Plum Pudding Murder

August 31, 2009
The Christmas season provides the backdrop for bestseller Fluke’s sprightly 12th Hannah Swenson holiday mystery (after Mar. 2009’s Cream Puff Murder
). When Hannah, the proprietor of the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minn., stops by the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot one night to pick up a check, she discovers the body of the owner, Larry Jaeger, inside “Elf Headquarters,” the double-wide trailer that was Larry’s home. Hannah’s “slay-dar” has led her to yet another murder victim. With the support of various friends and family, including her lively and manipulative mother, Delores, Hannah investigates. Her sessions in a class on small business practices raise her suspicions about the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot. Cozy fans will cheer as Hannah survives a hair-raising confrontation with the killer to present an elegant Christmas eve banquet. Tempting recipes range from Hot Fudge Sundae Cakes to Triple Threat Chocolate Cheesecake Pie.

October 1, 2009
Baker Hannah Swenson, star of Fluke's popular cozy series ("Candy Cane Murder"), is busy with holiday orders when she stumbles across the body of a local businessman, murdered in his office. The list of suspects is long, and Hannah's time is running short, what with her big job catering desserts for the wedding of the season. Along with recipes for a complete Christmas dinner, this will appeal to Fluke's fans and cozy readers. [The first Swenson mystery, "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder", has been optioned for a Lifetime TV series.Ed.]

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2009
Sleuthing Minnesota baker Hannah Swensen (Carrot Cake Murder, 2008, etc.) discovers that something just doesn't add up at a local holiday emporium.

Even though she accompanies her mother Dolores to only one session of Lake Eden Community College's course in Small Business Practices, Hannah learns a lot about how to succeed in business without really trying. So when Dolores' shop assistant Luanne can't balance Larry Jaeger's books, Hannah wonders why the apparently thriving Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot isn't making any money. Larry's nearly doubled his order of White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams and Fudge-Mallow Cookie Bars, and holiday shoppers have scarfed down all seven of the Minnesota Plum Puddings she sent him. But when she goes to collect her fee for the treats, she finds both Larry and his plasma TV riddled with bullets. Forget Hannah's inquiry into Carrie Rhoades's sudden unavailability to play bridge with Dolores or go to the movies with her son Norman, one of Hannah's two beaux. Instead, she cross-examines detective Mike Kingston, her other sweetie, to find out who might have it in for Larry. As her cat Moishe demolishes the handmade bird ornaments on her tree, Hannah unravels the tangle of schemes that brought Larry and his flat-screen to an untimely end.

Fluke's tale of an unorthodox entrepreneur is really just business as usual. Neither the domestic details nor the staggering number of recipes give the mystery any more traction than an Oldsmobile in a Lake Eden winter.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)