Cherry Cheesecake Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery)

With the eighth installment of the Hannah Swensen series, Cherry Cheesecake Murder delivers strong. I was very excited by the story, characters and forward motion in this book.

The introduction of Ross as a new suitor for Hannah could have gone the wrong direction, but Ross combines the great attributes of Mike and Norman into a single man. I’m rooting for Ross to win Hannah’s love; and let’s get real, she needs to make a choice soon.

I’m only saying so because the story dictates her to choose or abandon the current options. I love both Mike and Norman, but to keep dragging them along is painful and also holds Hannah back. I’d be fine if she was perfectly single the entire series, or stopped/started several relationships, but she can’t linger and hold multiple all at the same time for the entire length of the series. I believe it would be too repetitive.

The characters really continue to grow as evidenced by the whole town starting to support Hannah’s investigations — especially her younger sister Michelle getting more involved.

I am excited to read the next installment!With the eighth installment of the Hannah Swensen series, Cherry Cheesecake Murder delivers strong. I was very excited by the story, characters and forward motion in this book.

Back of the book:

“Hannah Swensen and her bakery, The Cookie Jar, bask in the glow of Hollywood glamour when Main Street becomes a movie set. And although tensions simmer as the cameras roll, no one expects the action to turn deadly. . .until it's too late. . .

There's no such thing as privacy in Lake Eden, but Hannah never thought things would go this far. Everyone has been telling her what to do ever since she got not one but two marriage proposals. Movie mania soon shoves Hannah's marriage dilemma into the background and even gives her cat a shot at stardom. The Cookie Jar serves as snack central with Main Street rented out for the week. She stirs lots of fresh gossip, whipping up treats for cast and crew, including demanding director Dean Lawrence's favorite--cherry cheesecake.”

Rating: ???(3/5)

Solvability: ???(4/5)

My Opinion:

I normally love this series, but not this time. Don't get me wrong I love seeing what Hannah and her friends are up to, but that's the only thing that kept me reading this one. Before the story stars you get a sneak peak of the murder but then it flashes back and the murder doesn't take place until about half way through; which made it felt like it was dragging on and on.

I'm also a little frustrated by the fact that both Mike and Norman want to marry Hannah and (view spoiler). The mystery wasn't as good as normal either.

Overall, I was disappointed but I'm going to keep reading because I still like Hannah and her friends. Hopefully the next one is better.

This is a good, solid cosy mystery.

Hannah Swensen and her partner Lisa, own The Cookie Jar coffee shop. It's the place in Lake Eden where many people visit regularly for coffee, cookies and gossip. In other words, they don't keep secrets from Hannah. Neither do the members of her close knit family.

Life in town gets disrupted after her sister Michelle recommends it as the locale for a movie shoot. The production is going well until the producer ends up dead while demonstrating a suicide scene.

Even though this is a well established series, I was able to jump in at this point without having read any of the earlier books. The main characters are well fleshed out and after a few chapters I was feeling as though they were my neighbours and that we'd sit together should I bump into them in The Cookie Jar.

I particularly enjoy the rivalry of deputy police chief Mike and dentist Norman for Hannah's affection. Their united front when a third love interest appeared was particularly intriguing.

As much as this book is a mystery, I felt it was much more a study of the interactions within a small town, and how people who live so closely together, can put aside their differences when one of their own comes under some sort of threat.

A Cherry Cheesecake Murder is the 8th Hannah Swensen Mystery series. It also marked the first time that one of JoAnne's books made the New York Times Best Seller list in March 2006.

In 2015, the first Hannah Swenson book served as the basis for the made for television movie "Murder She Baked - A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery" which was later followed by "Murder She Baked - A Plum Pudding Mystery". I watched both of these and enjoyed them immensely even though I hadn't read those particular books.

Joanne Fluke also writes suspense thrillers and under the pen name Jo Gibson she writes suspense thrillers for the YA crowd.

The star of this series is Hannah Swenson - amateur sleuth and entrepreneur - who owns a cookie bakery and loves to create new cookies for her shop and prepare treats for her friends and relatives. Luckily for readers who'd like to try the sweets, recipes are provided.

In this story some scenes for a Hollywood movie are slated to be shot in Hannah's home town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. The producer, director, actors and supporting staff flood into town, and - to the delight of the townsfolk - local citizens will be involved as advisors and bit players.

The murder in this book involves a character dying from a bullet wound from what was supposed to be a prop gun. This doesn't occur until about page 200, however, and until then we visit with the characters and follow Hannah's apparently eternal romantic triangle with Norman the dentist and Mike the detective. In fact, this book has an additional boyfriend - Hannah's attractive friend Ross - who's on the movie staff. It's hard to believe Hannah's beaus would put up with her indecisiveness forever, but it's a book - not real life.

Once the murder occurs Hannah and her sisters are on the job - not "investigating" (which is frowned on by Mike the detective) but rather "snooping" to help find the killer. As usual with amateur detectives in these kinds of stories, they withhold information from the police, go where they shouldn't, etc.

This isn't a complex mystery but rather an entertaining cozy with fun characters that are staples of the series - and lots of good pastries.

This was my first "Hannah Swensen" mystery -- and my last! What a very, VERY tedious book! In the first chapter the reader is subjected to minute descriptions of a cat waking up in the morning; these feline observations went on and on ... and on ... until I found myself yelling out loud, "Who cares about the stupid cat? Move on for pity's sake!" By the middle of the second chapter, the book was hurtling downhill at warp speed. Recipes mixed up with mysteries? What a quaint (but ridiculous) idea. The recipes are just a distraction. Actually, if the author had stuck to the cook book format it might have been more interesting. Fortunately, I checked this out from the local library to "test drive" the author so I lost no money over it. The edition I borrowed was the audio edition and, believe me, the narrator does absolutely nothing to improve upon the story line. Most of her characters sound as though they had been inhaling helium -- Minnie Mouse comes to mind. Time to move on and find different "cosy mystery" author.

Hollywood comes to Lake Eden and practically the entire town is star-struck as they try to get in on the action as extras and small bit roles in the movie, "Crisis in Cherrywood." Hannah Swensen, her sisters Michelle and Andrea, as well as their mom, Delores are all doing their part to help make the production a success when Hannah starts to smell a hint of discord on the set. Could it be the womanizing director, Dean, who has everyone on edge, or the flippant leading man, Burke, who spills more than he should about the production to a local reporter in a taped interview? When one of them shows up dead, suspicions point to nearly everyone involved in the production, and it will be up to Hannah to uncover the truth. However, with a surprise twist involving a leading town matriarch, will Hannah get to the bottom on the murder? All it takes is a little sweet deduction, and an understanding of antique sewing machines and Hannah has the culprit in her sights? But will it be too late?

While I enjoyed this installment of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, I found there to almost too much activity and too many characters to keep track of. Also, I as is typical for Fluke, she often goes into technical details to explain various terms, like on page 315 where she talks about "aging him up" which is a theatrical term. Some of these explanations really take away from the flow of the book, and can bog the reader down in technicalities. Perhaps because this title was related to filmmaking, there were more technicalities than usual, but I found them distracting. Also, I was a bit disappointed that this title did not offer the suspenseful ending like others in the series. It was almost too easy an ending considering how complicated the story was, so many players! If you are a fan of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, I would still recommend picking up this title, but it is not one of my favorites in this series.

I have been enjoying Joanna Fluke's culinary mystery series for some time now; I have worked my way through about nine novels, including not only this one but the two which follow it (I accidentally started the series right in the middle). I'm not usually a big fan of the murder mystery genre, but the addition of recipes gives these books a lighthearted touch--and, since I love to bake, it provides me with an extra added incentive to read the books.

In CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER, Fluke departs from her usual formula a bit. She begins the book with a Prologue which provides readers with a sneak peek into the upcoming murder. However, the murder doesn't actually occur until about two-thirds into the novel, and this time, main character Hannah Swenson doesn't find the body: she doesn't have to, as the victim's death happens right in front of many Lake Eden residents! The setup for this novel is that a movie has come to film in Lake Eden; one of the producers is a friend of Hannah's from college. Life in the town is suspended as the temperamental director takes over and many local residents are given small roles--even Hannah's cat, Moishe.

I did think there were a few problems with this story as follows:

*THE PLOT: Although Fluke keeps finding unique ways to use Lake Eden, from various festivals to now a movie filming, these certainly seem a bit far-fetched at times.
*THE CHARACTERS: Hannah has yet ANOTHER beau on the scene? Mike and Norman are content to just continue dating her? Hannah can afford to buy a new dress from her friend Claire for EVERY new event that arises? Again, there are aspects here that are becoming more and more unbelievable.
*THE RECIPES: Generally, these are my favorite aspect of Fluke's novels, but I was a bit disappointed with what was offered here. There was a chocolate coconut cookie, but Fluke had German Chocolate Cake cookies in the very last book I read. The Mini Cherry Cheesecakes were exactly like a recipe I've made before, and there was yet another recipe for a layered bar cookie. It just seems like maybe Fluke is running out of new ideas. :(

Overall, however, I still enjoyed this book as a light summer read, and I would rate it about 3 1/2 stars. Since I have already read both Key Lime Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mystery With Recipes) and Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swenson Mysteries With Recipes), my plan is to next read Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries).

Sour cherries, check.. luscious cheesecake...check...murder..check.. All is in place for Joanne Fluke's delightful culinary installment that manages to leave the reader hungry for more. Lake Eden is enchanted by Hollywood and everyone is dying to be a part of the movie that is being filmed there. When an accident causes the director to die it takes a while for the shock to clear and suspicions of foul play to rise on everyone's mind. The filming continues but troubles are just begging to start, who else but Hannah to the rescue, with her supply of friends, neighbors and cookies to help her through.

I was surprised to find so many of the people who live there in the actual film, I would think that extras on set are needed but to travel with a tiny handful of actors and cast everyone else from Lake Eden was a little hard to believe. Obviously this book is not meant to be realistic to that point, but it was fun. As usual there are delicious recipes that beg to be made and when something goes wrong, Hannah is back on tracks as the local snoop and baker extraordinaire. Mike and Norman are back but take a back seat when Hannah's old friend arrives with the film company and sweeps her off her feet. Now I know that people are baffled with her having two boyfriends but I thought it was hilarious when the third rival arrived, heck, men do it in real life all the time, I guess juggling men for a women shouldn't be looked upon any differently, its not something I would do, but whatever, I stopped letting her relationship from annoying me and I'm actually enjoying that aspect now, it's kind of comedic but in a sweet way.

As the series progress the stories get more intricate as the relationships between the folks and visitors of Lake Eden take a life of their own, I noticed that now it takes a more time to get to the crime, in this instance it was at least half way into the book if not further, but it worked because everyone got to see the unfavorable sides of the guy who kicked the bucket, making Hanna's sleuthing that much harder, there were so many suspects, pretty much everyone disliked the woman chasing, pompous and hard to work with director, was guilty in my eyes. The mystery itself was clever but not super hard to guess, I still enjoyed it. The only thing that makes this book a big chunk of cake to bite off, is the length and the massive amount of stuff happening, half the time I feel like the mystery takes a back seat and the author over indulges with words, taking really long time to get her message and plot across. There is a ton of dialogue and activities that make this more of a character study then a breezy read, but I still like the series and as usual I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.

- Kasia S.

Come on, Joanne! Mike is a slut, Norman is everything a woman could possibly want, and this is what you do? Sigh. I give up. You make Hannah look like some kind of nasty tease. Norman needs to go find a woman who won't lead him around by the nose and then go chasing off after some pretty boy who has told her more than once that his job is more important than her! No more, Joanne - I didn't finish this one - - and I am really disappointed. Not only is Hannah such a screw-up that she not only teases two men, but then decides that maybe she wants to try someone new? What? You were afraid if you put her in a stable, loving relationship, we wouldn't read any more? BUZZZZZ! Wrong..... I give up here. And it is a shame, I was really enjoying seeing Hannah as a strong, thoughtful, considerate and loving woman, well able to make her decisions knowing that she could rely on her own heart. Point me at Norman - I will take him if she doesn't want him!

I continue to be sucked into buying this series by the delicious cover art and the recipes (my other reading pleasure is cookbooks). Unfortunately, the covers can't carry the story and the recipes alone aren't worth the price of the book. The writing is beyond pedestrian. I'm not looking for the most complicated or poetic prose ever printed, but I'd like something more than elementary level vocabulary and some actual style would be the frosting on the cupcake. Add Hannah being just about unbelievable to that for a recipe for mediocrity. Hannah thinks she's the best person in town to solve murders (and everybody else in town believes it too, INCLUDING the police!) Two nice men have asked Hannah to marry them, she strings them along forever, gets mad at them for wanting her to make up her mind and they just roll over and take it. Most of the other characters are one-dimensional at best and decline from there to stereotypes. Sadly, Hannah's cat is one of the more well developed characters. Series "cozy" mysteries sell well because readers enjoy looking forward to the next book on the way, but there is no excuse for abusing that loyalty with poor writing, characterization and plotting. Maybe Ms. Fluke should spend more time on her writing and less time coming up with Hannah's latest fourteen recipes.

That's what keeps this mystery series interesting and exciting. In a lot of ways the goings on in the small town of Lake Eden are not realistic, but who cares? Hannah and her friends are just so much fun. It took awhile for this book to get going, and the actual murder doesn't occur until over half-way through, but the pacing after that is pretty good. I figured out who the murderer was right away since it seemed to me only one could have done it, but it was fun to find out the motive and to watch Hannah and her crew discover the clues that they needed to put it all together. The book has a Hollywood movie being shot in downtown Lake Eden, and this puts the whole town in a state of excitement. I also loved the parts of the book with Moishe (Hannah's cat) in them. And of course there is lots of food and recipes to keep things going. Altogether not a bad effort in this wonderful cozy series.

I just can't take anymore. Joanne Fluke has dumbed down her writing to a middle school level. Hannah has morphed into a priggish not quite middle aged dinosaur. The earlier books were entertaining and the one before this made me have my doubts. But now I am done. Too many other good books and authors to waste my time with this drivel. I am half way through and nothing has happened. This will be the last Hannah Swenson book I waste my time with. So glad got from library and did not waste hard earned money on it!!!

This is book eight in the Hannah Swensen murder mystery series. Hannah runs a cookie-coffee shop in downtown Lake Eden. She also has a nose for solving murders. But her first order of business is to decide between the two men who have proposed and are awaiting a decision. Will she choose Norman, the sweet dependable dentist or Mike, the sexy, smart police officer? But the big story is that her town has been chosen to be the set of a movie being produced. Main Street is shut down and everyone is somehow involved in the production. Then the director is killed while demonstrating a suicide scene. Everyone is suspect and Hannah is determined to find the killer. Fun read.

Sour cherries, check.. luscious cheesecake...check...murder..check.. All is in place for Joanne Fluke's delightful culinary installment that manages to leave the reader hungry for more. Lake Eden is enchanted by Hollywood and everyone is dying to be a part of the movie that is being filmed there. When an accident causes the director to die it takes a while for the shock to clear and suspicions of foul play to rise on everyone's mind. The filming continues but troubles are just begging to start, who else but Hannah to the rescue, with her supply of friends, neighbors and cookies to help her through.

I was surprised to find so many of the people who live there in the actual film, I would think that extras on set are needed but to travel with a tiny handful of actors and cast everyone else from Lake Eden was a little hard to believe. Obviously this book is not meant to be realistic to that point, but it was fun. As usual there are delicious recipes that beg to be made and when something goes wrong, Hannah is back on tracks as the local snoop and baker extraordinaire. Mike and Norman are back but take a back seat when Hannah's old friend arrives with the film company and sweeps her off her feet. Now I know that people are baffled with her having two boyfriends but I thought it was hilarious when the third rival arrived, heck, men do it in real life all the time, I guess juggling men for a women shouldn't be looked upon any differently, its not something I would do, but whatever, I stopped letting her relationship from annoying me and I'm actually enjoying that aspect now, it's kind of comedic but in a sweet way.

As the series progress the stories get more intricate as the relationships between the folks and visitors of Lake Eden take a life of their own, I noticed that now it takes a more time to get to the crime, in this instance it was at least half way into the book if not further, but it worked because everyone got to see the unfavorable sides of the guy who kicked the bucket, making Hanna's sleuthing that much harder, there were so many suspects, pretty much everyone disliked the woman chasing, pompous and hard to work with director, was guilty in my eyes. The mystery itself was clever but not super hard to guess, I still enjoyed it. The only thing that makes this book a big chunk of cake to bite off, is the length and the massive amount of stuff happening, half the time I feel like the mystery takes a back seat and the author over indulges with words, taking really long time to get her message and plot across. There is a ton of dialogue and activities that make this more of a character study then a breezy read, but I still like the series and as usual I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.

- Kasia S.

Come on, Joanne! Mike is a slut, Norman is everything a woman could possibly want, and this is what you do? Sigh. I give up. You make Hannah look like some kind of nasty tease. Norman needs to go find a woman who won't lead him around by the nose and then go chasing off after some pretty boy who has told her more than once that his job is more important than her! No more, Joanne - I didn't finish this one - - and I am really disappointed. Not only is Hannah such a screw-up that she not only teases two men, but then decides that maybe she wants to try someone new? What? You were afraid if you put her in a stable, loving relationship, we wouldn't read any more? BUZZZZZ! Wrong..... I give up here. And it is a shame, I was really enjoying seeing Hannah as a strong, thoughtful, considerate and loving woman, well able to make her decisions knowing that she could rely on her own heart. Point me at Norman - I will take him if she doesn't want him!

I continue to be sucked into buying this series by the delicious cover art and the recipes (my other reading pleasure is cookbooks). Unfortunately, the covers can't carry the story and the recipes alone aren't worth the price of the book. The writing is beyond pedestrian. I'm not looking for the most complicated or poetic prose ever printed, but I'd like something more than elementary level vocabulary and some actual style would be the frosting on the cupcake. Add Hannah being just about unbelievable to that for a recipe for mediocrity. Hannah thinks she's the best person in town to solve murders (and everybody else in town believes it too, INCLUDING the police!) Two nice men have asked Hannah to marry them, she strings them along forever, gets mad at them for wanting her to make up her mind and they just roll over and take it. Most of the other characters are one-dimensional at best and decline from there to stereotypes. Sadly, Hannah's cat is one of the more well developed characters. Series "cozy" mysteries sell well because readers enjoy looking forward to the next book on the way, but there is no excuse for abusing that loyalty with poor writing, characterization and plotting. Maybe Ms. Fluke should spend more time on her writing and less time coming up with Hannah's latest fourteen recipes.

That's what keeps this mystery series interesting and exciting. In a lot of ways the goings on in the small town of Lake Eden are not realistic, but who cares? Hannah and her friends are just so much fun. It took awhile for this book to get going, and the actual murder doesn't occur until over half-way through, but the pacing after that is pretty good. I figured out who the murderer was right away since it seemed to me only one could have done it, but it was fun to find out the motive and to watch Hannah and her crew discover the clues that they needed to put it all together. The book has a Hollywood movie being shot in downtown Lake Eden, and this puts the whole town in a state of excitement. I also loved the parts of the book with Moishe (Hannah's cat) in them. And of course there is lots of food and recipes to keep things going. Altogether not a bad effort in this wonderful cozy series.

I just can't take anymore. Joanne Fluke has dumbed down her writing to a middle school level. Hannah has morphed into a priggish not quite middle aged dinosaur. The earlier books were entertaining and the one before this made me have my doubts. But now I am done. Too many other good books and authors to waste my time with this drivel. I am half way through and nothing has happened. This will be the last Hannah Swenson book I waste my time with. So glad got from library and did not waste hard earned money on it!!!

This is book eight in the Hannah Swensen murder mystery series. Hannah runs a cookie-coffee shop in downtown Lake Eden. She also has a nose for solving murders. But her first order of business is to decide between the two men who have proposed and are awaiting a decision. Will she choose Norman, the sweet dependable dentist or Mike, the sexy, smart police officer? But the big story is that her town has been chosen to be the set of a movie being produced. Main Street is shut down and everyone is somehow involved in the production. Then the director is killed while demonstrating a suicide scene. Everyone is suspect and Hannah is determined to find the killer. Fun read.

Living in a small town has certain advantages and disadvantages. Right now, Hannah Swensen would list among the disadvantages everyone knowing her business. Ever since both town dentist Norman and police detective Mike proposed to her, she has been getting lots of phone calls from people telling her whom to marry. The phone calls start even before she leaves for her shop, The Cookie Jar, early in the morning.

All that gets set on the back burner when Hollywood comes calling. Director Dean Lawrence chooses Lake Eden as a location for the independent movie he's making, using many of the locals as extras or giving them bit parts. Hannah's niece Tracey lands the part of the main character as a child, and even Moishe finds a roll as the movie's cat.

Hannah is shocked to discover old college friends among the cast and crew. The script's writer is Ross Barton, a man Hannah had secretly had a crush on back then. When they begin spending lots of time together, the rumor mill starts up and both Mike and Norman are seeing red.

The movie is not without controversy, however. Mr. Lawrence wants to move a statue to film one scene, and the sculptor's sister will have none of it. He is generally rude to the locals and hits on every woman in sight. He's demanding of those under him. At least he does love the cherry cheesecake Hannah made especially for him and jumps at the idea of using mini cherry cheesecakes in one scene.

Then the unthinkable happens. Dean Lawrence is demonstrating a scene for an actor who is having a hard time grasping how he should play it when the prop gun goes off and Dean is killed. There's no way it was an accident and little likelihood is was suicide, so the police begin to investigate. Never one to ignore her curiosity, Hannah begins her own investigation. But was it a local or someone from the movie? There's certainly no shortage of suspects or motives to sift through.

This series has developed a loyal fan based because of the characters, and this book will be sure to please them. The entire cast is their usual charming selves and spending time with them is always fun. Tracey really gets a chance to shine in this book. She may not behave like a normal seven year old, but watching her campaign to get the part in the movie was wonderful. As always, Moishe manages to steal every scene he is in. That cat has a mind of his own and it shows.

Many readers are getting tired of the Mike/Norman/Hannah love triangle. They will find this book disappointing. While I realize the on going story line is completely unrealistic, I also find it fun and really don't care. It provides lots of laughs in the first two chapters and several more over the course of the book.

The only strike against this book is the pacing of the story. While we seen the murder in the prologue, it doesn't take place in the story until after the half waypoint. While there is still plenty going on to keep the reader entertained, it begins to drag before the murder takes place. Once Dean dies, the story picks up the pace again and leads to a cleave solution. I do wish the murder had come sooner and the sub-plots woven in after it happened, however.

This book features fourteen new recipes. I've only tried the title recipe (that's right, I'm finally trying them). Trust me, if you like cheesecake you need to get the recipe. It's worth the price of the book alone.

This series has always been light and fun, and the eighth book continues that tradition. It's best to start with the early books because the half the fun of the series is the characters and the more you know about them the better you appreciate them.

A film production company arrives in a small Minnesota town and everyone is agog hoping to appear on screen. Hannah, owner of The Cookie Jar bakery, and her two sisters have a behind-the-scenes "in" since one sister is part of the film crew and Hannah was once college chums with two of the principles who are now Hollywood celebs. It is a four or five star read for the first 200 pages. Then there is a murder and the sisters begin to snoop; alas, the narrative goes down hill rapidly at this point and we are in Nancy Drew territory with several pointless adventures before the villan is unmasked.(I wonder if the writer had to meet a deadline and merely tossed the ending together; it seems underwritten somehow.) Not a hopeless read by any means, but disappointing nonetheless.

In the 8th installment of the Hannah Swensen mystery series, we find the residents of Lake Eden enraptured with the lure of Hollywood. The movies are coming to town, and as everyone jostles for a part in the film, Hannah hustles to bake goodies for the cast and crew. When the director, Dean Lawrence, is shot on set demonstrating a scene for a confused actor, Hannah once again leaps into the investigation. While juggling the affections of now three men, Hannah tries to figure out who amongst a long list of enemies wanted to kill the director.

As was stated in previous reviews, longtime readers of the series should enjoy this latest offering. I like this series because it is a light, quick read with familiar characters in each book. However, I have become a bit tired of Hannah's constant waffling between Mike and Norman, and wonder how long the author can keep this scenario going. If you are a fan of the cozy mystery genre and like mysteries with recipes, give this one a try.

The first book in this series is titled "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder". Enjoy!

Unlike others, I actually thought this was one of the better mysteries in the series. It was the first where I didn't know who had done it LONG before Hannah figured it out. That said, I agree- the double proposal triangle is just ridiculous and Lisa's blush at the mention of "britches" is reminiscent of the early 1900's not the millenium! Hannah doesn't know how to use a computer? These books just feel so out of date even though they were written only a few years ago.

My biggest question though, is Where is BETHANIE??

Andrea had a baby two books ago and apparently she just goes on with her life as normal ditching the baby constantly with a live-in grandma. I felt like this was SO unrealistic and SAD.

I am a cat lover, but I don't enjoy all the details about Moishe either (someone please tell me how that is pronounced anyways). If he actually eats as much as Hannah says he does he's going to keel over any day now.

I'm also not sure I can read another description of "swedish plasma".

It's all just getting a little old.

I love Hannah, her sisters, her cookie shop, and the pure coziness of this series. Each book in this series has been a model of coziness, comfort, warmth (not physical warmth), and pure pleasure. I have given superb, flawless, dazzling reviews to each book in the series, and this book is no exception.

This book is themed around the "movie industry". Hollywood is coming to this small Minnesota town to film a movie. I do admit, I could care less about the movie industry. If I was a movie fan in any way, then this theme would have been perfect. But even though I do not care about movies or film producing, the coziness and warmth and fun and adventure and mystery-solving and cookies were still there. There was enough coziness, warmth, fun, adventure, clever mystery-solving, and good cookies to make up for and pull the weight of the movie-making that I did not care for. It's not like the movie-making dominated the book. Fun and clever Hannah was still there, along with her sisters, her cookies, her cleverness, and the coziness of the whole cookie idea.

I really enjoyed the barn scene. It gave a "country" contrast to the "bright lights" of "Hollywood Moving Making".

I can't wait to read the next book in this series. It seems as though this book has a "County Fair" theme, and that is definitely one of my favorite themes. I love Hannah and her sisters and her cookie shop and this small town very much.

The Cookie Jar is a thriving business in the small picturesque town of Lake Eden, Minnesota owned and operated by Hannah Swensen. Most women would love to have two men propose to her but Hannah feels claustrophobic as the whole town tries to help her to make a choice between Mike the deputy sheriff and Norman the dentist. She settles the problem by telling both men when she is ready to get married she would do the proposing.

A third man becomes interested in Hannah when a movie company comes to town to film location shots for a Hollywood movie. Ross Burke, the writer-producer she was friendly with in college makes his interest in Hannah known. She likes him as much as she dislikes the director Dean Laurence a married egoistical womanizer who never gets mad, he just even with who ever crossed him. During rehearsal, the male star is ruining the shoot with his bad acting so Dean shows him how it should be done including using the prop gun in the suicide scene. The gun turns out to be real leaving Dean dead with a hole in his head. Everyone disliked the victim so Hannah decides to help Mike out by conducting her own investigation.

As usual Joanne Fluke creates a delightful and charming amateur sleuth mystery that includes mouth watering recipes so the audience should read it on a full stomach. The protagonist is feisty and endearing and stays true to her convictions which make her an excellent role model. The mystery is well thought out with a very interesting red herring written into the plot so that readers deliberately think the wrong person is the killer. CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER is a very special treat.

Harriet Klausner

As others have mentioned, the murder happens eventually, but not before many, many pages of set-up. The was the worst and weakest book of the series.

The Hanna/Mike/Norm triangle is getting tiresome. For two casual and chaste relationships to suddenly blossom into marriage proposals is just not interesting. A reader can only suspend belief so far.

Then, there's Hannah's mother... This character is ruining the series for me. All three daughters are complete doormats when this shrew makes demands. She treats them like children and the 3 grown daughters ACT like children. Mother Swenson doesn't add anything to the plots but annoyance and her character has not grown or changed. It's difficult to believe that Hannah can stare down someone with a gun pointed at her but can't talk back to her Mommy.

Cherry Cheesecake Murder was one of the first culinary mysteries I read. Although I enjoyed the descriptions and theme, I was a let down by the story which ended far too quickly,as thought the author needed a quick ending.

I did enjoy the setting and the idea was a good one but it was so drawn out, tried too hard.
I will maybe try her other books in the hopes the characters are not so forced and the story a bit more solid.......

* Since reading this book I have read others by this Author and decided they are not for me,the writing style and the characters... just try too hard to make the stories work,I could not get in the Carrot cake murder at all, I will look for a culinary cozy author more suited to me.

Joanne Fluke's latest offering, Cherry Cheesecake Murder, was a mixed bag for me. I absolutely adore the cover and will leave this book sitting out for a while because it looks good enough to eat. The cover on the store or elsewhere does not do it justice. The bright cherry red foil is stunning!

The story has a lot of fluff in it, which is typical Fluke. It also has fourteen scrumptious cookie recipes. I like the fact that they were dispersed throughout the novel and not lumped all at the back (Sugar Cookie Murder).

I do wish Fluke would give the reader more credit for a brain. As others have frequently noted, she has a strong tendency to explain everything to the reader as if he/she couldn't figure it out his/herself. Sometimes it detracts from the flow of the scene. For example, on page 315, the statement is made that an actor could do the part if the makeup artist can "age him down." I get that, but Fluke proceeds to explain what that means as well as what "aging up" means. The story itself is a mildly entertaining whodunit, but could be more intriguing if some of the fluff and unnecessary explanations (of every little thing) were left out.

The story surrounds a movie crew which has come to town to film some small town scenes for a movie entitled, Crisis in Cherrywood. The director is a real meanie and ends up dead as the last scenes are being filmed (opening pages). Then, we backtrack over the few weeks leading up to the event until we find out who did it. Hannah Swenson, Cookie Jar shop owner and snoop extraordinaire, has added a third beau to her stable. That also gets a little tiresome, but, in spite of it all, Fluke's characters are loveable, and one can see some big screen entertainment possibilities here. Besides, as an almost entirely unknown author with, as yet, only one published book, who am I to argue with the writing style of Joanne Fluke's considerable literary success!!!

Carolyn Rowe Hill

Joanna Fluke's stories are clean, fun mysteries. If you enjoy cooking you will enjoy the many recipes Hannah shares as she works to help local law enforcement find the killers. Formula stories that are great when you need a night of light reading.

Have gotten into this genre for the pleasure of an uncomplicated read. Did not disappoint. The recipes are interesting, though long-winded and eventually disruptive to the story line. I found myself flipping past them to continue reading

One of the worst books ever written. Joanne Fluke continues to insult her readers with unbelievable plots and horrible characters, especially Hannah, her mom, and Tracey. I kept thinking the series would improve, but it never does.

Wow. This book-jacket is luminously luscious!

Its presence radiated so much vitality it fooled me into thinking of the book as a real cheesecake. More than once, I walked toward it like I was ready to slice & slurp. Then I remembered that I didn't have any cheesecake in the house, and that the book was not an edible confection.

Equally impressive was that the story lived up to its lush trappings. An indication of this yummy success is that CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER is the first of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series to hit the New York Times Bestseller list. Congratulations, Joanne!!

Hannah and her alley cat's greeting-the-day routines were jazzed beyond their norm of the previous 7 books. With Fluke's adjectives upgraded into crisper, craftier catches than has been her signature, Moishe came alive in cartoon technicolor and Hannah's fluctuating moods, and cat caring machinations came through in a stronger, clearer voice than in previous offerings (which does not diminish the prior books, which were already well above an norm for good escape fiction). Loved the colorful vignettes of Moishe as an "orange and white lump" at the foot of the bed, of his detailed dawn-greeting-stretch, his squeak mid-yawn, and his pose of "bristling like a Halloween cat."

The prologue prior to the intro chapter was precisely brief-and-tangy enough to shift a spicy new literary style into the Hanna series repertoire. The synergism of these effective upgrades should allow readers new to the series an easy in, with the result that the reading of CHERRY CHEESECAKE will cause a compulsion to begin with CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER and run through the series (see my Listmania and reviews on each book), panting at the finish line for next season's cookie coup from Fluke.

The luxury of pure, unadulterated RED was not only radiant on the book-jacket foil; it was carried through the plot in such a way that I began to clearly visualize how red Hannah's hair was, how red her kitchen wall phone was, etc. Prior to this book I sort of remembered that Hannah had red hair, but I had been registering as a subtle strawberry blond. This radiance-of-red inside and around the book shot its panache into the higher realms of technicolor.

Whether it was this color vitality or something else I can't quite capture, I was more engrossed in reading this novel than I have been in past reads of Hannah (again, this doesn't diminish the previous offerings, each of which I enjoyed immensely). Of course the plot has definitely thickened around the town, regular characters, and romantic interest of Hannah's two beaux making three without a baby involved, other than Andrea's new arrival (born between the pages of SUGAR COOKIE MURDER).

I enjoyed the brilliance of the way Hannah turned off the tension of being pushed to make an immediate decision about Mike and Norm's dual marriage proposals. And, their response to her "proposal" was perfect, as was their response to Ross, Hannah's new love interest, before and after Ross garnered his rivals' friendship by giving them viable, honorable parts in the movie "scene."

I believe Fluke did right here for the complexity of her three-way with Norm and Mike. It felt as if Fluke were preparing her readers to feel an absolute appropriateness of Hanna's ultimate choice when it's made, and a few telling scenes were provided in this plot, between this sturdy redhead and each of her 2 long-term beaux. The balance and value of what she gets and doesn't get from each has begun to clear the fog.

I'm standing by my guess (not disclosed yet, of course) of whom Hannah will marry, which seemed to crystalize for me as I observed her ways of relating and working with Mike and Norm in Sugar Cookie Murder. Even if I'm wrong in my guess, I believe in Fluke's talent enough that I expect to be satisfied with her resolutions, more than I would have been with mine. This is Joanne Fluke's story. She's the master of its fate. I believe that the winner will seem right and the "loser" won't actually lose. Somehow.

This is a milk and cookie (well, coffee probably more than milk) author. She knows how to milk a plot situation and rise with the creme. And, speaking culinarily ...

The scene of needing an emergency entre for a brunch being catered for the movie cast and crew was handled with drool inducing panache, and sugar-glued me right into the story for keeps. After the planned entre was literally "dumped," Hannah stepped in remembering her grandma Ingrid's baked, fruit pocket french toast, the process for which was drawn out in exquisite detail as Edna and several of the women pitched in around Hannah to save the brunch. That culinary drama gave a reading enthrallment factor on par with Goldilocks Catering's extensive in-plot kitchen machinations.

Fluke also interjected here a pop psychology "favor" technique which is succinctly explained, and then backed up by Tracy's role as child genius, in life as well as in the movie. That useful bonus (a sort of how to recipe for upgrading friendships) alone was worth the price of this nearly edible hardback. And, a few more interesting psychological "win" insights were added to the repertoire later in the read.

The ambiance of Ross and Lynne being Hannah's past college chums, "The Three Musketeers," made for a warm, delightful expansion of Hannah's personal history, and heated, spiced up the present exchanges.

Another upgraded mystery plotting technique was the more complex weaving of the title confection into the story, prior to the prologue murder scene being plopped into the ongoing action. As I did in SUGAR COOKIE MURDER, I enjoyed the half-book build up to the murder event. This allowed the development of the sweet and tangy scenes of the small town percolation to seat nicely before the character warmth went entertainingly sour as suspects were contemplated and death chilled the mood. Also, in this half-book murder-pop plot-timing, the clues have been brought in with a more subtle, sneaky hand, and the reader has the option to lay back and enjoy the small town maneuvering instead of applying the magnifying glass to every scene in the early parts of the book. I did the lay back read first, then reviewed the first half of the book after finishing the read, to catch the clues which I had ignored while soaking up the purity of fun prior to the dark descent of human perversion.

With CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER, Fluke has definitely shot up a few plateaus in executing her skills as a wordsmith, novelist, and mystery author. She even sneakily interjected a few bits of nearly silent symbolism, hiding ingeniously as clues. Instead of blatantly using the term "The Ides of March" or stating the date of March 15, Fluke subtly implied that infamous date's reference to the betrayal of Ceasar by Brutus, with her repeated referrals of the "second week in March" being the date of the movie production people descending upon Lake Eden. Woven into The Ides were the references to "veils of Solome" and "decision of Solomon."

Enjoyed the barn scene with Hannah's surprising knowledge of farms and barnyards based on her childhood visits to grandparents. That type of knowledge brought an entertainingly earthy contrast to the college scene memories brought up by Hannah's relationship with Lynne and Ross. After dark, Hannah and Andrea had snuck into Whinny's barn and tromped around in the muck and penned cows (and a bull), looking for clues. The scenarios Hannah came up with on what might happen in the bull's pen were a hilarious contrast to what actually came to pass, with the reality winning the ribbon for fun and realism, leaving the imaginary scenarios in the cow pies, a few of which could have twisted a Fluke into a King.

Genius always has a way of weaving through even the lightest, most entertaining art. Yet, Fluke is smart enough to fuel her growing audience by keeping the weave light and bright, with dark and dreary used sparingly, for contrast only. This way she fully satisfies the cozy audience while giving a richer flavor for those whose magnifying glasses are humongous and heavy. Ugh. Where's my hydraulic crane?

Linda G. Shelnutt

There have been enough reviews that explain the plot of this book so I'm not going to rehash it. I'd rather rave about this and all of the other books in the Hannah series. My wife is an avid fan and kept urging me to read each book she bought. I'm not a big reader -- I'd rather putter around in the kitchen. She finally got my attention with the Sugar Cookie Murder. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, plus the expanded recipe section. While waiting for the next release, I started with the first book in the series (Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder) and worked my way forward. Personally I've grown very fond of Hannah's friends and family. Each mystery is different, but you have the hominess of core characters that are always present. And I think that the ongoing rivalry between Norman and Mike is great. In this latest story, one more possible suitor is introduced. Good for you Hannah. I think that the plot in this one is the best yet, but of course I say that about each one that I read. Don't pass this one up -- it's a real winner.

Joanne Fluke does a wonderful job with her Hannah Swenson Mysteries. The fun mix of death, destruction, and cooking (yeah, sounds weird, I know!) keeps you guessing right up to the end. I highly recommend the entire series for fun summer reading.