Gingerbread Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen series)

Okay, so getting the cookie recipes is fun while impractical if you have these on Kindle.
The Cookie Jar sounds like a fun place to visit, but the people of Lake Eden must role down the sidewalk to get there if they eat cookies everyday.
The mysteries are fairly good because I usually can't figure them out.
I like the cat stories.
But the triangle relationship of Mike, Norman and Hannah? Please. If I were Mike or Norman I'd tell this chick to get her head together or move along. What no kissing? No sex? Do they know about that in Lake Eden? I'm not saying give us a blow by blow under the sheets, but come on. This is the 21st century and people do more than dither about. This is Hannah: Ohh, the dentist is so sweet and kind and built my dream house, but how can I marry him when the police officer is so hunky and manly? Sheesh, Joanna, give us something to sink our teeth into besides a sugar cookie next time!

What happens when you take three cozy mystery writers and given them a challenge: write a short novel featuring mysteries that must have a Gingerbread Cookie as one of the props? What results is this book. Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meier each contributed a story and the three stories are bound together in to this volume. With two of the three authors being known for always including recipes with their stories, it was no surprise to me to find recipes in amongst the text as well. As advertised, each of the stories features Gingerbread Cookies and therefore each of the three is centered on Christmas time. Since each of the writers is also known for specific characters and locales, these stories feature those heroines. However, this is where the similarities end.

Each of the stories is different, although they all feature murder mysteries that are resolved by the main characters – who, of course, are not police! Each of the authors’ writing styles differ, but since each writes cozy mysteries, these are easy stories to read and relate to. I always try to guess who the real murdered is, and appreciate those authors who give you all the information and clues you need so you can solve the mystery yourself, if you pay attention as well as notice the twists that they throw your way. Two of the three stories in this book met that standard. The third, unfortunately, took the approach of introducing new characters with backgrounds that relate to the mystery, but that background is never explained until it is time to resolve the plot. In addition, that particular story also had many plot pacing issues which were very obvious and detracted from my enjoyment. What do I mean by “plot pacing issues”? A key clue is the presence of gingerbread cookie crumbs at a certain location. The problem is that this is used as a clue to the presence of a character in that location within a few minutes of the sleuth’s arrival. However, earlier in the book, those cookies are described as having been consumed over a week prior to the events. Not good.

Overall, this is kind of a fun thing the read, and does not take itself too seriously. I therefore decided to say that I liked it and consequently awarded it a four star rating.

Since I am fan of Hallmark Channel's mystery movies, I thought I'd check out this book at Christmas. Ends up being 3-novellas by 3-authors! Enjoyed the books. Recommend this book to those who enjoy a cozy mystery, quick read, or just some holiday themed reading.

The first novella by Joanne Fluke (The Gingerbread Cookie Murder) is a Hannah Swensen mystery that I could visualize from watching the movies. Hannah finds her neighbor dead in his refrigerator and in her usual style gets embroiled in solving the mystery herself with the help of her dentist semi-boyfriend Norman and police officer semi-boyfriend Mike.

The second was a quirky novella by Laura Levine (The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies) is about an ad writer (Jaine Austen) who solves mysteries in her spare time. She visits her parents in Florida for Christmas along with her cat Prozac (who her mother calls Zoloft), and her over protective father who always gets into mischief. During a play the main character is killed and Jaine solves the mystery.

The third mystery by Leslie Meier (Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots) is about the kidnapping of a little boy a week before Christmas. Lucy Stone a local part-time journalist met at his daycare event (which her friend owns) the lovable little boy who is kidnapped, Nemo. Following her gut she can't let the kidnapping go and while out walking with her dog on Christmas Eve stumbles across the body of his surrogate father, Rick where she sees the gingerbread man cookie she gave Nemo while they were grocery shopping. This novella was heart wrenching and had you anxious for the boy to be found...and hopefully alive.

Though I enjoyed all three novellas, the last was my favorite.

I received Gingerbread Cookie Murder, a short novella in the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series by Joanne Fluke, as one of my Christmas presents last year. I've a big fan of the series and always look forward to the read. It took me 1 hour to read this story, part of a larger paperback focused on murders involving gingerbread cookies. It's ~150 pages, but 1/3 is filled with recipes, so it's just under a hundred pages of true text. In this issue, Hannah is having trouble with her new neighbor who plays loud Christmas music all the time. But she soon finds him dead in the refrigerator after trying to store her recent baked goods for a future dessert. Add in an $8M winning lottery ticket, someone's divorce, a new dentist in town, and a suitor for Hannah's mother, then you've got lots going on in this one. It was a fun afternoon read and I look forward to the next book in the series.

This review first appeared on my blog, Cozy Little Book Journal. I received a free digital review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are strictly my own.

This is actually a three-in-one book with three separate stories, all with gingerbread cookie themes, by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. (Sorry for the lateness of this Christmas-themed review, but I usually don't even get a chance to read my Christmas-themed mysteries until January as it is!)

Gingerbread Cookie Murder, by Joanne Fluke (A Hannah Swensen Mystery)
The characters are likeable enough--a professional baker and amateur sleuth, what could be cozier?--but the plot is seriously flawed. The killer's motive makes absolutely no sense. I don't want to reveal too much but I honestly don't understand how the author's friends and editors let it get past the first draft without some serious questions about the ending. It was very frustrating. But it did include an awful lot of delicious sounding recipes, so that's something at least.

The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies, by Laura Levine (A Jaine Austen Mystery)
Not bad. The characters have some amusing eccentricities, like the main character's parents' addiction to the home shopping network and the retirement community's obsession with amateur theatre. And I loved the use of the gingerbread cookie theme in this one--the community theatre group is putting on an original Christmas play featuring a giant flying gingerbread man who teaches people the true meaning of Christmas. It sounds so hilariously dreadful that I wish it were real.

But when the gingerbread man's flying cable is cut, our heroine suspects murder. She spends the rest of the story jumping from person to person, uncovering motives everywhere, before finally stumbling on the truth. I couldn't help thinking the whole thing could have been solved much quicker with a fingerprint kit and a couple of witness statements. Ah well...that's so often the case with cozies, isn't it?

Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots, by Leslie Meier (A Lucy Stone Mystery)
This was by far the most heart-wrenching of the three stories because the central crime was not a murder but the kidnapping of a young child (who happened to be about the same age as my own child, so it was especially terrifying). I was fairly riveted, I must say. The only thing that was a bit of a letdown was the ending. It was more of a whimper than a bang. I kept waiting for a big reveal at the end that never came, or at least not as dramatically as I'd expected. Even the main character seemed to fell unresolved by the end, which was an odd way to finish a story, I thought. The lack of a satisfying ending made the otherwise compelling story feel a bit pointless.

This review relates to the novella by "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies" by Laura Levine. Having read all the published novels in the Jaine Austen series I'm now making my way through the short stories, while I wait for the next novel to be released.

In this story Jaine and her cat, Prozac, are visiting her parents in Tampa Bay. Her dad has a history of making trouble at the retirement village and this holiday is no different. Her Dad manages to hit a fellow resident in the eye during a game of ping pong and thus start a disastrous holiday for Jaine. When watching the Christmas play one resident ends up dead and Jaine knows that a little detecting will be a part of her holiday too.

I beyond love the Jaine Austen series so discovering a novella I hadn't read was like discovering gold! This one was really funny with Jaine and Prozac visiting her parents. Usually readers only get a glimpse of her parents via emails so it was fun visiting with them and seeing firsthand the trouble Hank gets into.

The retired set sure are fun and with murder on the table it seems that even the retired set have the usual jealousies - especially as the victim was engaged to four women!!

This was a novella and I can't wait for the next Jaine Austen mystery.

"Gingerbread Cookie Murder" by Joanne Fluke - 5 stars

This novella, was to me by far the best of the three. It deserved more than just 5 stars. The story was so cozy. I enjoyed the goodies, the coffee, and the unexplainable coziness that is in the Hannah Swensen novels. And I appreciated the recipes.

Hannah's neighbor has won the 8 million dollar lottery. Will he and his ex-wife get back together?

Hannah once again is determined to find the killer. Who murdered him and why? This mystery is interesting, fun, and all the pieces fit together.

I enjoyed the cold Minnesota snow and cold weather. I also enjoyed all of Hannah's baking and that cozy Christmas feeling.

"The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies" by Laura Levine - 5 stars

Jaine visits her parents in warm, sunny Tampa for the Christmas holidays. The seniors at the retirement home are putting on a play. A boring, not-too-good of a play that Jaine has to suffer through.

Jaine's visit with her parents is interesting and colorful. Those seniors are interesting, Jaine loves fudge, and her cat, Prozac, takes center stage.

Someone is murdered, and Jaine (with her protective father monitoring her every move) is determined to find the killer. There are lots of interesting suspects.

"Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" by Leslie Meier - 5 stars

This was my second favorite novella. I love the Lucy Stone novels because they are so cozy and homy. I can feel her warm and loving home with her kids and husband. Even though she has one child who has no love at all (Elizabeth), but her other three children are loving, warm, normal kids.

A child is missing, and Lucy is determined to find the perpetrator. She is determined and bold and goes on some dangerous (and interesting) adventures to find the perp. There are some interesting characters in this book.

I love the Lucy Stone books because I love cozy, domestic home/family life. Even though I do work, I love coziness and hominess. I love being with my kids/family, and I love doing domestic things such as grocery shopping, cooking, celebrating holidays/birthdays, attending class parties and school concerts. Lucy Stone books make me feel right at home.

Lucy was very correct on page 281 when she called Elizabeth a selfish little witch.

I had to gag on page 358 when Lucy was congratulating herself on raising such nice children. Yes, she did raise three nice children, but she also raised one heartless witch. Other than Elizabeth ruining this novella, this was a pretty good story. The coziness and hominess of Lucy's home and homelife was the best part.

Christmas is coming, and the cookies --- and bodies --- are piling up across the country in this smorgasbord of murder mysteries.

In the first story, "Gingerbread Cookie Murder" by Joanne Fluke, Hannah Swensen gets burned after she doesn't hear the oven timer. Two dozen reindeer cookies in her Lake Eden, Minnesota condo are ruined, but it isn't her fault. Ernie Kusak, an inconsiderate lottery-winning divorcee, is not a good neighbor. He flaunts his wealth, plays deafening Christmas music all hours of the day and night, and puts on a dazzling holiday laser show that has all the tenants wanting his head.

After Ernie is discovered in a pool of blood in front of his refrigerator with his head bashed in, the list of suspects is almost as long as the list of ingredients for Hannah's Magic Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars. A whimsical mystery and a dozen mouth-watering recipes, complete with a baking conversion chart, make "Gingerbread Cookie Murder" a sweet treat.

In Laura Levine's "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies," Jaine Austen leaves Los Angeles with her cat Prozak to spend Christmas at her parents' Tampas Vistas retirement community. Jaine expects to enjoy the holiday with her mom and dad in the Florida sun. Because of her credentials writing toilet bowl ads, she is enlisted to help with a community theater production of the play "The Gingerbread Cookie that Saved Christmas."

The play's starring role is given to playboy Dr. Preston McCay, who has a suspicious nature and a cast of jealous senior sweethearts. The show is also McCay's final curtain call after falling to his death. But is the geriatric playboy's passing an accident or intentional? After one of McCay's admirers is accused of his murder, Jaine must roll up her sleeves to catch the killer. This playful mystery, with its light-hearted tone and cast of quirky characters, is lots of fun, even though it doesn't rely on recipes to cook up a yummy story.

In "Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" by Leslie Meier, Lucy Stone --- a busy wife, mother, grandmother, part-time reporter and feature writer --- hopes for a peaceful Christmas with her family in Massachusetts. Funds are tight, and after her grown children tell her about their plans away from home, Christmas is looking anything but peaceful --- or jolly.

But Lucy stops feeling sorry for herself after she hears about the kidnapping of a four-year-old boy named Nemo Anderson, to whom she gave a gingerbread cookie the day before. She gets involved in the investigation after discovering the body of Nemo's father. The most serious of the three gingerbread mysteries, "Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" is a story about the importance of family and the real meaning of Christmas.

This assortment of different yet satisfying stories dishes out the tasty goods that are sure to please mystery lovers.

--- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt ([email protected])

I love "cozy" mysteries and I love Christmas novels, so a combination of both usually results in me spending a few quiet hours on the family room couch engrossed in this type of book. With the temperature actually beginning to drop and the winds picking up, it didn't feel too early to begin my annual trek through Christmas-themed books. While I read Joanne Fluke, the other two authors in this collection are new to me.

Content of this book:

1) "Gingerbread Cookie Murder" by Joanne Fluke - 125 pages, including recipes
2) "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies" by Laura Levine - 123 pages
3) "Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" by Leslie Meier - 102 pages, with two recipes

Each novella is the continuation of the mystery series written by each author, but they can stand alone if you aren't a fan. Since I haven't read anything by Ms. Levine or Ms. Meier, I am proof positive that these can be enjoyed without all the background. All three are perfect reading for fans of the genre, though "Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" has a slightly more serious tone that most cozies. All are nice length to read in an evening and will put you in the mood for the holiday season to come or to provide a break from the activity of the season and just relax for a bit.

If you are fans of these authors, definitely pick this up and enjoy. If you don't know them all, it will give you an opportunity to sample their stories without the commitment (time or dollars) to a full-length book. Based upon reading Ms. Levine's contribution, I just purchased the first two books in this series for my Kindle --

This book contains three short cozies by three authors, all based on a Christmas, and you guessed it, a gingerbread theme. In the first story by Joanne Fluke, Hannah Swensen, who runs a cookie bakery, heads over to her neighbor's condo to ask him to turn down his Christmas music. She finds him dead in his kitchen, surrounded by the broken gingerbread cookies she'd given him. She is determined to find his murderer, who turns out to be closer than she expected. The second story by Laura Levine has Jaine Austen spending Christmas with her parents in a stereotypical Florida retirement community. Bored to tears, she almost welcomes the diversion caused by the murder of a resident during the otherwise uneventful community Christmas play. Since Jaine is an amateur sleuth, she sets out to solve the murder without worrying her parents. Rather funny. The third story by Leslie Meier involves Lucy Stone, small town journalist preparing for Christmas. When a young boy that she recently got to know is kidnapped, she just can't keep thinking about him. As much as she tries to "leave it to the police", she can't help but follow up on some of the leads she gets. She winds up getting more involved then she planned. The stories are cute and simple. Not great literature. For me they are good treadmill reads.

"Gingerbread Cookie Murder" by Joanne Fluke. Hannah Swensen and other condo owners are furious with neighbor Ernie Kusak for playing the music so loud he cannot hear the knocking on his door. When the police arrive and enter the apartment, Hannah joins them and sees Ernie's corpse. Another neighbor who had incidents with Ernie is the prime suspect but Hannah thinks otherwise; so she runs a parallel investigation to that of the cops. Joanne Fluke provides a delectable whodunit.

"The Dangers Of Gingerbread Cookies" by Laura Levine. Jaine Austen visits her parents at their Florida retirement village. The community play is The Gingerbread Cookie That Saved Christmas starring Dr. Preston McCay as the heroic gingerbread cookie. When he dies from a fall while performing, the police suspect Edna, a friend of Jaine's mother, as the killer. The cops believe her motive was she believed they were engaged as did two other women in the complex. Jaine investigates in order to prove Edna never killed the lothario. With plenty of humor and wit, McCay's final act makes for a fun novella.

"Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" by Leslie Meier. Lucy Stone is buying groceries when she spots four years old Nemo at the store. The child wants a gingerbread man, but his mother insists they cannot afford it. Lucy buys a cookie for the child, but is perplexed to notice his mom and stepfather own a Porsche. On the TV news,Lucy learns there is an Amber Alert out on Nemo who was kidnapped. Soon afterward, Rick, Nemo's step-father is found dead with his head bashed in. Worried about the boy, Lucy investigates the homicide and the alleged kidnapping. Lucy Meier writes a charming Christmas cozy.

These three wonderful amateur sleuths star popular protagonists who sweeten the Christmas season with fun homicide investigations.

Harriet Klausner

Once again, Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meier have come together to give us a triple dose of Christmas murder starring their respective series sleuths. Ms. Fluke leads off the book with the title story which finds Hannah Swensen solving the death of her neighbor. Was Ernie killed because of his obnoxious and loud Christmas display or is something else afoot? Next comes "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies," which finds Ms. Levine's Jaine Austen visiting her parents in Florida only to have the star of the retirement community's Christmas play fall to his death. Finally, Ms. Meier presents "Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" as Lucy Stone attempts to find a kidnapped boy and bring him home for Christmas.

I realize it's a bit early to fully indulge in Christmas, but this collection certainly helped get me ready to start listening to Christmas music and decorating. All three stories are delightful and will please the authors' fans. I regularly read Joanne Fluke and Laura Levine, and their stories perfectly fit in with the series. While I don't read Leslie Meier, her story made me consider giving her series another try. All three main characters are fun, and all three stories move forward at brisk paces. Of course, when each story only gets about 100 pages, there isn't a lot of extra room.

As a plus, two of the authors included recipes. Leslie Meier has two at the end of her story, and Joanne Fluke includes twelve. All of them had my mouth watering.

If you are a fan of any of these authors, get a copy of this book and see if you don't find something new you'll enjoy. And if you want a hint of danger this Christmas, this book will be perfect for you.

This highly entertaining trio of novellas would make a terrific Christmas gift--but not for anyone who hates the holidays. The plethora of dastardly murders presented here might give them ideas.

Joanne Fluke's "Gingerbread Cookie Murder" delivers not only recipes for sweet treats, but a cautionary tale about the dangers of too-flamboyant Christmas displays. (OK, that wasn't the actual motive for murder, but I'm sure it didn't help.)

Leslie Meier's "Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" is the most low-key story in the collection, a quiet, touching description of Lucy Stone's investigation involving a small boy's disappearance. Plus recipes.

Laura Levine's "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies," was my favorite entry. Prozac the cat is back, with snappier dialogue than ever. This tale of two "doctors" even has our feline heroine playing a crucial role in exposing--literally and figuratively--a killer. (Considering the expertise with which Prozac manages to cadge everyone's tastiest food throughout the story, it'd be interesting to see some of her recipes...) As always in Levine's Jaine Austen yarns, the obvious warmth and affection between Jaine and her family (which most definitely includes Prozac) is a warm touch for a cold fall/winter night. Even if Jaine's dad's efforts to play Junior Detective don't work nearly as well as her cat's.

All in all, this is a fine way for a mystery lover to get into the holiday spirit.

What fun, three Christmas mysteries under one cover. Just the thing to curl up and read one a cold winter night in the days before Christmas. Three of my favorite authors and each wrote a delicious mystery, and with recipes too! Don't forget the hot chocolate.

Honestly, if Joanne Fluke is tired of writing about these characters she should start a new series or shake things up - jump 20 years into the future - ANYTHING. The last few of her books have been so much more of the same that it is frustrating and boring to read her later works. This was 84 pages of story text and about 30 pages of recipes. Rediculous. The story was the same one we have all read before. Fortunately the book was redeemed by the other two stories in the collection. So glad I got it at the library and did not spend my own money on this.

I started out loving this series for its fun light reading, but that doesn't mean that by the end of Chapter 2 I want to have figured the whole thing out. I was trying to give Ms. Fluke a second (and third) chance. Alas, I don't think I'll be buying any more of these, maybe I'll see about the library, but I am done spending my money on them.