An elderly much-loved resident of the little MN town has fallen on hard times and is in the hospital recovering from a fall. She settles back into life in Lake Eden, helping her mother and sisters after the recent death of her father. Hannah comes home after college, not sure what to do with the rest of her life. I love the fact that the plot of this book is a bit different.a bit of a story inside a story.
I'm going to delve into what I love about this book first, then get to several problems I see. I was so excited when I saw this available for review.
#Joanne fluke series
After 23 books, this series is still one of my favorites, despite the last couple of books (not going to say what so I don't spoil things for newer readers but those who have read the entire series know I'm talking about R.) This book is a prequel taking readers back to before Hannah opened her bakery, The Cookie Jar. Although there are a lot of culinary cozy series now, this series was one of the first. I have been a fan of the Hannah Swensen series for years. I completed another series (just about, don't deny me this fact please - LOL)! Okay, off to find an ARC of the latest book. It's worth a read but not necessary to read in order. and I'm glad I had this chance to read a bit more about Hannah's younger years. I judge it on that merit rather than give it a poor rating because it didn't have a mystery. But it's just a re-cap book with a little bit of new content. Part of me was hoping to learn a fun fact about a new connection among the town's inhabitants. Once we find out, it's nice closure for this book but doesn't really connect to all the others in the series in terms of the mystery. Is it about herself? Someone else in Lake Eden? Completely made up? We find out in the last chapter as the entire time we're meandering along, we're clueless, too. Hannah finds her journal and reads the book Essie had been writing. The other big piece of the book was a different sorta mystery where a local citizen, Essie, has an accident (truly, an accident) and is in the hospital. I can overlook that tho, as I like the setting and relationships. It was also a bit repetitive for regular readers as we knew 25% of this content already. It was lots of fun and helped provide us with some wonderful and tender moments about this beautiful family. We also see how Delores reacted, what drove Andrea to become a real estate agent, and how Michelle was in high school. The story is a reflection on all the major characters we've come to love and shows us what happened when Lars, Hannah's father, passed away. It's the beginning tale of how Hannah got started at The Cookie Jar. The book takes place before the first one in the series actually took place.
Overall, I'd give it 4 stars as it had a lot of the traditional elements we normally love in these books, but the mystery was very different. The next one is in ARC form and I'm hoping to get my hands on it soon as I'd rather not wait until early 2019 when it's formally published. I finished reading Christmas Cake Murder, the 23rd of 24 books, published in the last year. I am finally caught up on the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series by Joanne Fluke. As Hannah prepares to run a bakery and move out of her mother’s house, it’ll be a true miracle if she can prevent another Yuletide disaster by solving a mystery as dense as a Christmas fruitcake. She’s even more surprised when the story turns real. Hannah’s surprised by Essie’s secret talent for penning crime fiction. But instead of poring over decadent dessert recipes for the merry festivities, she instantly becomes enthralled by Essie’s old notebooks and the tale of a woman escaping danger on the streets of New York. With her dream of opening The Cookie Jar taking shape, Hannah’s life matches the hectic December hustle and bustle in Lake Eden-especially when she agrees to help recreate a spectacular Christmas Ball from the past in honor of Essie Granger, an elderly local in hospice care.
But as Hannah finds out, revisiting holiday memories can be It’s Christmas many years ago, and topping young Hannah Swensen’s wish list is becoming the go-to baker in Lake Eden, Minnesota.
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