Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

From time to time, I love a silly story (I have most of Sophie Kinsella's fun books). "Cookie Murder" was just plain dumb. One-dimensional cliched characters ... a plug-&-play "plotline" ... lazy execution. (If you're going to write about baking, you should learn what a black & white cookie is -- and that ain't it, Sweet Pea. And I'm wondering how many keystone cops one tiny town needs; thank goodness cookie-girl is there to do ALL the police work. And, really, a caterer without business cards?) I realized, from the title, this wasn't going to be a "thinker," but I didn't expect it to be a "crumby," brainless mess with no charm at all.

Hannah Swenson, the owner of a successful cookie shop called The Cookie Jar, is also a proficient amateur sleuth. When a popular local ex-football player is killed behind her shop, she is determined to find his killer. Will she succeed? Read to find out. This is truly an outstanding novel. The setting is in the chilly autumn of rural Minnesota. The author does a magnificent job of describing the biting cold and the blowing snow of a prairie autumn. The characterization is superb. The characters seem to leap right off the page and grow flesh and bones. They could be people in your own home town, friends and acquaintances of yours. Each one is carefully detailed to make them seem real and to draw the reader into their stories. The plot is thrilling. The author kept me guessing until the last moment to find out the identity of the killer. The plot took several twists and turns leading me to dead end guesses repeatedly thus adding to the fun and building up to the shocking conclusion. But the real star of this novel is the atmosphere. It's sheer coziness at its very best. One can smell the fresh coffee and taste the warm cookies as one shivers in the Minnesota wind. It's the perfect book to cuddle up with on a chilly autumn day and lose oneself in utter bliss. Also, many recipes are included so you can enjoy baking Hannah's delights as you wind your way through this thrilling mystery. This book is a must read for any fan of cozy mysteries and just plain good story telling. This is a novel that will stay with you long after you close the pages. Highly recommended. This collector's edition also contains a short story entitled, Candy for Christmas. This is the story of a young runaway whom Hannah finds in the deep cold of the Minnesota Christmas. Hannah sets out to learn the girl's story and to help her reunite with her family. It is a wonderful story filled with many of the same elements of delights found in the novel. It's inclusion in this edition is a real treat. It too contains many recipes to add to your enjoyment. So after your meal of mystery, don't forget the candy for dessert! Smash B

I spotted this book as a passerby in a bookstore. I actually did judge a book by its cover..both front and back! I thought this was an excellent book. It keeps you in suspense until the very end. It also will test your sweet tooth! Every cookie or dessert mentioned in the book; the recipie is provided for you so you can actually make the deliciously described treats yourself! Will follow this series until the end!!!

I loved this book! Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder is a cute, quirky, and easy-to-read culinary mystery fit for anyone. I picked this book up when a friend told me of the series, and thought it sounded cutely interesting, so I bought the first five in paperback in the cheap-o section. Hannah Swensen is living the good life running a successful bakery called "The Cookie Jar" with a caring assistant named Lisa Herman and living in a nice condo with her lovable cat Moishe in small-town Lake Eden, Minnesota. But when Hannah discovers the body of Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man of the Cozy Cow Dairy Farm in his truck, his body surrounded by Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunches, Hannah decides to do a little investigation of her own on the murder. With delightful and wacky characters like Hannah's only-trying-to-be-helpful sister Andrea, her mother Delores that's obsessed with finding Hannah a soulmate, and the new dentist Norman that Hannah becomes closer to, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder satisfied all the things I wanted for a good cozy mystery, plus scrumptious and unusual dessert recipes. Read this book!

Hannah Swenson's life is going well. Her cookie shop is successful, and she's content living a single life with her cat as company. But then she finds her delivery driver from the local dairy murdered behind her story. Assisting her brother-in-law, she starts investigating. But everyone seems to have an alibi and no motive.This book was a complete delight from start to finish. I loved the small town Minnesota setting. Hannah's relationship with her family had me laughing and feeling for her at the same time. The other characters were enjoyable, too, and Hannah is a very likable heroine. Her cat adds charm to the story. I was hooked on the plot from the very beginning and was as frustrated as Hannah when she hit a dead end. Her cookies sounded absolutely wonderful, and I can't wait to try the recipes. Definitely don't read this book while hungry!As soon as I can get my hands on the next book, I'm going to start reading it.

There's nothing more fun for a cozy mystery reader than to discover a new author with a fresh voice whose work one can look forward to for years to come. The reader gets to know the characters quickly and well, so well, in fact, that I found myself thinking, 'Wouldn't it be funny in the next book if Delores.......' Even the publisher's marketing is fun in that the book is a chubby little thing, kind of like the old Orphan Annie books of long ago. Younger readers won't recall these, but they will doscover the charm of the concept when they first see this book. Ther heroine/detective is Hannah Swenson, a well eductaed twenty-something who was called away from her doctoral program to return to Lake Eden, Minnesota to assist her mother after her father's death. Lake Eden is a town of 3,000 where, as one would expect, everyone pretty well knows one another, or can find out about each other through a grapevine that winds its way from kitchens to local clubs to church socials and to "The Cookie Jar", (cookie recipes included) a coffee shop owned by Hannah and operated with the dedicated assistance of a local teenager, Lisa. Hannah is challenged by first one homicide and then another, and she views solving the crimes as a way to help her detective brother-in-law get a promotion. As it happens, Hannah's whole family becomes involved in one way or another and the results are funny. Particularly funny is her mother, Delores, whose abundance of free time allows her to try and find a husband for Hannah who has never been married and lives alone with a fat one-eyed cat named Moishe. Either we are like Hannah or we know someone like her. She wears old sneakers and a sweatshirt. She's blunt, funny and kind, and she doesn't see herself as the object of anyone's great desire, but watch what happens. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, by all means read this one, and then wait impatiently for the next.