Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) - Hardcover

JOANNE FLUKE is the New York Times bestselling author of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, which include Double Fudge Brownie Murder, Blackberry Pie Murder, Cinnamon Roll Murder, and the book that started it all, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder. That first installment in the series premiered as Murder, She Baked:  A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in Southern California. Please visit her online at www.JoanneFluke.com

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.