Life is always busy around The Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, and with early summer coming on its all owner Hannah Swensen and her partner, Lisa, can do to keep up with all the orders. So when the mayor's wife sashays in asking for them to donate over one thousand cookies for a charity luncheon, Hannah just about fainted. And when Lisa finds out the theme will be "Turn Over A New Leaf," she volunteered for the shop to bake apple turnovers, a pastry Hannah had no recipe for, for the entire three day event -- well, things were about to get more interesting around the ol' kitchen!
In APPLE TURNOVER MURDER, author Joanne Fluke's 13th book in the "Hannah Swensen Mystery" series, cookie maker extraordinaire and amateur sleuth Hannah Swensen is busy juggling her duties at the bakery, her family's problems, her love life, and her sense of civic duty. But the balls are all about to come crashing down when an old acquaintance shows up in town and threatens to stir up trouble with a capital T.
The Apple Turnover crisis is solved when Lisa's mother-in- law volunteers her family recipe and soon an assembly line of the delicious pastry is in the works and everyone is busy churning out turnovers. With that problem solved, Hannah agrees to help Lisa's husband Herb out as his magician's assistant at the charity talent show. But when Hannah discovers Dr. Bradley Ramsey dead backstage during the intermission, with one of her shop's apple turnovers in his hand, she knows she's got to drop everything to find out who killed the lecherous professor before news of her former romantic ties, as well as her sister Michelle's, are connected to the victim, and their reputations are ruined. And she soon finds that the good Doctor had left quite a trail of broken and angry hearts along the way -- and lots of good reasons for him to be bumped off.
As with her previous books, Fluke catches her readers up on Hannah's life as well as the lives of her family and friends. Hannah's mother Delores is suddenly the "sought- after" woman in town, her sister Andrea is fretting about a possibly move, and there is the always interesting question of which man will Hannah finally settle down with -- policeman Mike or dentist Norman?
Fluke populates her stories with characters that are warm and down-to-earth -- just the kind of folks you'd invite over for coffee and cookies. And speaking of cookies -- there are nearly a dozen new, scrumptious cookie recipes at the end of each chapter -- Yummy!
Joanne Fluke dishes up another delicious serving of intrigue, with a side of romance and a heaping spoonful of fun in APPLE TURNOVER MURDER. Cozy mystery readers and "foodies" alike will enjoy this well-crafted tale.
It's early summer in Lake Ede, MN and The Cookie Jar is
bustling with orders for wedding showers, graduation
parties, and family gatherings. Hannah's just wondering
how they can get it all done when Mrs. Bascomb comes in to
order twelve-hundred cookies for the opening luncheon at
the 3-day charity event she's holding on the campus of
Jordan High. The theme of the event is "Turn Over a New
Leaf" the mayor's wife explains. She wants people to give
twice as much as they did last year. Lisa loves the theme -
- why don't they make turnovers to sell at the
event? "Turnover" a New Leaf... get it? Mrs. Bascomb
thinks that's a marvelous idea. Hannah thinks they're
overworked as it is, but she guesses they can manage if
Lisa has a good turnover recipe. Lisa doesn't, but her
mother-in-law Marge makes the best apple turnovers in the
world, and they set up an apple turnover assembly line
after work in The Cookie Jar kitchen. Now every hour in
Hannah's day is filled. Thank goodness there hasn't been a
murder to investigate for a while!
Hannah vows not to take on any extra work, but she simply
can't refuse when Herb asks her to be his magician's
assistant at the charity event talent show. At least she
had the foresight to give that hideous purple dress she
wore last time she assisted him to some Jordan High
students for a clothing drive. Now she'll never have to
wear it again... she thinks.
The Amazing Herb and his red-haired assistant stop the
show -- literally. Right after their act Hannah finds the
MC of the show, Bradford Ramsey, dead with one of her apple
turnovers in his hand.
Everything is happening at once for Hannah. There's
Norman, who's not being forthcoming about his 3-day trip to
Minneapolis. There's Mike, who's beating himself up over
something. There's Delores, who's not a bit lonely now
that Carrie and Earl are away on their honeymoon because
all the single men in town are squiring her around, There's
Andrea, who's afraid that Bill will take a job in Florida
and they'll have to move. And there's Moishe who's decided
that he wants to learn how to bake.
There's one other concern for Hannah, perhaps the most
important one. She must solve thus murder case before the
authorities start asking probing questions. No way she
wants her former relationship, and her sister Michelle's
not-so-former relationship, with the poetry professor to
become the newest topic on the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline!
Swensen Finds Another Body Sheβs done it again! During intermission at the Lake Eden Combined Charities talent show, Hannah Swensen, Lake Eden Cookie master and sometime sleuth, discovered the body of Professor Bradford Ramsey, the showβs master of ceremonies. Swensen was backstage because she had had appeared as The Amazing Herb's assistant in the act preceding intermission.
Not one of the 300 attendees enjoying coffee and apple turnovers in the lobby of the Jordan High auditorium was aware that violence had erupted only a few feet away on the darkened stage. It was not until sixteen minutes after the second act was scheduled to start that Detective Mike Kingston announced that the host of the talent show had been murdered.
It's common knowledge that Swensen has assisted the authorities in solving a record number of murder cases. When I attempted to interview her at The Cookie Jar, Swensen's bakery and coffee shop in Lake Eden, she said, "Of course I'll help the sheriff's department in any way I can, but I prefer to leave crime solving to the professionals.β
I contacted Joanne Fluke, author of the NY Times bestselling mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, and asked her if Hannah was going to refrain from investigating this latest homicide. When she finished laughing, Fluke said that she is already writing about Hannah's involvement in Apple Turnover Murder, to be released in hardcover by Kensington Books in March 2010. Flukeβs books are well known for their delicious recipes (Apple Turnover Murder has 21!) and she confided that one of Hannah's apple turnovers was found at the murder scene.
Joanne Fluke has been writing about Hannah Swensen since her culinary mystery series debuted in 1999. With delectable titles like Cream Puff Murder, Key Lime Pie Murder, and Fudge Cupcake Murder, Fluke may have to add warning labels to the covers of her books for anyone whoβs on a diet.
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