Hannah Swensen's life is seldom sedate in spite of
appearances. Eden Lake Minnesota's talented baker and
amateur sleuth extraordinaire is awaiting her trial for
vehicular homicide, but in the meantime her mother is
getting remarried, in Las Vegas, of all places. While the
wedding goes surprisingly enough without a hitch, Hannah
reconnects with a blast from the past. Back in Eden Lake,
Hannah was asked to see the presiding judge in his
chambers. She was waiting to be shown in when she heard a
noise inside the room. True to her reputation as a nosey
person, Hannah cannot help but have a look inside and
things start to go downhill from there.
DOUBLE FUDGE BROWNIE MURDER is the latest in the enduring
Hannah Swensen series, and whether it is to
catch up with old friends or meeting new ones, Ms. Fluke
knows how to make her reader happy. The author writes
beautifully, in a light, easy-flowing style that is very
deceptive because as we drool over all the delicious food
and have fun following Hannah's antics, we almost forget
there's a mystery to be solved until some shocking event
happens. I really enjoy the somewhat conversational tone
of the narration, the ever present humorous touches, as
well as the descriptions which make Eden Lake and its
residents completely real to me.
DOUBLE FUDGE BROWNIE MURDER features two mysteries, one
light and quite entertaining, the other more serious.
Naturally, as any fan knows, "There's food involved", and
never have victuals appeared so mouth-watering, not to
mention all those yummy recipes which appear at the end
of each chapter, written from Hannah herself, naturally.
I think DOUBLE FUDGE BROWNIE MURDER is definitely one of
the best books in this series, and the wonderful ending
left me hoping Joanne Fluke writes very quickly because
I'm already dying to read the next book!
Life in tiny Lake Eden, Minnesota, is usually pleasantly
uneventful. Lately, though, it seems everyone has more
than their fair share of drama - especially the Swensen
family. With so much on her plate, Hannah Swensen can
hardly find the time to think about her bakery - let
alone the town's most recent murder...
Hannah is nervous about the upcoming trial for her
involvement in a tragic
accident. She's eager to clear her name once and for all,
but her troubles only double when she finds the judge
bludgeoned to death with his own gavel - and Hannah is
the number one suspect. Now on trial in the court of public
opinion, she sets out in search of the culprit and
discovers that the judge made more than a few enemies
during his career. With time running out, Hannah will
have to whip up her most clever recipe yet to find a killer
more elusive than the perfect brownie...
Excerpt
It was a brisk September morning and to say that Hannah
Swensen was excited would be the understatement of the
year. Not even the specter of her upcoming trial for
vehicular homicide, which had been postponed again last
week, could dampen her spirits.
“Don’t worry, Moishe,” Hannah told the orange and white
cat who was staring at her from the top of her dresser.
“I’m only going to be gone for three days and Norman
should be here to pick you up any minute now. You’re
going to stay with Norman and Cuddles while I’m gone.”
“Rrrrow!”
Hannah smiled as she slipped off her robe and dressed in
her stylish, new, forest green pantsuit. Some people
claimed that cats didn’t understand when you spoke to
them, but Moishe always reacted with an excited yowl
whenever she said Cuddles. Norman’s cat was Moishe’s
favorite friend. Hannah admitted that she might be
anthropomorphizing, but she was convinced that Moishe
loved Cuddles every bit as much as her mother loved Doc
Knight.
Hannah slipped on her shoes and walked to the foot of the
bed. Her suitcase was open on top of the bedspread and
she checked the contents again. Claire Rodgers Knudson,
the owner of Beau Monde Fashions, the upscale dress shop
right next to The Cookie Jar on Main Street, had chosen
what she called a mini trousseau for each of the three
Swensen sisters. It was a gift from Doc Knight, their
mother’s groom-to-be. Of course, Delores had her own,
much larger bridal trousseau, which was currently stashed
in the trunk of one of Cyril Murphy’s Shamrock
Limousines, waiting for the wedding surprise that Doc and
Delores’s daughters had planned for her.
At first, all three Swensen sisters had been reluctant to
accept Doc’s lovely and expensive gifts. Such largesse
was highly unusual in Lake Eden, Minnesota. There were a
couple of rich families in town, but most people worked
hard for their money and didn’t have any excess to spend
on luxuries. Hannah, Andrea, and Michelle fell into that
latter group.
It had taken Doc a week, but he had convinced them to
accept his generous gifts. He’d reminded them that
presents for members of the wedding party were
traditional, and with the exception of Doc’s best man,
Hannah, Andrea, and Michelle comprised the whole wedding
party. He’d also stated that the lovely mini trousseaus
were doubling as thank you gifts for helping him
implement his wedding surprise for their mother. With
that said, Doc had led them into Claire’s shop and turned
them over to her.
The Swensen sisters didn’t shop in Claire’s designer
boutique very often. All three were on a budget. Hannah’s
bakery and coffee shop made enough money for her to live
a comfortable life, but designer clothing was low on her
list of priorities. Andrea, the middle Swensen sister,
loved to wear designer things, but most of her
commissions as a part-time real estate agent went into a
college fund for her two daughters. Andrea’s husband also
worked. Bill was the Winnetka County sheriff, but most of
his salary went toward the family’s living expenses.
Michelle, the youngest Swensen sister, was in college at
Macalester and everything she earned from working part-
time was spent on tuition, books, and living expenses.
Hannah reached out to touch the gorgeous sapphire blue
dress that she would wear to her mother’s wedding. Andrea
and Michelle had identically styled dresses, but they
were in gradiated shades of blue. Hannah’s was the most
vivid and the sapphire blue looked wonderful with her red
hair. Michelle’s dress was a lighter shade that brought
out the red and gold highlights in her brown hair.
Andrea’s dress was the palest, an ice blue that was
worthy of a winter princess. With her light blond hair
worn up in a twist and secured with a rhinestone-studded
comb, she looked positively regal.
Tonight, Delores would marry Doc Knight in the Little
Chapel of the Orchids in Las Vegas with only Doc’s best
man and Delores’s three daughters in attendance. The
bride-to-be had no idea that Doc had planned a surprise
elopement when he’d invited her to a special board member
breakfast at the hospital. The breakfast had been
Andrea’s idea to make certain that Delores wouldn’t wear
her Rainbow Lady volunteer jacket and slacks.
When Delores arrived at the hospital, Doc would whisk her
away in a waiting limousine that would take them to the
airport. Doc had hired a second limousine to take
Michelle, Andrea, and Hannah to the airport, and once
they’d arrived, they would be escorted to the plane where
Doc had somehow arranged for all five of them to be
served a champagne breakfast.
Delores had no idea that any of this was going to happen.
Hannah knew that Doc had surprised Delores several times
in the past with impromptu dinner parties and gifts she
hadn’t expected. So far, Delores had loved his surprises.
But this surprise was the biggest one of all!
Hannah readily admitted that she was a bit nervous about
the whole scenario that would play out today. When her
mother discovered that Doc and all three of her daughters
were co-conspirators in this elopement, one of two things
would happen. Either Delores would be so angry at all of
them that she’d refuse to marry Doc or she’d be delighted
with Doc’s romantic spontaneity and grateful that they’d
all helped him with her surprise.
Hannah was betting on the latter for several reasons. The
most important was that Delores loved Doc totally and
irrevocably. If he wanted to sweep her off her feet and
elope with her, she would not hesitate. The odds in
Hannah’s mind tallied at ninety to ten, perhaps even
steeper than that. But there was the slim chance that
Hannah’s mother would balk at the way that Doc had chosen
to take the planning of their wedding away from her.
“That’s not going to happen!” Hannah said aloud, as if by
voicing that opinion, she could assure its validity. She
was almost positive that Delores would go with Doc to the
ends of the earth. Seeing the two of them together made
Hannah long for the same kind of total consuming love. In
retrospect, she knew it was the reason she hadn’t
accepted either Norman’s or Mike’s proposal. She loved
both of them, but it wasn’t the heart-pounding, can’t-
live-without-you kind of love she craved. Just once in
her life she wanted to be swept off her feet by the
perfect man on the perfect night with perfect love. Did
she want too much? Was there such a thing as perfect
love? By refusing to settle for something less was she
depriving herself of a fulfilling life?
A knock on her door pulled Hannah from her contemplative
mood. She shut her suitcase, hurried from the bedroom
with Moishe at her heels, and arrived at the door
slightly breathless.
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