I am continuing my quest to get caught up the Hannah Swenson Mysteries.
Devil’s Food Cake Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery)
14th in Series
Cozy Mystery
Setting – Minnesora
Publisher: Kensington
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages (February 1, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-0758234926
E-Book ASIN: B006QOTOQA
Hannah Swensen has to admit life is pretty sweet. Things are going well in the romance department and her bakery’s delectable confections are selling as fast as she can bake them. Even her good friend Claire is head over heels with her new husband, Reverend Bob Knudson. If only they could find time to take their honeymoon!
When Bob’s childhood friend, Matthew Walters, comes to town, it seems like divine intervention. Matthew, like Bob, is a Lutheran minister with a stubborn sweet tooth. Since he’s on sabbatical, Matthew is happy to fill in for Bob while he and Claire take that long-awaited honeymoon. It sounds like the perfect plan–until Hannah finds Matthew face-down in a plate full of Devil’s Food Cake, a single bullet in his head. It will take some sleuthing to sift out the killer, but Hannah is sure of one thing: even the most half-baked murder plot can be oh so deadly. . .
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I was so excited to start this book because the author left us with a bit of a cliffhanger last time. We start with Reverend Bob and Claire off on their honeymoon since they have found another minister to fill in. Matthew just happens to a childhood friend of Bob’s so he feels his church is in good hands. He was doing a fantastic job until Hannah finds him dead, with a single bullet wound and in a mess of Devil’s Food Cake.
I love the series and all the characters. Hannah has two men vying for her attention but they also have another woman on their radar now and that is very upsetting to Hannah. I have a bit of a problem with this. Hannah has been stringing both men along for quite some time while she decides which one she wants to settle down with. This time it seems maybe she does not feel strongly enough about either of them. I like that she is getting a little dose of her own medicine and that was fun to read. I wouldn’t mind her giving both of them the boot. Again there is a bit of a shocker at the end of this story as this romantic triangle takes a very surprising turn.
The mystery was good but not overly complex and I did figure it out a little early. That being said I did enjoy the time Hannah spent with Grandma Knudson. She seems like quite a woman and we quickly learn not much gets by her.
This is one of my favorite series but this wasn’t by favorite story in the series. The book is filled with a bunch of tempting recipes and it is always good to visit Lake Eden.
I am looking forward to the next book Cinnamon Roll Murder 
Find out more about Joanne Fluke and her books on her webpage here.
*This book was from my private collection.
Never read the first book.