Devil S Food Cake Murder

USA Today Bestseller: A minister, a mynah bird, and a murder keep a sleuthing baker busy in this “fabulous” mystery with “mouthwatering recipes” (Publishers Weekly). Hannah Swensen has to admit life is pretty sweet. Things are going well in the romance department, and her bakery’s delectable confections are selling as fast as she can make them. Even her good friend Claire is head over heels with her new husband, Reverend Bob Knudson. If only they could find time to take their honeymoon! When Bob’s childhood friend, Matthew Walters, comes to town, it seems like divine intervention. Matthew, like Bob, is a Lutheran minister with a stubborn sweet tooth. Since he’s on sabbatical, Matthew is happy to fill in for Bob while he and Claire take that long-awaited honeymoon. It sounds like the perfect plan—until Hannah finds Matthew facedown in a plate of Devil’s Food Cake, a single bullet in his head. And the only witness is a bird who squawks “The wages of sin is death.” It will take some sleuthing for Hannah to sift out the killer… Features cookie and dessert recipes from The Cookie Jar, including Red Devil’s Food Cake and Carrot Oatmeal Muffins! “Fans will be eagerly awaiting the next installment.”—Booklist

Summertime has finally arrived in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar bakery, is looking forward to warm, lazy days, eating ice cream, and sharing picnics with friends. But when a family reunion takes a deadly turn, it’s up to Hannah to find a killer . . . Hannah Swensen has a lot on her plate, baking up a storm for The Cookie Jar. But she’ll always make time for her business partner, Lisa, who’s preparing for a big family reunion. Everyone is delighted when Lisa’s long-lost uncle makes a surprise appearance. No one has heard from Gus in twenty-five years. Uncle Gus is immediately the hit of the reunion. He’s almost as popular as Hannah’s scrumptious carrot cake. But the next morning, as the whole family gathers for the group photo, one person is missing. Hannah offers to track down Uncle Gus, but her search leads to a shocking find. Over by the bar at the pavilion, she spots two slices of her infamous carrot cake, frosting-side down on the floor—and Gus’s corpse with an ice pick jutting out of his chest! A little snooping reveals that not everyone was celebrating Gus’s return. And when Hannah unearths secrets from Gus’s past, she discovers many more people with an axe to grind. Now Hannah’s got to sift through a long list of suspects to find a killer—even if it could mean a recipe for her own demise . . . Features Over a Dozen Cookie and Dessert Recipes from The Cookie Jar!

When someone shoots visiting Lutheran minister Matthew Walters, Hannah Swenson and cronies investigate Matthew's background, especially his relationship to his creepy, paroled convict cousin, Paul.

It's been a sleepy summer for the folks of Lake Eden, Minnesota. In fact, it's been a whole four months since anyone in the Swensen family has come across a dead body—a detail that just made the front page of the local paper. And that means Hannah Swensen can finally focus on her bakery. . .or can she? Life is never really quiet for Hannah. After all, her mother's wedding is a little over a month away and guess who Delores put in charge of the planning? Yet just when Hannah believes her biggest challenge will be whether to use buttercream or fondant for the wedding cake, she accidentally hits a stranger with her cookie truck while driving down a winding country road in a raging thunderstorm. Hannah is wracked with guilt, and things get even worse when she's arrested. . .for murder! But an autopsy soon reveals the mystery man, his shirt covered in stains from blackberry pie, would have died even if Hannah hadn't hit him. Now, to clear her name, Hannah will have to follow a trail of pie crumbs to track down the identity of the deceased, find a baker who knows more about murder than how to roll out a perfect pie crust—and get herself to the church on time. . . Indulge In Joanne Fluke's Criminally Delicious Hannah Swensen Mysteries! Red Velvet Cupcake Murder "Culinary Cozies Don't Get Any Tastier Than This Winning series." —Library Journal "Loaded with mouthwatering recipes and clever plotting, the latest Hannah Swensen mystery delights." —RT Book Reviews "If your reading habits alternate between curling up with a good mystery or with a good cookbook, you ought to know about Joanne Fluke." —The Charlotte Observer Cinnamon Roll Murder "Fans of this wildly popular series will not be disappointed. Fluke has kept this series strong for a long time, and there is still plenty to enjoy for foodie crime fans." —Booklist Devil's Food Cake Murder "Fabulous." —Publishers Weekly Apple Turnover Murder "The ever popular Fluke writes engaging cozies with one part great characters, one part gentle story, and three parts the best recipes in the genre." —Library Journal Cream Puff Murder "Entertaining and sprinkled with tempting recipes. It's a sweet treat of a novel." —The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

First in the New York Times-bestselling mystery series: “A cleverly plotted cozy full of appealing characters and delicious cookie recipes.”—Publishers Weekly Take one amateur sleuth. Mix in some eccentric Minnesota locals. Add a generous dollop of crackling suspense, and you've got the recipe for this mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking heroine whose gingersnaps are almost as tart as her comments and whose penchant for solving crime is definitely stirring things up. While dodging her mother’s attempts to marry her off, Hannah runs The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden’s most popular bakery. But after Ron LaSalle, the beloved deliveryman from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery—with Hannah’s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him—she’s determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, so 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. “Culinary cozies don’t get any tastier than this winning series.”—Library Journal

When Larry Jaeger, the owner of the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot, is murdered, bakery owner Hannah Swensen must sift through a wealth of suspects during the busiest time of the year--before a murderous Scrooge strikes again.

It promises to be a busy week for Hannah Swensen. Not only is she whipping up treats for the chamber of commerce booth at the Tri-County fair, she's also judging the baking contest; acting as a magician's assistant for her business partner's husband; trying to coax Moishe, her previously rapacious feline, to end his hunger strike, and performing her own private carnival act by juggling the demands of her mother and sisters. With so much on her plate, it's no wonder Hannah finds herself on the midway only moments before the fair closes for the night. After hearing a suspicious thump, she goes snooping–only to discover Willa Sunquist, a student teacher and fellow bake contest judge, dead alongside an upended key lime pie. But who would want to kill Willa and why? Now Hannah needs to crank up the heat, hoping that Willa’s killer will get rattled and make a mistake. If that happens she intends to be there, even if it means getting on a carnival ride that could very well be her last… Features Over a Dozen Cookie and Dessert Recipes from The Cookie Jar!

“If your reading habits alternate between curling up with a good mystery or with a good cookbook, you ought to know about Joanne Fluke.”—Charlotte Observer This summer has been warmer than usual in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Hannah Swensen is trying to beat the heat both in and out of her bakery kitchen. But she’s about to find out the hard way that nothing cools off a hot day like a cold-blooded murder. At the grand opening of a local hotel, a police department employee nearly dies falling from a penthouse—and then another woman, with whom Hannah has a less-than-friendly relationship, winds up dead. Hannah is the prime suspect—and to clear her own name, she’s got to find out who iced the victim… Features cookie and dessert recipes from The Cookie Jar, including Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes and Chocolate Covered Peanut Cookies! “Culinary cozies don't get any tastier than this winning series.”—Library Journal “Loaded with mouthwatering recipes and clever plotting, the latest Hannah Swensen mystery delights.”—RT Book Reviews