Another great book by Joanne Fluke! I really enjoyed all the recipes and have a few bookmarked to try, once I pick up the ingredients. The book format is a little different, with the murder happening in the later part of the book. And the last sentence of the book has me already wanting the next book out! Wonderful work once again, Joanne!


(Will post to Amazon and goodreads for review once the book is released. Thanks!)

Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series # 24 was about the disappearance of her husband Ross. At the end of #23 she found him gone with all his belonging left in the master bedroom. Starting the Chocolate Cream Pie Mystery, we find Hannah set to enter her church with her family. She was very nervous about her impending 'confession' to the parishioners, When the service was about to end, Hannah was introduced by Reverend Bob. She then confessed her misinformation of Ross's disappearance to the congregation. It was a difficult confession. She was never Ross's wife. Hannah had discovered that he was married and living in Wisconsin with his wife once again. She did feel much relief and of course her dear friends were not offended by her past dishonesty. They were all angry at Ross for what he had done to Hannah; how much he hurt her. She went back to her condo and prepared a meal for she and her sister, Michelle, knowing all too well that her other close friends would be dropping by to keep her company. Early Monday morning she arose and decided to get to the Cookie Jar early to plan her day and clear her head while the place was empty and quiet. While putting together her recipes for the day, there was a knock at the back door. Without thinking she opened the door and there stood Ross. She was frightened yet angry. She came out into the cold, snowy lot to confront him. That dear readers was the beginning of the trials for Hannah's end to her marriage to Ross Barton.
I did like this book so much better than #'s 22 and 23. It was back to a fun and interesting mystery. Fluke added more recipes and revealed more emotion for her characters than usual. Yes, I have read the entire Hannah Swensen series and have enjoyed some more than others but I do look forward to reading new adventures as each of the new Fluke book hits the shelves. In this last one however was a clue for next time in the final pages of the pie mystery. I won't be a spoiler but it will be fun to see how the next mystery plays out.
I appreciate Kensington Publishers allowing me to read this book before the official release date, Feb. 26, 2019. It's not one to be missed if you are a fan of the Hannah Swensen series.

Joanne Fluke stays true to course with her Hannah Swenson mystery... Hannah and her friends navigate a mystery whilst devouring delicious goods... several of which I plan to make. It’s a quick, easy read with a decent mystery. However, I wonder if I’m the only reader tired of Mike and Norman always caring for Hannah and her not making a decision. I do like this series, I just wish it could get past this triangle that began in the first novel,

Joanne Fluke newest Hannah Swensen mysteries finally solve part of the Ross debacle. Everyone has found out what Ross did to Hannah and the people of Lake Eden are ready take Ross apart limb by limb.
Mayor Bascomb wants to hold a series of interviews to promote Minnesota Movie Festival and the movie "Crisis in Cherrywood" at the Cookie Jar. They are planning to invite all the producers to Lake Eden including Ross. Hannah hope to never lay eyes on Ross again and Mike has warned Ross not to come back to town because he can’t guarantee his safety.

To protect Hannah from Ross, Mike, Norman and few other men of Lake Eden are on bodyguard duty 24/7. Unfortunately, that doesn’t’ stop someone from committing a ghastly murder in Hannah’s condo. No surprise, Hannah is on the case to find out who dared committed murder in her home. While working on the murder case Hannah is also developing wonderful recipe for Valentine.

This was a book that I have waited to read and checked Netgalley weekly for an ARC and I wasn’t disappointed. Ms. Fluke solved some of the mysteries from her previous book but she has a left a few things unanswered and dropped a new bomb. I can’t wait until her next Hannah Swenson book.

Joanne Fluke has brought us back to Lake Eden and Hannah and company. Two things happen to this town in the latest installment of the Hannah Swensen Mystery Series. First, there is a blizzard that sweeps through this town and second, her husband who is not really her husband comes back. We see Hannah grapple with telling the residents the truth about Ross, her feelings toward Ross, and solving the mystery of the murdered man in her bedroom. All this while coming up with new recipes for Valentine's Day for her bakery, The Cookie Jar.

Joanne Fluke has started to answer the question about Ross and his involvement in Hannah's life. With this being a series, all questions are never answered, but rather given in small doses so that you are enticed to see what happens next. She still gives us the familiar relationships with her family as well as her friendships with Norman and Mike. There are parts in the story that give hints to the next chapter in her life and enough to want the story to not end when I reached the last page.

Joanne Fluke does not disappoint again with the latest Hannah Swensen adventure. I eagerly look forward to the next book in the series. I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with Hannah and the gang! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for this privilege.

I’ll open with saying that I don’t think this book was as bad as the last few in the series. Maybe someone is trying to clean up the mess and listen to readers. It seems someone on team Joanne may be listening to us readers because this book has the first iteration of Hannah calling Delores Mom and Mommy instead of Mother. In the book even Delores is surprised and blurts our that Hannah hasn’t called her Mom or Mommy for years and she actually THANKS Hannah for calling her Mommy. Poor Delores, even she hates Hannah and Michelle calling her Mother all of the time.

Other than that revelation a few things stood out such as the author feeling the need to point out that Hannah was going to watch a movie on her “flat-screen television” welcome to modern day Hannah. Great job updating that old black and white set!

Weird scenarios are still happening between Michelle and Hannah with a conversation included about what to make for breakfast wherein Michelle thinks for a moment and them remembers the exact location of a pack of shredded cheese in Hannah’s fridge. “I think there’s one on the second shelf, right next to the sliced ham” great job Michelle.

This book is mostly about Ross and I think readers who despised him (basically all of us) will be happy with the outcome. But Ross was meant to have gone to school with Hannah which puts them in the same age range. However Ross seems to be an elderly man stuck in a young mans body. There’s a point where Hannah remembers that Ross has “velveteen lounge suits with the initials RB on them” what the heck is going on Ross?

Oddly specific fact included in the book award this time goes to Hannah, Sally, and Mike fir conversing about how much alcohol is leftover in beer cheddar soup after cooking. Mike can’t have any alcohol while on duty and is sad to miss out on the soup. Never fear! Hannah and Sally are here to tell him how the soup is made on the stove in a large pot (wow) so some of the alcohol evaporates. Hannah wonders exactly how much of the alcohol evaporates, Sally retorts with “twenty two percent of the alcohol is fine in twenty minutes If the soup is heated to one hundred eighty degrees” great job Dr Sally. Mike is convinced by her stats and eats the soup. He survives. Second prize for this goes to Hannah for regaling Norman with the story of why buffalo plaid is called buffalo plaid. Norman is captivated.

Wtf moment of the book award goes to Delores for asking Hannah “Will you have fresh cookies ready for me to taste for breakfast tomorrow morning?” To which Hannah (who lets not forget works in a cookie shops that bakes cookies daily) replies “Yes, we will, we always have fresh cookies at The Cookie Jar” that’s great to know Hannah. Maybe Delores would have known that by now seeing as how her daughter has owned the cookie shop for years. Perhaps once Delores got a stale day old cookie and has been secretly resentful since? Who knows.

There’s a part where Hannah wakes up in a king sized bed confused because her bed is queen sized, but in other books (dear god why do I know this) it’s referenced that Hannah’s own bed is a huge king sized monstrosity. Even in this book it is referenced that Moishe steals Hannah’s king sized pillow. Go figure. Guys attention to detail is everything here. It can make or break a fun series.

Once more I have to moan about Michelle and Hannah treating each other so formally as sisters. It’s so odd that they greet each other daily in the kitchen of Hannah’s condo with “good morning Hannah” and “good morning Michelle” surely if you are the only two in the room no names are needed. A nice hey good morning will suffice. I’m not sure I’ve ever called my siblings by name in morning greetings.

My two favorite book moments are as follows: Firstly Hannah being amused and wanting to giggle when Mike calls her a “good girl” in the same tone of voice he would praise a dog. Now we all know what kind of man Hannah needs in her life right? Clearly a canine trainer. Secondly Grandma Knudsen being upset that no one suspects her of the murder and says “What a pity. I’d like to think that I might be capable of a bold action like that.” You’re right grandma. Murder is indeed a bold action.

Guys this book was fun again, even though it was peppered with “recipes” that require a Betty Crocker cake mix instead of you know actually baking a cake from scratch. Is Hannah just Sandra Lee in disguise?

The plot was amusing. However there is a disturbing cliff hanger that, if true, will ruin any future book potential. If you read this feel free to pm me how you feel about that cliff hanger!

I'm a huge fan of this series and I found this book to be an excellent addition.
Hannah still can't believe what Ross has put her through, and when he threatens
her life, residents of Lake Eden gather together to support their favorite baker.
I found this story captivating and I was eager to solve the mystery.
The author left us with a cliffhanger and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Very slow build up, a typical conclusion to the mystery, ending in a bit of a shocking cliffhanger. Not really one of Fluke's best in this series but was still entertaining.

Hannah is back in this latest installment, and it's a doozy. Packed with heartbreak and angst, as well as yummy sounding recipes, Ms Fluke leaves the reader with a cliffhanger. Better than the last few installments, this was an enjoyable read.

I had to laugh conspiratorially as I opened my review copy of this much awaited book and saw at the bottom of the the author's acknowledgements: You've been asking for this book and here it is!

Yes, I did. Yes, we did. Yes....we ALL did.

Thank you, Joanne.

I have been reading the Hannah Swensen series since book 1, Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery, came out in 2001. Almost 19 years invested in these characters. Lots of recipes and baking. Lots of dead people....cozily murdered, of course. Culinary cozy mysteries are all over the place now....but Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series is one of the first...if not THE first. Then there was......The Event. A misstep by a main character that threw all of us Hannah fans into chaos. What? She did WHAT? With Who? And then.....HE did WHAT???? Rabble rabble rabble! Get a rope! We all wanted to KILL he-who-shall-not-be-named. R. The great jerk. Every single one of us volunteered to pop in to do it, too. And not cozily.

I had to wait for a year to get my hands on this book. The minute my review copy downloaded to my IPad, I informed my family I was retreating in to my lair. I didn't wash the supper dishes....I didn't do any of my normal routine. I had to read this book! Immediately! I made hot tea, put on my PJs hours earlier than usual, and dived into this book. I binged the whole thing. Finished at 1 a.m. and was incredibly tired this morning when I got up at 5:30 (to a sink full of last night's dishes....), but completely happy in my choices.

I have a few mixed emotions about this newest book. On one hand, I am elated at some of the plot points, even though there was no murder or investigation until almost the very end of the book. On the other hand, I felt the story was very much padded by overly lengthy recipe sections and long discussions of food by the characters. BUT....after several books where the writing was (to be blunt) bad and the plots just not up to Hannah-standards.....this book was BETTER! No more klunky bad dialogue or extreme over-telling by characters. It seems Hannah is coming back to old times. I can handle some obvious padding (recipes are an intrinsic part of this series and always have been...so I'm ok with it. Plus YUM! -- there are some really good ones!) this time around because it is obvious that our reviews and constructive criticism were read and taken to heart. Editing much better this time!

I am chuffed!!

My biggest mixed emotion moment is about the end...... The last sentence is a bombshell. And, once again, Joanne Fluke has me waiting a year to find out what happens next.

Well played, Joanne. Well played.

Eagerly awaiting the next book!

Chocolate Cream Pie Murder is the 24th book in the Hannah Swensen series. Normally it isn't really necessary to read the series in order...but this time, it's probably a good idea to have read at least the last few books in the series to fully understand the plot. This series is a fun, light-hearted culinary cozy mystery series. The plots are light....and recipes are included at the end of most chapters. No spurting blood. No cursing. No graphic sex. Definitely cozy. After 19 years, I am committed to this series. I read each book as soon as it comes out....and I will until the very last one. :)

And....because this one was better and I feel that the opinions of reviewers and readers were heard and valued....I'm giving this full stars. Is it a literary masterpiece? No....it's a fun cozy mystery that I stayed up half the night reading. And, I feel this author connects with her readers. That deserves a perfect score from me.

And I'm happily waiting for the next Hannah book. :)

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

In this book, we finally we get to find out what happens with Hannah & Ross. This book kept me guessing & shocked me with the ending! I can't wait for the next book to see what happens with Hannah!

I received a free copy of CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE MURDER by Joanne Fluke in exchange for an honest review. Hannah Swenson has a chore to do. She’s been keeping the scandalous information she discovered about her husband secret, but it’s time to come clean. She announces the entire situation to her church, which means the entire town of Lake Eden will soon know. Hannah now hopes to put the entire situation behind her, but Ross comes back. Ross seems to be an entirely different person than the loving man Hannah married; he threatens Hannah. Soon, more people than Hannah begin to fear this terrible person Hannah thought she knew. Can Hannah’s friends keep her safe from this familiar stranger?

I liked this book. The only downside was that it will definitely be hazardous to your New Year’s resolutions. It contains many delicious-sounding recipes! If you are a fan of the Hannah Swenson Mysteries, you’ll definitely want to devour the latest installment.

#ChocolateCreamPieMurder #NetGalley

I've been waiting since last year to find out the final resolution of Hannah and Ross' marriage, hoping that things would work out for Hannah, but in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined what a rat he turned out to be. I have loved Hannah, her friends and family and the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden since the series began, and I was hoping that it had all been a big mistake and that she and Ross would live happily ever after. But now that she knows the truth about him she can finally put it all behind her and find happiness with the friends and family that have always stood by her. I love this series, the people, the location (Joanne Fluke can even make Minnesota in the winter seem enticing) and especially the wonderful recipes that are included. Please keep the series going!