CHRISTMAS CAKE MURDER BY JOANNE FLUKE

Christmas Cake Murder is a brand new Hanna Swensen mystery. However, it is a bit different as it's a prequel to the series! So if you haven't read the series and have been wanting to, you can start here if you like! I really enjoyed it. 

Rating: ★★★★★
​Release Date: September 25, 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Hannah Swensen series
Pages: 224 pages
Format: eBook. ARC. ​

It’s Christmas many years ago, and topping young Hannah Swensen’s wish list is becoming the go-to baker in Lake Eden, Minnesota. But as Hannah finds out, revisiting holiday memories can be 
murder . . .
 
With her dream of opening The Cookie Jar taking shape, Hannah’s life matches the hectic December hustle and bustle in Lake Eden—especially when she agrees to help recreate a spectacular Christmas Ball from the past in honor of Essie Granger, an elderly local in hospice care. But instead of poring over decadent dessert recipes for the merry festivities, she instantly becomes enthralled by Essie’s old notebooks and the tale of a woman escaping danger on the streets of New York. Hannah’s surprised by Essie’s secret

talent for penning crime fiction. She’s even more surprised when the story turns real. As Hannah prepares to run a bakery and move out of her mother’s house, it’ll be a true miracle if she can prevent another Yuletide disaster by solving a mystery as dense as a Christmas fruitcake . ​​

Purchase a Copy

AMAZON PRINT | AMAZON KINDLE | LISTEN WITH AUDIBLE

​ADD TO GOODREADS | SERIES LINK ON GR

Read my Book Review

​Release Date: September 25, 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Actual Rating: 5 stars

This is my absolute favorite cozy mystery series! There's just something about Hannah Swensen and the delicious desserts she dishes up that calls to me! Not only that, the murders that she solves are a whole lot of fun and I simply cannot get enough. This is a bit different than the other books in the series though. It's like a story within a story. Plus, it's a prequel to the entire series! This caused me a lot of excitement because I haven't finished the rest of the books up until this point yet- I'm working on it! 

In this one, readers will look at the life of Hannah and her family BEFORE she opens the cookie jar. Don't worry, there is still a mystery to be solved but this one doesn't hit as close to home like the one's in the rest of the series. Instead, Hannah and her mother find what first appears as a diary. When they begin reading it though, they start to see that's it's a book! One that was hand written by a family friend named Essie. During a Christmas ball, shots strike out though, and it's up to Hannah and her family to put the puzzle pieces together of how the story they were reading ties into the shooting. 

If you are a fan of cozies then I highly recommend this entire series to you! It's my absolute favorite of all the cozy mysteries out there (and there are TONS).

★★★★★