This is a series that I've read since book 1 and felt that was beginning to fall into a rut. However, this book is probably my favorite.

I loved reading this 'prequel' because it not only laid the foundation for the series but also the mystery of Miss Essie's writings. We also learned a lot about Hannah's mom in this one and how close Lisa is to the family. I admit that I thought that it was also nice to have a new "Hannah' book without Norman or Mike or the drama of her missing husband. The mystery, although somewhat predictable at the end, was interesting and it kept me reading until the end.

The recipes are abundant for those that like to bake. For those like me, it's easy enough to flip to the next chapter.

It’s another cozy mystery from this author. It’s a good read and mystery with Hannah Swenson and her zany family.

There are a lot of ups and downs in this story. It also has a story within a story. 2-4-1! I couldn't wait to hear more as the characters read the notebook story every evening. This book took a long time until you knew what the mystery was. It didn't take away from enjoying it. I enjoyed this book a lot. And after the mess there was a truly happy ending. I would recommend this to others.

Hannah Swensen is at it again! Baking cookies and solving mysteries!
This book takes you back the humble beginnings of The Cookie Jar and gives you a taste of what came before Hannah starts catching killers. Mike and Norman do not make an appearance so the Swensen women really pick up the slack. Lots of recipes (except I think Hannah can do a little better than cool whip frosting in multiple desserts), a story within the story, and secrets from decades ago, you will be entertained until the end.
Not the typical murder mystery that we've become accustomed to by Joanne Fluke but it was definitely a page turner. I look forward to Hannah coming back to the present day in the next book in this series.

Christmas Cake Murder is a terrific mystery. I enjoyed the plot and the well developed characters. The author is new to me and I look forward to reading more of her books. Fans of mysteries will love this one.

Are you freaking kidding me? You need to have a dead body to call it the Christmas Cake Murder. Instead this book was I don't even know how many pages of Essie needing to be hospice not because she was dying but that she lived in two rooms with no electricity or no running water (Where the heck was the building inspector for this?) and basically the origins of The Cookie Jar. I'm glad Delores basically picked out everything for Hannah.

I think the most disappointing part of novella was the writing style - I think a middle schooler would have a better chance of writing this with more advanced sentence structure , useless adjectives (stop referring it to as the industrial oven. We all know what it is), and the mentioning of characters that are never to be heard of again (aka Cliff). The worst part was the entire description of Hannah making her first batch of cookies at the Cookie Jar - it was basically the following recipe with some adjectives and adverbs thrown in for good measure...

Please just move to the annual February book and make a decision about the whole Ross debacle please...

This Christmas edition story (Hannah Swensen #23) begins with a look back at Hannah Swensen as she finishes college and returns home right after the death of her father. Her mother helps a friend, Essie, while she is spending time convalescing from a broken hip. They plan to recreate a Christmas party from years gone by at a local ballroom. Hannah decides to open her own bakery and to be the chief baker for the party. As usual, delicious sweet and savory recipes are included at the end of each chapter. Good holiday addition to the series.

Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke will be available September 25, 2018 by Kensington Books. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to review "Christmas Cake Murder.". I am a huge fan of Joanne Fluke and I have read almost every book in the Hannah Swenson series. In "Christmas Cake Murder" is a prequel to the series of books. We finally find out how the Cookie Jar came to be and when she moved into her condo. This wasn't the typical mystery where Hannah went sleuthing for answers it came together on its own with a little bit of help from her.
My only complaint about this book and the others in the series are the recipes at the end of the chapters. I feel that it breaks up the continuity of the story and it is used to lengthen a short book. Some of the recipes are also variations of the same recipe such as the Coolwhip frosting, these could have been all grouped together and given a list of variations.

The Christmas Cake Murder is a unique entry to Fluke's popular Hannah Swenson cozy mystery series. This book is in fact a prequel to the bestselling books. Readers catch a glimpse at life for our Lake Eden favorites just after the dead of Hannah's father. With her mother depressed, Hannah and her sisters are unsure how to help her until, another friend and Lake Eden resident is in need. The Swenson ladies rush to the rescue, determined to help the ailing Essie recreate a past Christmas Ball. Along the way, they discover Essie's writings about a pregnant young woman escaping from New York. Is this a work of fact or fiction? All too soon the story turns real!

The novel is also a chance to see Hannah branch out on her own. Reader's see her make the decision to become a banker, rent the space that will become 'The Cookie Jar' and move out to her own condo. There are good appearances by Andrea, Michelle, Bill and Lisa.

This is a solid entry to the series, packed full of tempting recipes. My only complaint is that after the ending of the Raspberry Danish Murder, I was hoping for some more answers to that whammy of a cliffhanger!

In this installment of Joanne Fluke's series, we take a break from Hannah Swensen's marital troubles to travel back in time. We join Hannah a few weeks after her father died- she has left her Ph.D program and is living with her mother to help her out while trying to find her new way in life. Her mother, Delores, is naturally depressed after the loss of her husband, but she's given the jump-start she needs when townspeople come to her to organize a Christmas event for a beloved resident of the town, Essie.

This book is a small change of pace from Hannah's usual adventures. It shows her just starting out with the bakery, she's only just gotten her condo and her famous Cookie Truck. She hasn't yet begun her Grim Reaper career of stumbling onto dead bodies. The story-within-a-story is intriguing, and although regular readers may guess where it will lead, it's still a worthy plot device. The included recipes are often more simplistic than the ones in the other books in the series, but it makes sense when you think that when the story takes place, Hannah is still a mid-20s home cook and is limited to one small oven at a time. The break from Hannah's constant romantic stresses is refreshing. All in all, definitely one to add to your cozy collection.

#23 in the Hannah Swenson book series, I've come to know and love all of the characters. What makes this book enjoyable is that it is a prequel to the original series so we get to see Hannah and her family right as she is starting the Cookie Jar. I loved seeing her family before and especially the bond she has with her mother and sisters. Although there wasn't much of a mystery, the story within a story was a nice technique and kept you reading. As I said, I've read all 23 books in this series and enjoyed this new perspective. However, the writing is becoming stilted and too descriptive of the daily goings-on. Let's have more of a mystery next time and more action. I will continue to read this series but I would prefer the older style of writing.

Not as interesting as most of this author’s books. It seemed to be all about cooking and characters seemed stilted

This book is a prequel for the Murder She Baked mystery series. The Hallmark Channel has made several movies based on these books. If you have yet to start this delightful series this book should be the one you read first. It was such a joy to visit Lake Eden, Minnesota once again. I loved learning the back stories of these characters whom I have grown to love. I got to learn how it was that Hannah decided to open her own bakery and about how her sister became a realtor. Hannah even got to solve her very first murder!

I'm back again with another review in this series. I know, I can't believe it either. The description of this book had me thinking it would go back to the fun stories at the beginning of the series but I was wrong.

This book does take place when Hannah has just left college (because of drama over a man!) and is now living with her mother Delores who is recently widowed after the death of Hannah's father. In the beginning of the book Delores is much more interested in what she's going to wear and eat rather than the fact that her husband just died.

I'm so very sick of the formal tones in these books. Who talks like this? Every sentence that has Delores addressing Hannah includes the word dear. "All right, dear, but..." "Yes of course dear" and from Hannah to her mother Delores: "All right, Mother..." "Don't worry, Mother" "Of course I will, Mother"
Not to mention Hannah having to remind her Mother that she was in the middle of completing her doctorate in English. Delores didn't know this?

Here's an exchange with Hannah and her younger sister Michelle:
"Tell us about it, "Michelle urged, and Hannah gave her an approving look. Michelle had anticipated the question that she would have asked" Good girl Michelle, you get a cookie!

There is some more dialogue where Hannah explains the crackers on a cheese plate to her mother Delores. Ritz crackers, stone ground wheat crackers, carr's water biscuits. Come on. Then Michelle's friend Lisa pipes up with this zinger "The napkins are paper towels from the roll in the kitchen that I folded into quarters and that's because I couldn't find any cocktail napkins" How very dare you Delores to have people over for a cheese plate and not have cocktail napkins! For shame.

Another thing I'm sick of are the disparaging remarks by the author (or authors as it would seem) about Hannah's red hair and body image. In this book it actually states "wonder of wonders, Bertie at the Cut 'n Curl had actually managed to tame her curly red hair into some semblance of normalcy" I'll have you know ma'm that red hair is not abnormal, and neither is curly hair. There are also some remarks about Hannah having a huge butt and hips and being relieved that she could zipper a tacky dress that Delores wanted to buy her. Not to mention all the remarks from Delores herself about how she's gaining weight from eating too many baked goods. But then we have a scene were Delores takes multiple helpings of dinner, has four kinds of pies or cakes, ice cream, bon bons/truffles, and coffee with whipped cream or something and is surprised she is gaining weight. Poor Delores.

Here is the biggest problem with this book though. The "murder" doesn't actually occur until more than 80% of the way through the book. After that it is obvious what happened but of course our genius sleuth Hannah just can't seem to figure it out on her own. I will say when she DOES figure it out the tackiness levels rise as Hannah shares some very personal information with someone that she has no business sharing.

There is a story within a story contained in this book too which Hannah reads aloud (for some reason) to her captivated audience consisting of Delores, Michelle, and Michelle's friend Lisa who apparently never leaves the Swensen house. The little story is laughably bad and predictable. Not to mention the fact that Hannah basically stole it from another character's bedside while that character is in the hospital and just decides to read it to everyone.

The recipes in these books are getting worse and worse as well. Firstly, who wants to bake 8-10 dozen cookies at a time? Secondly, most of the desserts use some kind of Sandra Lee-esque convenience food like cake mix for a cake "recipe", cool whip for frosting, pushing hersheys kisses into cookies for "flair" I mean really. At least give us some interesting baked goods recipes if nothing else.

In short: skip this unless you need a good laugh.

Note: I actually had to stop reading this partway through because the trashy food descriptions were making me physically ill.

Hannah Swensen has just lost her father, her fiancee, and her previously settled plans for the future. She and her sisters are worried about their mother, who is retreating ever further from the world.

Fortunately, a great distraction appears in the form of an elderly lady, Essie, with happy memories of a traditional Christmas Ball. The Swensen sisters and friends tempt their mother to join in recreating the ball.

At the same time, they all begin reading a mysterious story written by Essie. As Essie's story unfolds, the clues in it begin to intertwine with memories and mysteries coming to light in Essie's life.

This is the story in which Hannah starts up her bakery and her habit of investigating mysteries. The story is told very plainly, but it answers questions readers may have had about Hannah and her family.

There are recipes, but many of them begin with cake mix, pudding mix, and Cool Whip. This isn't the book to buy for the recipes. If you like the series, you'll want to have this foundational novel.

This is an origin story for Hannah Swenson. We are taken back in time to when Hannah moved back to her hometown and we find out how she came to own the Cookie Jar. There is a small bit of mystery involved, but that is not really the focus of this book.

I love this series., but this book wasn't my favorite. It goes back to when Hannah started her shoppe. I liked the fact that it gave some back story, but it didn't flow as smoothly as the other books.

This is a prequel to the whole series. It was nice to see how Hannah came to have the Cookie Jar. The mystery was good and I liked the added story within the story. But this should really be renumbered to be 0.5, rather than book 23.

This used to be a rock solid cozy series.
However, over the last few books it has just completely lost its focus and veered away from the character development we had seen.
This book is a prequel to the series as we know it, which I hoped would bring the magic back to the series.
However, the writing style seems amateurish and almost seems written by someone other Ms. Fluke.
It is time to retire this series.

Years ago, when Hannah first came up with the idea to open The Cookie Jar, she assisted her mother in recreating a spectacular Christmas Ball in honor of an elderly lady in hospice care, Essie Granger. After finding Essie’s notebooks, Hannah gets sidetracked by the mystery she reads. Hannah is astonished to find the story could be true. Can she put all the clues together to create a happy holiday ending?
This is a departure from the usual Hannah Swensen mystery in that it takes place years in the past and it lacks the action and suspense this reader is used to. Most of the plot focused on Hannah, Delores, Lisa and Michelle reading the mystery story they find. Even though it’s a full length work, it read like a sweet novella. It is my hope that the next installment in this series continues with the main storyline. I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily reviewing it.