Christmas Caramel Murder
-
-
4.0 • 6 Ratings
-
-
- $6.99
Publisher Description
Bah, homicide! A mystery in the New York Times-bestselling series with a heroine “irresistible as a cookie fresh from the oven” (Publishers Weekly).
Christmas normally descends on Lake Eden, Minnesota, as gently as reindeer alighting on a rooftop—but this yuletide season, the only thing coming down Hannah Swensen’s chimney is a case of murder.
Hannah and her pal Lisa have agreed to provide the goodies for the town’s annual production of A Christmas Carol. But before anyone can say “Bah, humbug!” a Santa-sized sackful of trouble ensues. Like the fact that Lisa’s husband will be playing Mr. Claus to his ex-girlfriend Phyllis Bates’ Mrs. Claus. Or that before the curtains even go up Phyllis is found dead in the snow—wearing a costume that the real Mrs. Claus would put on the naughty list. Soon, the suspects pile up faster than snowdrifts while a merry murderer remains on the loose. With clues hard to find, it might take a visit from ghosts of Christmas past to wrap up this mystery in time for the holidays…
Includes a dozen holiday recipes from The Cookie Jar!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Fluke's tasty 20th Hannah Swenson mystery (after Wedding Cake Murder), the Lake Eden, Minn., baker discovers promiscuous Phyllis Bates's frozen corpse in the snow. Distressingly, a nearby lunch bag belongs to nice Herb Beeseman and contains caramels made by Herb's wife, Lisa Hannah's partner in the Cookie Jar bakery. Flashback to two hours earlier. At a rehearsal for the town's annual Christmas show, Hannah and Lisa see Herb, dressed as Santa Claus, kiss Phyllis, scandalously underdressed as Mrs. Claus. It's "a stage-kiss," the director says, but Phyllis Herb's erstwhile high school girlfriend clearly meant the kiss and didn't care who knew. Unlike many cozy sleuths, Hannah cooperates with local police, especially Mike, who counts on her to find the killer. In Fluke's bestsellers, which spawned a popular TV series, recipes aren't frosting, they're the cake. Meticulously detailed, using common ingredients, the dozen sprinkled throughout the text outshine the plot. But Hannah is irresistible as a cookie fresh from the oven, especially in scenes with her father's ghost.
