This latest entry into the Hannah Swenson series left me feeling hollow. The book just didn't have a story line that kept me very engaged, and it felt as though there was a lot that was left unsaid. While the end was a bit of a surprise, it still was not completely unexpected.

Meh. This series used to be cute and charming but since Hannah overthrew her own love triangle with Norman and Mike for Ross it's lost my attention. With each book Joanne Fluke seems to write Hannah into a hole of stupidity. She really has no idea how to see that she's missed calls or text messages? All the while sending other text messages or having her phone ringer on? Makes no sense.

Also Hannah seems lost in the Red Owl local grocery store but one of the recipes mentions "I bought mine at the Whole Foods olive bar!" ok sure.

Overall I'd like to see Hannah wise up and stop acting like a dimwit. I think I'm done with this series. In one chapter Hannah spends quite a bit of time at the grocery store wondering what a "pale lager" is in terms of beer. Each beer on the shelf states clearly the type of beer it is. It would have been as simple as her reading the labels to see which were pale lagers. Please stop writing this character as so helpless.

For someone who is supposedly logical and smart enough to solve crimes before the local Police Department Hannah sure is real world dumb.

While the mystery is pretty solid, the relationship among Hannah, Ross, Mike, and Norman bothered me. It doesn't seem realistic that Ross would be welcoming Hannah's former suitors into their home - basically all the time.

I could've finished this book way more quickly than I did, but I kept getting bored and distracted. The mystery that pops up at the very end as a cliffhanger was so much more interesting than the actual murder that was the basis of the book. I also found the writing to be fairly stilted, which took me out of the story. Overall I found this to be a much weaker book than earlier books in the series.

Hannah Swensen is now married and it's not to Norman or Mike!!! Oh no! Now she is Hannah Barton, married to Ross?? They have just returned from a honeymoon cruise when Hannah's mother, Delores, finds her neighbor dead. She begs Hannah to investigate the murder and Hannah does just that! This is a great cozy mystery series, I just am bothered that Hannah married someone that was not a longtime character. (I guess that I always thought that she would end up with Mike! ) Anyway, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone.

Banana Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke will be available February 28, 2017 from Kensington Corp. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

A delightful cozy with delicious sounding recipes. An inconclusive ending that I am sure will be explained in her next book.

Banana Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Have read the other books in this series by the author and have enjoyed them.
This one starts out with Delores and she's just finished writing her romance regency novel. Story follows the family members and what's going on in their lives.
What I like about this is that there are many generations involved and even if you've not read prior books the author brings you up to date without bogging down all the details.
Usually it's Hannah that finds the dead body as gets clues to solve the mystery-this time it's Delores-Hannah and her husband Ross are on their way back from a cruise.
Recipes are scattered throughout the book. I find the series a bit different now that she's married and no longer dating Norman and Mike. It's just a bit weird. Typical Hannah novel where nothing goes to how you think it should go, lots of drama and same main characters.
Surprise ending after that murder is solved and excerpt from Joanne Fluke's Stepchild is included at the end.
I received this book from Kensington Books via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I look forward to every February so I can read a new Hannah Swenson mystery – Its been my habit for about the last 15 years or so, but I’ve got some concerns about the series so my review will be a little different than my “normal” ones. Let me rant for a moment…

Over the years I think Hannah has gotten dumber . She used to be a lot smarter and now she can’t even work a cell phone? Where was Andrea in this book ? She had such a secondary role in this installment - it was like she wasn’t even in the book at all? How is Bill going to be able to be elected Sheriff again if Hannah seems to be doing all the murder-solving in this small town? Maybe Lisa and Michelle should run The Cookie Jar (especially since Michelle is doing much more of the cooking lately that Hannah) and Hannah needs to be Sheriff. Ross is creepy. Having your family purchase furniture without your input (and multi-colored patterned carpet? Ewww) is doubly creepy.

The murder in this book was a stretch. I get that you’re beginning to run out of characters to kill off but this was one of the weakest murder plots with execution, motive, and ending. If Mike was any kind of half-way decent homicide detective, he should have gathered all of the facts and would have had this wrapped up in a day or two.
My favorite parts of the book? The recipes are always welcome. Perhaps one of these days I’ll actually make something from the book – the peanut butter cheesecake with chocolate sauce sounds rather dreamy. But my absolute favorite part of the book was the ending. As I fist pumped through the final chapters, happy in the news that I was right, I also shot up a quick prayer thanking the Powers that Be that Ms. Fluke has seen the light.

Now I’m really looking forward to next February!

Overall Grade: B

www.FluffSmutandMurder.com

To say I was disappointed in this book would be an understatement.
I used to love this series but in the last 3-4 in the series, the quality and development of characters just do not ring true to the series.
The whodunits are overshadowed by this and sadly I will not read further books in the series.

I love a book with recipes and the Hannah Swenson series always delivers! We start this latest journey to Lake Eden with Delores,Hannah's mom. Delores has just finished writing her latest book when she hears a commotion in the condo below her. She hears raised voices then gunshots. Delores runs downstairs as the condo belongs to her friend Tori. After calling law enforcement, Delores lets herself into the condo and finds Tori murdered.
Fast forward a couple days. Hannah and Ross are on the last leg of their honeymoon and Hannah is still adjusting to married life. They return to Lake Eden and Hannah is thrown head first into the murder investigation while still trying to adjust to her new normal.
We follow Hannah and company through all the twists and turns we are all used to while she attempts to find Tori's killer. I love the growth we see of Hannah's sister Michelle and Hannah's partner Lisa. These are two of my favorite characters and I love how they are maturing every book.
The ending of this book completely knocked me off my chair! I was not expecting it at all, and I loved it. This cliff hanger left me in suspense and I cannot wait for the next installment! All in all, this was definitely a delicious addition to what is a wonderful series.

Review I love this series. I'm enjoying seeing more of Hannah's sister Michelle, she's very smart, intuitive and a great baker .

Hannah's mom has found a dead body and is anxious for Hannah to return home from her honeymoon. It's great the way Delores has accepted Hannah investigating murders now instead of berating her for finding dead bodies . Delores even helps in the investigation. I'm glad Joanne Fluke has brought her around to Hannah's way of thinking .

On the surface Ross seems like the ideal husband but I'm getting the sense he's not what he seems.

With the huge cliffhanger, I'm not sure how I'll be able to wait for the next book. All I can say about the ending is WOW, did not see that coming.

Fast paced, heartwarming, funny, and lots of surprises. As with all of Joanne Flukes books a real winner.

I have read every book in this series. I've always loved this series and always get excited to see another book coming out.
However, this book made me crazy for several reasons.

1. The politeness the family showed to each other. What happened to all the snarky comments between the sisters and their mom? I loved how the were portrayed as a real family, this book portrays them as fake.

2. The ridiculousness of Hannah not knowing how to use a cell phone. It just seemed really wrong and made her seem dumb.

3. Ross and Hannah......omg, do they even know each other? The dialogue between them was truly a put off. The whole marriage seemed like a sham.

Part of me thinks that a different author wrote this book because I can't imagine Ms. Fluke would have written a story so fragmented.

I had such high hopes for this book and I was really disappointed.
I will read the next book of course, because I have to see how this plays out.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

I absolutely love this series! It was nice to see the first few weeks of Hannah and Ross' wedded bliss, but be warned, this one ends in a cliffhanger. I want the next volume now!

This book can be turned into the perfect drinking game. Keep reading and you’ll find out why!

I’ve read and own every one of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Mystery series. I’ve always loved the recipes and have tried quite a few out for myself much to the enjoyment of my family. For the most part I’ve liked the stories as well because to me they’re like ‘junk food’ books; you read them as a treat so you can turn off the world for a while. I don’t read them to gain some better understanding of the world, to find some emotional attachment, have an epiphany, look for that quote that will change my outlook, etc; they’re just a fun way to pass the time.

Did I mention how great the recipes are? I’ve made some tasty dinners and really wowed my kids and family with some of her desserts. My only complaint is that it’s seriously made me want a food processor because she has so many that sound good but require one. The few times I’ve tried one of those and tried to create a workaround for not having a processor it hasn’t worked out well.

As far as the stories themselves I’ve only ever had 2 main and consistent problems.

One, it’s a running part of the plot lines that Hannah is technologically inept to the point she didn’t get a cell phone or computer until nearly this last book and there are over 20 in the series. Even when she did she constantly doesn’t seem to know how to use them. It seems as if Fluke has placed her series in ‘modern’ times so I have a VERY HARD TIME believing or understanding why she would create a character who is young AND owns a business wouldn’t have either a cell or computer, especially a computer. It also makes NO SENSE that once they bought each of these the character would have such a hard time understanding how to use them. It seems completely inaccurate, unrealistic and unfair to her readers to expect them to buy this.

In Banana Cream Pie Murder that running gag makes a huge part of the plot because at one point Hannah is having a meltdown over her husband going on a business trip without telling her only to later find out he called her cell and text her multiple times but because she’s so technologically inept she never got the messages and didn’t think to check. My husband and I communicate multiple times a day via our cells even if it’s just a text letting the other know we were thinking about them and if I haven’t heard from him the first thing I do is check my cell BECAUSE IT IS 2017! This ignorance of technology thing needs to end NOW! It’s just not funny.

Two, Hannah’s love life. There’s been a back and forth love triangle going on for about 20 books between her and 2 other male characters. When I saw a wedding theme book was coming I felt this huge sense of relief Fluke was finally going to end it and have Hannah settle down because the triangle was as irritating as her tech issues. Only, when the time came she had Hannah marry some throw away character who has never had a major part in her life at least in the books. The character has rarely been mentioned and she married him after only dating for like 2 seconds. It was such a slap in the face to her readers who have hung in there for this long as it made no sense.

Then it got worse in Banana Cream Pie Murder which is the first book to actually portray her married life. It starts off right away showing their marriage just isn’t going to work, the pseudo husband doesn’t seem to have any idea who Hannah really is and it’s as if the stage has been set for them to split up in the very near future. There’s never a portrayal of them actually ‘clicking’, no scene that assures the reader Fluke didn’t just screw us all over by throwing this guy in there because as the author she couldn’t make up her own mind who to choose in the love triangle (should’ve been Norman by the way – he built her a flipping house!). The marriage NEVER gets any better throughout the book, only worse until you feel like she set Hannah up in this sorry excuse of a relationship in order to create more plotlines for future books which considering how the book ended proved my very belief on this matter.

Now the Drinking Game: Ross, Hannah’s sorry excuse for a husband, CONSTANTLY calls her “Cookie”. Much later in the book it’s explained that apparently when she knew him eons ago in college that was his nickname for her because she liked to baked cookies – yes I know it shows how incredibly witty and intelligent this guy is (eye roll). Anyways, for whatever the reason Fluke seemed to need to impress upon her readers Ross’ love for calling Hannah “Cookie” by using it so often I started to feel like I needed a drink if I read that one more time which led me to my first ever Hannah Swensen Murder Mystery epiphany! You must take a shot, sip of wine, whatever EVERY TIME he calls Hannah “Cookie” and I promise you’ll be passed out on the floor by chapter 10! : You’ll thank me as it will help with the irritation over this plot device.

The book is what it is, there’s some really fabulous recipes in here I’ll be trying out this week. The murderer wasn’t someone I saw coming right away so that was nice and it ended on a decent cliffhanger so I’ll be curious to see what she’s going to do in her next book.

Banana Cream Pie Murder brings Hannah Swenson back for the first time as a married lady. Hannah hasn't even arrived home from her honeymoon before she's being pulled into investigating another Lake Eden murder. This time, though, on top of her usual detective work, Hannah is learning to balance marriage after years of living independently. The usual characters are found in this book, and it's another fun read in the series. The book ends on a major cliffhanger, and I'm looking forward to the next book!

Overall I am enjoying seeing Hannah's life move forward, but it seems like the author is uncomfortable with or unwilling to write about Hannah's romantic life, even now that she's married to Ross, and instead turns Hannah into an awkward, simpering teenage girl whenever she thinks about or interacts with her husband. Hannah's always been a strong, independent, smart woman, and I could do without the blushing or coyness. I understand if the author is trying to avoid being graphic or crass, but there is a middle ground. While I was frustrated with this, it didn't ultimately ruin my enjoyment of the book.

This is probably the best of the series so far. The mystery part of the story was good, but it was enhanced by Hannah's struggles to get used to married life. And I have to admit, there are more recipes in the book that I want to try than any of the others. Definitely one that the public library needs to order multiple copies of.

By the way, I never liked Ross. Not from the very beginning.

Hannah Swensen (Barton) is back from the honeymoon of her dreams, but reality is waiting for her-mother Delores has found a body. The new bride is back on the sleuthing trail as she tries to figure out whodunit-as newlywed life is not the bliss she had hoped for. The ending of this book leaves the reader on a hug cliff(hanger). Just when this series was getting predictable, I now can't wait for the next title in the series! Well done, Ms. Fluke.

This book follows Hannah Swensen she has just returned from her honeymoon cruise with Ross and is settling back into normal. While Hannah was gone her mother stumbled across the dead body of Tori Bascomb the mayer's sister. Who killed Tori and why? Delores Swensen is adamant that something sinister happened and begs her daughter Hannah to investigate. As Hannah investigates she learns that Tori had problems with her brother Richard Bascomb along with a mystery money manager. Unlike the money manager Richard has an ailibi for the night in question he was with his wife. As for the money manager that will take some creativity on Hannah's part to find out who the manager was. Will Hannah solve the crime or fall to a similar fate as Tori?

I loved these books in the beginning but now find myself wondering if Hannah has run her course? In this book Hannah has alot of trouble finding her grove with her husband. At parts it seems like everyone is too agreeable to whatever Hannah wants and I know the real world doesn't work that way at all. So I have to wonder if this world Hannah is in has gotten soft? I hope the author improves on Hannah or lays her to rest just seems Hannah has started to stale out in many areas.

I enjoyed this book only wished it had more people who seemed to bring more conflict with the main character atleast make her fight for what she believes in more, not controlling per se but just not so easy to agree with what Hannah wanted to do. If you like Stephanie Plum books or other books along that line you will enjoy this one!

Hannah Swensen is back from her honeymoon and back in the thick of things with her family, her friends, her bakery, and yet another murder in the otherwise sleepy little town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. This time, there are so few suspects that, even with the help of her new hubby and both her former boyfriends, Hannah is stumped.

If you're looking for snappy repartee and fast action, you're in the wrong place. That's not how Lake Eden rolls. They talk about food, prepare food, eat food, and gossip. (Well, there are also murders and plenty of breaking and entering, but every town has its little quirks.) And eventually the murderer comes to light. It's a pleasant read and followers of the series will enjoy catching up with the long-term characters. Hannah is like a friend with a really interesting hobby. I always enjoy her adventures.

You may not get tight plotting with this book, but you'll get plenty of recipes. There's an average of one per chapter, and they're written up in such a chatty, friendly way that they take up nearly as many pages as the story. There's an index in the back so you can easily find the ones you want to make after you read the book.

Hannah is happy now that she’s finally married and returning to Lake Eden after her honeymoon, but her mother has had a terrible scare. Hannah’s mom has discovered her neighbor, Virginia Bascomb has been murdered. Virginia was once a highly respected stage actress, but in her climb to the top she made plenty of enemies, leaving amateur sleuth Hannah, plenty of suspects. A pleasant addition to the long running series that readers will enjoy