Joanne Fluke

In her debut mystery, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, intrepid amateur sleuth and bakery owner Hannah Swensen proved that when it comes to crime, nothing is sweeter than a woman who knows how to really mix it up. Now, the flame-haired, tart-talking (and baking) heroine is back, judging a contest where the competition is really murder.

When the president of Hartland Flour chooses cozy Lake Eden, Minnesota, as the spot for their first annual Dessert Bake-Off, Hannah is thrilled to serve as the head judge. She figures the TV coverage can only help her already popular bakery, The Cookie Jar. But when a fellow judge, Coach Boyd Watson, is found stone-cold dead, face-down in Hannah’s celebrated strawberry shortcake, Lake Eden’s sweet ride to fame turns very sour indeed.

All the evidence seems to point to the dead man’s abused wife, Danielle, whose fresh shiner and blood-stained hands certainly provide more than enough motive and means. But Hannah’s convinced Danielle is innocent and that the real killer is about to walk away with a blue-ribbon crime. Between perfecting her Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie and Chocolate Crunchies, Hannah’s snooping into the coach’s private life and not coming up short on suspects. And could Watson’s harsh criticism during the judging have given one of the contestants a license to kill? The stakes are rising faster than dough, and Hannah will have to be very careful, because somebody is cooking up a recipe for murder … with Hannah landing onthe “necessary ingredients” list.

Like a favorite dessert, Strawberry Shortcake Murder is a warm and tangy mystery that gets better with each bite. And when Hannah Swensen is dishing up the goods, readers can be sure to expect plenty of delicious surprises.

Includes 7 delicious dessert recipes!

DISCOVER THE DELICIOUS MYSTERY THAT STARTED IT ALL!

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 mouthwatering recipes, the very first Hannah Swensen mystery is sure to have readers coming back for seconds …

Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden’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. But if she doesn’t watch her back, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.

“A cleverly plotted cozy full of appealing characters and delicious cookie recipes.”—Publishers Weekly