[.ca] Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (ISBN 0758201508)

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder:
Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking owner of the successful bakery The Cookie Jar in small town Lake Eden, Minnesota, returns once again as the amateur sleuth to solve another vicious murder mystery in the wonderful fourth installment of Joanne Fluke's great cozy culinary murder mystery series. It the end of June in the quaint little town of Lake Eden, Minnesota, and the Fourth of July nears ever closer at a quick pace, and everyone in the town is fully prepared to paint all of Lake Eden red, white, and blue. Now that the extremely frigid snows and bitingly cold winds have left Lake Eden for the summer, back are the ever-pesky mosquitoes and intensely hot sun beating down. But the Fourth of July means something else---Hannah's youngest sister, Michelle, is returning to Lake Eden from Macalester College for the Fourth of July! But not all the new surprises are over yet for Hannah. Norman Rhodes, the town dentist and one of Hannah's sometimes-boyfriends, eagerly tells Hannah of his big plan. He and Hannah designed a dream house for a contest, and won, winning money which they split 50/50. But Norman has real plans for a dream house. Norman has made an agreement with Rhonda Scharf, the flirtatious, fifty-year-old clerk lady at the Lake Eden Drugstore. Norman is tearing down Rhonda's grandmother's run-down home to build Hannah's real dream house. What does Norman building Hannah's dream house mean for her? Hannah wonders. But she puts her thoughts on hold about her boyfriend soon one day when Rhonda allows Norman to search the basement for any antiques he'd like, ones that Rhonda no longer wants. Norman brings Hannah's mother, Delores, along, for he suspects she would love more free antiques for Granny's Attic, the successful antique store she and Norman's mother, Carrie, run, just across the street from The Cookie Jar. Hannah decides to tag along with Norman and Delores on their antique expedition. At the old house, the threesome discover some gorgeous furniture, antique china dishes, a patchwork quilt, a rocking chair... and in the basement, as Delores goes down to the explore the place, she finds Rhonda Scharf's dead body, stabbed in the heart with a knife. And right on the table in the kitchen of the place are unopened boxes of Chinese take-out, some wine, and one of Hannah's delicious Lemon Meringue Pies from Friday---Pie Day at The Cookie Jar. At first, Hannah doesn't even need coaxing from her other sometimes-boyfriend, Detective Mike Kingston, not to investigate on her own. Later, Norman rushes over to Hannah, pleading that she investigates Rhonda's murder because he has a vested interest: If the basement of the house stays a crime scene for much longer, Norman will have to postpone the construction until next spring, and he cannot wait that long. So thus, Hannah decides to investigate once again. The Fourth of July festivities---such as the annual picnics, parade, and fireworks---and the arrival/introduction of the extremely likable new character, Michelle Swensen, Hannah's lovable cat, Moishe, and much, much more make this a wonderful and engaging cozy mystery by the very skilled author, Joanne Fluke. Highly recommended!

Started with this one bite and I am hooked:
I did not read the first books but jumped in with this title. It was a very fun read. I enjoy all the characters and the way the plot develops I am looking forward to reading the previos ones and all the new ones. Well worth the time.

Simply Awful:
For an amateur sleuth book to be enjoyable, it has to be believable to some extent. This book wasn't in the least. Hannah takes it upon herself to investigate a murder in town. She then informs the police of this decision and rather than discouraging her, like real police would, they all giggle about winning their bets, and set up a time to meet with her to go over details of the case. As the story progresses, Hannah storms around town questioning people, demanding answers and spouting off as she sees fit, and not one person tells her to take a hike. She then involves herself in an old bank robbery because she coincidentally gets a bill in her cash register that looks suspicious and the bank president is all too happy to look up the serial number and give her details on why she was right. It gets to the point where all belief must be suspended because everything is so ludicrous. If Hannah isn't annoying and obnoxious enough, the supporting cast is just as bad. Her partner, Lisa, seems like she has a crush on Hannah, babying her, cooking for her, running Hannah's business for her. Norman and Mike are supposed to be the two men she's dating, yet she attends "extended family" events with both of them where she sits between them and holds both of their hands. Andrea is as annoying a character as I've ever seen. None of them make you care about them in the least. And the writing in this book is just awful, with way too much attention paid to every little detail. We get two full pages of Hannah walking upstairs from her car and unlocking her door. We get a full page of her drive to work. And we get pages upon pages of Hannah mixing up cookie dough. Did the author have a word count to fill? I hope the next book in the series is better, or this author will be going the way of Nancy J. Cohen...right out the door.

Dean-Epps Author of humorous mystery LAST CALL says,"Yummy!":
This series by Joanne Fluke is fresh as the yummy cookies character Hannah Swensen offers at her shop, "The Cookie Jar." I got a big kick out of one of the sub-plots that worked nicely with her attempts to solve the murder -- Hannah's efforts to fit into her clothes. (I won't give away the surprise.) These books are just plain good fun. I suspect the author has as much fun writing them as we do reading them and we know that's always good.

A GOOD READ!:
I love this series - while I will admit it is not the most intellectual - it's like chips - you know they aren't great for you but you can't eat just one. The plot could have been developped better and yes sometimes the protagonist can be obnoxious - commenting on people's grammar - but overall a good read!