chides Hannah about her very-much-single-ness; Lisa Herman, Hannah's young, hardworking assistant and waitress at The Cookie Jar; Norman Rhodes, Lake Eden's local town dentist, and Hannah's "sometimes" boyfriend; Mike Kingston, the sexy, flirtatious detective, Hannah's other "sometimes" boyfriend; and, of course, Hannah's lovable orange-and-white tomcat Moishe.

In this promising start to a new series, Joanne Fluke creates a thirty-something, sassy, flame-haired bakery owner, Hannah Swensen, who soon becomes an amateur sleuth in a small town in chilly Minnesota, in this new adorable cozy mystery series.

Highly recommended!

Great Series
This is a cute book and such a wonderful series. "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder" starts the Hannah Swensen mystery series and the characters only get better with each book.

The recipes are really good too!

A Nice Fluffy Read - the Series Grows on You
First, let me begin by saying that this series is for people who enjoy a nice relaxing read, and who don't particularly wish to read something too taxing or to overanalyze what they read. I was shocked at the reviews I read of "Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery" where people were dissecting the book like it was a university lit course. Come on people, it's an enjoyable, fluffy read. I read it on the bus on the way home from work when I want to unwind but not necessarily focus overly so on what I am reading.
The recipes are a nice touch, although I have yet to try any of them, the characters grow on you and that cat in the book is darling.