{"id":26399,"date":"2020-10-05T08:33:43","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T12:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=26399"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:57:18","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:57:18","slug":"review-christmas-cake-murders-by-joanne-fluke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/05\/review-christmas-cake-murders-by-joanne-fluke\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \ud83d\udd0d Christmas Cake Murders by Joanne Fluke"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-26399\" data-postid=\"26399\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-26399 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_bbbcac8 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner gutter-narrow col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_49667e8 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_7036296 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/christmas-cupcake-murder-joanne-fluke.jpg?w=640\" title=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d Christmas Cake Murders by Joanne Fluke\" alt=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d Christmas Cake Murders by Joanne Fluke\">\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_a1982ef customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><strong>As December turns Lake Eden into the North Pole, the heat is on in Hannah Swensen\u2019s kitchen to honor two Christmas promises: baking irresistible holiday cupcakes and preventing murder!<\/strong><\/em><br \/><b><i>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><br \/>While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa\u2019s waistline on Christmas Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michelle\u2019s love life is becoming complicated, Lisa needs Hannah\u2019s advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she\u2019s not willing to share. But nothing dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned storefront two doors down from Hannah\u2019s bakery . . .<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>The befuddled John Doe can\u2019t recall a thing about himself\u2014except for his unusual knowledge of restoring antique furniture. With a smattering of clues and barely enough time to frost Christmas cookies, Hannah must solve a deadly puzzle that could leave her dashing through the snow for her life!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_23787e9 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_2d1ea91  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25881 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png?resize=296%2C72\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Sep 29, 2020<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>A Hannah Swenson Mystery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>26<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Kensington Books<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $10.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Hannah Swensen<\/strong> is happy to accompany her mother and her mother\u2019s friend to look at some rental property where they can store their antiques. As the three women check out the space\u2019s features, they make a surprising discovery. A young man is on the floor, near death, and Hannah recognizes him. She had served the homeless man, who was looking for odd jobs to make money, earlier that morning in her shop. They make sure he gets medical attention immediately but when he wakes, he doesn\u2019t remember who he is or why he was in Lake Eden. Hannah had immediately liked the young man and decides to solve the mystery about his identity and help him get his life back.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This book is part of the long-running <em>Hannah Swensen<\/em> series, but is a flashback to when Hannah\u2019s shop The Cookie Jar had been open for two years. She is already casually dating Mike and Norman, but since both relationships are in the early stages, the book doesn\u2019t have the romance drama of the most recent books in the series. Hannah is a good, sweet person and is sometimes taken advantage of by her overbearing mother, Delores. In later books, Delores mellows some, but she\u2019s still pretty pushy in this story. I like Hannah\u2019s relationship with her sisters and friends, though. I enjoyed the investigation into the man\u2019s past and how Hannah finds and puts together the clues she finds. Everybody pitches in to help \u201cJoe Smith\u201d in this story and it\u2019s great seeing everyone work together. There are a few surprises in what they learn which makes the ending even better.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Most culinary mysteries have recipes, but this series has started to go overboard. There are about twenty-five recipes throughout the book and in addition, much of the book\u2019s narrative is Hannah talking about dishes she\u2019s preparing or recipes she wants to try. As long as you know going into the book that it will be light on mystery, you won\u2019t be disappointed. This book has even less mystery than usual and taking away the food-related portions is really more of a novella in terms of plot. However, it is an entertaining holiday story that fans of the author will enjoy as well as anyone looking for a quick, light read for Christmas.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_eb0616c customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3iEa3Hy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/christmas-cupcake-murder\/id1502300207?itsct=books_toolbox&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=11l88k&amp;ls=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/christmas-cupcake-murder-joanne-fluke\/1135644830?ean=9781496729149\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/christmas-cupcake-murder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Joanne_Fluke_Christmas_Cupcake_Murder?id=JCTFDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As December turns Lake Eden into the North Pole, the heat is on in Hannah Swensen\u2019s kitchen to honor two Christmas promises: baking irresistible holiday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,110,48],"tags":[152,223,367,404,405],"class_list":["post-26399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christine","category-kensington-publishing-companies","category-reviews","tag-4-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-mystery","tag-recommend","tag-recommended-reads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michelle\u2019s love life is becoming complicated, Lisa needs Hannah\u2019s advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she\u2019s not willing to share. But nothing dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned storefront two doors down from Hannah\u2019s bakery . . .<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>The befuddled John Doe can\u2019t recall a thing about himself\u2014except for his unusual knowledge of restoring antique furniture. With a smattering of clues and barely enough time to frost Christmas cookies, Hannah must solve a deadly puzzle that could leave her dashing through the snow for her life!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Sep 29, 2020<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>A Hannah Swenson Mystery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>26<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Kensington Books<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $10.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Hannah Swensen<\/strong> is happy to accompany her mother and her mother\u2019s friend to look at some rental property where they can store their antiques. As the three women check out the space\u2019s features, they make a surprising discovery. A young man is on the floor, near death, and Hannah recognizes him. She had served the homeless man, who was looking for odd jobs to make money, earlier that morning in her shop. They make sure he gets medical attention immediately but when he wakes, he doesn\u2019t remember who he is or why he was in Lake Eden. Hannah had immediately liked the young man and decides to solve the mystery about his identity and help him get his life back.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This book is part of the long-running <em>Hannah Swensen<\/em> series, but is a flashback to when Hannah\u2019s shop The Cookie Jar had been open for two years. She is already casually dating Mike and Norman, but since both relationships are in the early stages, the book doesn\u2019t have the romance drama of the most recent books in the series. Hannah is a good, sweet person and is sometimes taken advantage of by her overbearing mother, Delores. In later books, Delores mellows some, but she\u2019s still pretty pushy in this story. I like Hannah\u2019s relationship with her sisters and friends, though. I enjoyed the investigation into the man\u2019s past and how Hannah finds and puts together the clues she finds. Everybody pitches in to help \u201cJoe Smith\u201d in this story and it\u2019s great seeing everyone work together. There are a few surprises in what they learn which makes the ending even better.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Most culinary mysteries have recipes, but this series has started to go overboard. There are about twenty-five recipes throughout the book and in addition, much of the book\u2019s narrative is Hannah talking about dishes she\u2019s preparing or recipes she wants to try. As long as you know going into the book that it will be light on mystery, you won\u2019t be disappointed. This book has even less mystery than usual and taking away the food-related portions is really more of a novella in terms of plot. However, it is an entertaining holiday story that fans of the author will enjoy as well as anyone looking for a quick, light read for Christmas.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3iEa3Hy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/christmas-cupcake-murder\/id1502300207?itsct=books_toolbox&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=11l88k&amp;ls=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/christmas-cupcake-murder-joanne-fluke\/1135644830?ean=9781496729149\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/christmas-cupcake-murder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Joanne_Fluke_Christmas_Cupcake_Murder?id=JCTFDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}