Carrot Cake Murder

Once upon a time, one of my favourite sleuths, Hannah Swenson made me run to the bookstore to buy her books as soon as possible. But after several books where she cannot make up her mind between her two male suitors, I got tired. She doesn’t deserve neither one of them. They should move on, yes I think Norman and Mike need new love interests, and then Hannah will just learn from her mistakes and not take them for granted. Ok, got that off my chest!

When I found this book at the library, I wasn’t all too sure if I should pick it up, but I do enjoy the Swensen sisters, and I thought about giving Hannah another chance. So Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke found a place in my tote bag.

Here’s the blurb:

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 be a recipe for her own demise...

I don’t know why I even bothered! I thought maybe, just maybe, that this book would be the one to bring Hannah out of her slump. I don’t mean just Norman/Mike triangle, but the way she just commandeers the whole population of Lake Eden. It seems to me that Hannah is the only person able to figure out or resolve problems in town, they’ve lost all confidence in the police. It seems that even the police think the same, because they ask for her help! Is that realistic?! Please!

Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke (2.5/5) Mystery; Published: Kensington (2008); Series: # 10, Hannah Swenson; Waste of Time; 100 + Reading Challenge (79); Library book;