Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)

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Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen #15)

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 2,441 ratings · 383 reviews

Spring has sprung in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and the mud season is turning Hannah Swenson's life upside down. But Hannah finds herself knee-deep in an even bigger mess when murder makes an unexpected visit to town...

April is a busy time for Hannah Swenson and her bakery; there's just something about the warm weather that makes folks in Lake Eden crave something sweet When Ha

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Published (first published January 1st 2012)

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Mar 08, 2013 Aurian Booklover rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hannah is not very happy. Norman is still engaged to Dr. Bev, and now they have actually picked a date for the wedding! Of course Norman doesn’t love Bev, but he is an honourable man, and he wants to take care of the daughter he never knew he had. Hannah tries to be a good friend, but she is heartbroken, and really misses spending time with Norman. Bev even tries to keep him away from his beloved cat, Cuddles, claiming she is allergic to cats. Hannah doesn’t mind taking care of Cuddles, as her o...more Hannah is not very happy. Norman is still engaged to Dr. Bev, and now they have actually picked a date for the wedding! Of course Norman doesn’t love Bev, but he is an honourable man, and he wants to take care of the daughter he never knew he had. Hannah tries to be a good friend, but she is heartbroken, and really misses spending time with Norman. Bev even tries to keep him away from his beloved cat, Cuddles, claiming she is allergic to cats. Hannah doesn’t mind taking care of Cuddles, as her own cat Mooshe, is very fond of her, but she can tell Cuddles misses Norman too.

Hannah and her younger sister Michelle are on their way to the Lake Eden Inn with some fresh baked Cinnamon Rolls, when a major accident happens on the road. Hannah can leave the road just in time, before she gets caught up in the chain collusion as well. Minnesota roads are treacherous at dusk, when the freshly molten snow and mud freezes again, and “foreign” chauffeurs have no idea of the risks. Witnessing the pile up, Michelle quickly calls 911, informing the police, the sheriff, the ambulance and fireservice. They are all needed. Hannah and Michelle walk back to the accident as well, in case they can help some of the victims before the medical aid can get to them. One of the victims is the bus full of the members of the Jazz Band Cinnamon Roll Six, which will be headlining the coming Weekend Jazz Festival in town. And the reason Hannah baked all those delicious rolls. The bus is upside down, and the door is jammed, so they have to try to unblock the emergency exit.
Once inside, everyone is allright, except the keyboard player, Buddy, who has a sprained wrist. And the chauffeur, who is death, and hanging gristly upside down still in his seatbelt behind the wheel.

Even Hannah’s cookie truck is being commandeered to drive the minor injuries to the hospital, so Doc Knight can treat them. Her mother, Dolores, is there as well, and as the kitchen is already closed, she takes command of Hannah’s baked foodstuffs to feed all the wounded and the volunteers and other personnel. With permission of the Inn, as they already paid for the rolls. Even though she does not really like the man, Hannah promises to come back for Buddy, to bring him to the inn after his wrist has been spalked. But before she can do that, her mother finds him murdered.

Hannah has no choice but to start investigating the murder the next day, her mother demands it of her, and has already conspired with Lisa, Hannah’s partner in the bakery and coffeeshop, so Hannah can have the time off. Michelle and Andrea will help as well. They also convince Hannah that she has to quit being so nice all the time, and fight for Norman if she wants him and stop the marriage. And Hannah really wants to. So with her sister Andrea, they go on the road to find out more about Dr. Bev and if Diana really is Norman’s daughter.

I enjoyed this new book, and read it fairly quickly. It helps that there are recipes at the end of each chapter (not only for cookies, also dinner dishes) so I can turn three pages at once and read on. I liked the murder mystery, and fairly quickly suspected Dr. Bev of it (I won’t tell you if I was right, find that out for yourself!). Of course, I don’t like her either, so everything she did or said was suspect. I did not know how Norman was going to react if he finds out that Hannah was snooping in his, or rather Dr. Bev’s, private life. I also liked the fact that Mike encouraged Hannah to take action, though he and Norman are rivals for Hannah, and with Norman married, he would be left over. But I think that Hannah knows by now that Mike would always have and keep a roving eye, which is not a good trait in a boyfriend or fiancée or husband. Yes, I have been rooting for Hannah and Norman to end up together for quite a few books now. She has trouble making up her mind, but she is not sleeping with either of them, unlike some other series I could name.

All in all, this is a series I thoroughly enjoy. I like all the main characters, the cozy setting, the cold Minnesota town and weather, and of course the murder plots. I highly recommend it to all lovers of foody cozy mysteries.

8 stars.

Full review on my blog, www.boeklogboek.blogspot.com
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Feb 12, 2013 Text Addict rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cozy-mystery, minnesota, subtype-food, mystery

I think I've missed a few volumes of this series. I was a bit taken aback to find that Hannah has turned into a minor cottage industry in Lake Eden, complete with eager support staff and complaisant law enforcement. As in, a little minor lawbreaking in the cause of Truth and Justice is no problem ... unlike earlier in the series.

I'm not sure, in fact, that the series still fits the "cozy mystery" definition. Whatever that definition might be. It felt much more like a PI type novel.

Regardless,...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When the Cinnamon Roll Six jazz band's bus is in a multi-car pileup near Lake Eden, Hannah and her sister are first on the scene, and accompany the musicians to the hospital. Keyboardist Buddy Newman has a sprained wrist, but the real problem is that while in the hospital, someone stabs him to death. Meanwhile, Hannah has to grit her teeth as her former swain, Norman Rhodes, prepares to marry the odious Dr. Bev so she will allow him access to their daughter. Everyone knows Norman will be miserab...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good story. Keeps your interest. Too bad the recipes look too complicated -- they sound delicious. Has anyone ever tried making one?

Spring has sprung in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and the mud season is turning Hannah Swenson's life upside down. But Hannah finds herself knee-deep in an even bigger mess when murder makes an unexpected visit to town...

April is a busy time for Hannah Swenson and her bakery; there's just something about the warm weather that makes folks in Lake Eden crave something sweet...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 03, 2012 Merand rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really like this series, but the romantic thread is beginning to grow weary. You just get to the point when you want something to change/happen. I do feel like the series needs to take a turn here or it will grow too mundane to continue reading. I can't imagine that most readers aren't ready for things to change. Even the author's got to be tired of the same old same old. And as I've said before, this isn't amazing literature, but it does the job. It's fun, it's quick, it's simple. You can usu...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Tonia Dempsey rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had such high hopes for this book, being the last was somewhat of a cliffhanger. But sadly, it turned out like all the other Hannah books lately...disappointing. When Doctor Bev was introduced into this series, she had the potential to be a "real" character, giving Hannah a little competition for Norman. Instead, the author went in a ridiculous direction with the "marry me or never see your daughter" claim. Seriously, what man would move a woman into his home and agree to instant marriage beca...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Jeannie and Louis Rigod rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was about a dreadful automobile accident in Lake Eden, MN. Our favorite sleuth, Hannah Swensen and her younger sister, Michelle are heading home and just manage to miss being caught up in the tragedy. The sisters try to aid an over-turned bus that just happens to hold the Cinnamon Roll Six, a jazz ensemble. To their sorrow, not only are there injuries, but the driver is dead.

Later, at the hospital, they find out the man with the sprained wrist, Buddy, is dead. Not only dead but he isn'...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Eleanor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Hannah and her sister, Michelle, are driving Minnesota's slick roads in a cookie truck, while moving over to allow the more impatient drivers pass. Up ahead, brake lights appear to alert them of disaster, but the crunch of metal and the smashing of glass foreshadow a multi-car pile up!

While Hannah and Michelle rush to help, they spot an overturned bus and realize the bus belongs to the band called, The Cinnamon Roll S...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Carrie Padgett rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’ve heard lots of praise for Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swenson culinary mysteries. I received an Advanced Reader Copy from Kensington Books for review purposes and I dove in with great anticipation.

Hannah Swenson and her sister help an injured jazz band when their tour bus is in an accident. Hannah feels responsible to investigate when one of the musicians is later murdered at the hospital. She’s also being prodded by her family and friends to break up her former boyfriend’s upcoming wedding...more I’ve heard lots of praise for Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swenson culinary mysteries. I received an Advanced Reader Copy from Kensington Books for review purposes and I dove in with great anticipation.

Hannah Swenson and her sister help an injured jazz band when their tour bus is in an accident. Hannah feels responsible to investigate when one of the musicians is later murdered at the hospital. She’s also being prodded by her family and friends to break up her former boyfriend’s upcoming wedding to a scheming and evil usurper of his affections.

Both plots overlap in a convincing way. The mystery isn’t all that complex but the red herrings are laid out fairly and nicely interspersed with the real clues. One of the deaths is pretty much ignored after it’s determined that it could have been an accident. I would have liked a bit more resolution there. Was he murdered or not?

The book is as much cookbook/recipe book as it is mystery.

The recipes look delicious and they are written so that even the most novice of cooks can follow the directions easily.

Since this is a series and I hadn’t read any of the previous books, I did have a bit of problem sorting out all the characters. I also found some of the characters to be behaving a bit illogically, but I’m willing to say that if I knew them better, it might make more sense.

I understand that in the cozy genre, more latitude is given to activities such as cooking, knitting, or gardening, but I often found myself wanting to skim the parts where Hannah and her partner or her sister would discuss what they were going to bake next and whether they had enough flour on hand for a full batch or something and then listing the utensils they would need. That got a bit tedious and could have tightened up the scene if it had been streamlined.

Overall, I recommend Cinnamon Roll Murder and I look forward to reading another.

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I received a free copy of Cinnamon Roll Murder for review purposes but it did not influence my review.
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Feb 26, 2012 Sharon Redfern rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hannah Swenson gets embroiled in another murder when she and her sister are driving her bakery van and the slippery roads cause an accident. She and Michelle go to the accident scene and find the tour bus of the Cinnamon Roll Six, a jazz band. They are coming to play at a local club and it appears their driver had some sort of medical crisis and drove off the road. A band member is slightly injured and ends up in the hospital where he is killed. It later turns out that he was traveling under an...more

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May 13, 2013 Lorraine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, cozy, mystery, kobo

Hannah thinks she's lost Norman - he's about to marry Bev, his girlfriend from Seattle, or he'll lose access to his daughter than he never met. Hannah is depressed about it, but is happy to make cinnamon rolls for the Lake Eden Inn's jazz festival and the headliners, the Cinnamon Roll Six. On the way out to the Inn to deliver the rolls, Hannah and her sister Michelle are nearly in a pileup on the highway but manage to avoid it by swerving off into the rest stop. They then help out with the injur...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hannah and Michelle are on their way to listen to the Cinnamon Roll Six band and deliver Hannah's fresh cinnamon rolls when they encounter a pile up on the highway caused by the Cinnamon Roll tour bus.

Not bad. I know a lot of reviewers have mentioned that they are frustrated because the murders in these books happen much further into the story than they would like. This time the murder happens within the 1st 25% of the book, plus the maybe murder of the bus driver. Hopefully Fluke really did no...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Akl rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't know why I tortured myself with this series. I guess I liked the first book enough to continue? Thankfully, I didn't pay for any of these books. Thank you public library for saving me $$$.

By this latest book, I have grown to really hate Hannah. She is condescending, selfish, childish, and her needing to correct everyone's grammar drives me crazy. I liked Andrea and Michelle earlier in the series, but I've also grown to dislike them. The Swensen matriarch is the worst of all! The scene wh...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Mandolin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hannah Swensen, Lake Eden's resident cookie maven, is up to her elbows in dead bodies again. This time, she's on the scene when the tour bus carrying a visiting jazz band overturns on the icy roads and the driver is discovered dead. One of the band members, send to the local hospital for treatment, is murdered in his room and it's up to Hannah and her trusty team of assistant sleuths to discover why. As if that weren't enough to keep her busy, along with her bustling cookie shop and crazy cats,...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Lis Carey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery

Norman Rhodes, Lake Eden's favorite dentist, is engaged to marry fellow dentist Doctor Bev, and no one is happy about it. Even Norman's chief rival for the affections of town cookie maker and amateur homicide detective, Hannah Swensen, is not happy about his friend Norman marrying a woman he thinks is a liar--and whom he's pretty sure Norman isn't in love with. But Norman is nothing if not responsible, and he's the father of Bev's daughter Diana--or so she tells him.

Since this really isn't enoug...more Norman Rhodes, Lake Eden's favorite dentist, is engaged to marry fellow dentist Doctor Bev, and no one is happy about it. Even Norman's chief rival for the affections of town cookie maker and amateur homicide detective, Hannah Swensen, is not happy about his friend Norman marrying a woman he thinks is a liar--and whom he's pretty sure Norman isn't in love with. But Norman is nothing if not responsible, and he's the father of Bev's daughter Diana--or so she tells him.

Since this really isn't enough excitement for Lake Eden, the jazz band, Cinnamon Roll Six, scheduled to perform in town, becomes part of a multi-car crash on the ice-slicked highway. Hannah and her youngest sister, Michelle, witness the accident and pitch in to help get the less seriously injured to the hospital, while the ambulances take the more seriously injured. The band's keyboard player, Buddy Neiman, has a sprained wrist, not a life-threatening injury though not minor for a keyboardist. By the end of the evening, though, he's dead--with surgical scissors in his chest.

The amusing thing, here, for fans of the series, is that Hannah's mother Delores is the one who finds Buddy's body.

Hannah has two mysteries to solve--who killed Buddy, and what is Doctor Bev up to? For that matter, who IS Buddy? His blood type on his I.D. doesn't match the blood type the hospital finds when they do his autopsy. Is Doctor Bev really allergic to cats, or is she lying just to get Cuddles out of Norman's house and to prevent Norman from visiting Cuddles and Moishe at Hannah's? And most importantly, is Norman really Diana's biological father?

The investigation of course involves a good deal of skirting the rules and cutting corners on confidentiality, but Mike, their official homicide detective, has become a bit more relaxed about these things as long as it isn't waved in his face. It also, of course, involves Hannah, her partner Lisa, Michelle, and even the middle sister, Andrea, cooking and baking with glee. Recipes included!

This wouldn't be a good place to start this series; there's too much history behind these characters now. If you've enjoyed other books in the series, though, this is a satisfying entry.

Recommended.

I borrowed this book from the library(less)

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Jan 31, 2013 Dalene rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, cozy-mystery

Review originally posted at A Date with a Book

This is a definitely must read, must buy cozy series of mine. These are always quick reads for me. I really like amateur sleuth Hannah Swensen and her cookie recipes. This story puts her right at the crime scene after it happens which is not normally a situation for her. I liked this fresh new approach to the crime. Her crime solving tactics are always fun and putting herself in Claire’s dress shop was new.

There is also new development in Hannah’s re...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Alannah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lazy writing, poor editing, flaccid filler posing as dialogue, characters as limp as overcooked macaroni and about as appealing.

Joanne Fluke is a good writer with a very readable style, but "Cinnamon Roll Murder" is clearly riding on the laurels of the series' popularity.

The premise sounded good, and the first paragraph (I always try to check for that "grabber") showed promise. Hannah bakes goodies for the jazz band Cinnamon Roll Six, the tour bus overturns on its way to town, and the mysteriou...more Lazy writing, poor editing, flaccid filler posing as dialogue, characters as limp as overcooked macaroni and about as appealing.

Joanne Fluke is a good writer with a very readable style, but "Cinnamon Roll Murder" is clearly riding on the laurels of the series' popularity.

The premise sounded good, and the first paragraph (I always try to check for that "grabber") showed promise. Hannah bakes goodies for the jazz band Cinnamon Roll Six, the tour bus overturns on its way to town, and the mysterious keyboard player is murdered in the hospital emergency room. I was even willing to overlook the fact that Cinnamon Roll Six is the lamest name ever for a band whose musicians are over the age of ten. However, after I swiped my debit card for the $15 for the book, I found that the promise fizzled quickly.

In the first few pages, baker Hannah and her sister Michelle are on their way to bring freshly-baked cinnamon rolls to the jazz festival. Alas, it's snowing and there is a highway pile-up. Hannah and Michelle rush to the aid of an overturned bus, which is eerily silent. Is everybody dead? Nope. Instead of scrambling to get out of the upside-down bus, the band members and groupies are sitting around inside as casually as if they're gathered backstage after a concert. Despite the fact that the keyboard player has a possibly broken wrist (the groupie who used to work in a doctor's office splinted it), he flirts with Michelle. The band makes casual introductions. And by the way, the bus driver is dead. This was when I realized the author didn't care enough to make the scene realistic, and therefore I didn't care enough about the book to want to continue reading. And that was before Page 16. The $15 I paid was pretty much the only motivation I had in forcing myself to read the rest.

For a murder mystery, the murder didn't seem to play much of a role in the story. In fact, it seemed to be touched upon as an afterthought. Much of the dialogue is little more than filler. And there's way too much about the love triangle that made no sense anyway. (The two guys Hannah loves have become best friends? Seriously?) I admit to being only a sporadic reader of the series, but there is more the author could have done to make the characterization richer even in book #15 of a series. If I cared one iota about Hannah, I'd tell her to kick both of those boys to the curb. They're both pinheads. But so is she (at least in this novel), and they can all have each other.

And there must be an age gap of decades stretching between Hannah and her two sisters. Little sister Michelle is in constant need of protection (how old is she - 10?), and then there's the pantsuit-wearing Andrea. Pantsuits? Hillary Clinton wears pantsuits. Isn't Andrea a wee bit younger?

The biggest onus, though, is on the publisher, and not just for putting this piece of laziness into print. Early on, when the characters are in the hospital emergency room after the bus accident, Hannah tells her mother, "The driver's dead, but everyone else seems to be okay except the keyboard player." (As if it matters what instrument the victim plays in the band after a horrific accident and death). Then a few paragraphs later, Hannah accidentally makes a verbal slip and must admit to her mother that the driver is dead. Even if the author missed this glaring error, nobody else caught it? Not the editor, proofreader, or anyone else? Additionally, on page 102 of the edition I have, "but" is misspelled as "bu," on page 103 "store" is misspelled as "sore," and on page 239 "singing" was misspelled as "signing." And those are just the errors I caught. This is unforgivable and discouraging, especially since this is far from the first instance of sloppy editing/proofreading I've caught in published books in the past year.

The bright, shining star and saving grace of this book is the smattering of recipes throughout. They look truly yummy. Before I dump this book at Goodwill, I'm copying some of those recipes down. The ones for Stuffin' Muffins and Piggy Chicken look particularly scrumptious. (less)

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Oct 11, 2012 Linda Munro rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fluke writes easy to read and understand books, keeping her readers interested with awesome recipes and a delightful main character, Hannah Swenson.

Hannah, who is a typical girl next door; not overly pretty, overly athetic or overly thin, yet she manages to keep two gorgeous men in her life. Or, atleast she had kept two gorgeous men in her life until her Dentist boyfriend finds himself engaged to a former lover who claims that he fathered a child with her and if he wants the child in his life,...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you're a fan of baking and light murder mysteries, this is the book for you. Hannah's the owner and baker of The Cookie Jar and this time a member of the band the Cinnamon Roll Six was murdered in the hospital after being involved in a bad bus accident. Hannah and her family set out to find out who did it, baking what sounds like delicious treats along the way. In addition, Hannah's ex boyfriend Norman is getting married to Doctor Bev and while he does not to seem to love her, he's marrying h...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a good quick read - I welcome books that include Michelle, as I feel the recipes are a little more creative and there usually are more savory recipes. The mystery part was OK - a few too many coincidences, and it doesn't really get going until the end of the book. And where did Andrea's kids go? And there wasn't nearly enough Mike. I also got the sense that his romance with Hannah might be cooling, which is unfortunate because I think that I prefer him to Norman.

While I still find...more

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May 29, 2012 Kristi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Hannah Swensen series has been one of my favorites for awhile now. I think I skipped one or two books in this series because the last one I read really disappointed me. It was mostly recipes and no story. However, I want to talk about this book.

I will say that I love the characters, especially Hannah and Delores. There interaction reminds me so much of my own mother daughter relationship. So this is a plus. I also will say that this story was cute and entertaining but was easy to figure out...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Jac (For Love and Books) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Hannah Swenson novels by Joanne Fluke have been one of my favorite series for a long time, somehow after 14 books I was still anticipating book number 15, The Cinnamon Roll Murder! For the past five years I have religiously picked up her new releases. One often the week of my husbands birthday in October and one the week of mine in March! (How convenient that my favorite books come out on our birthdays??) The love triangle between Norman and Mike (Hannah’s two boyfriends) has never bothered...more The Hannah Swenson novels by Joanne Fluke have been one of my favorite series for a long time, somehow after 14 books I was still anticipating book number 15, The Cinnamon Roll Murder! For the past five years I have religiously picked up her new releases. One often the week of my husbands birthday in October and one the week of mine in March! (How convenient that my favorite books come out on our birthdays??) The love triangle between Norman and Mike (Hannah’s two boyfriends) has never bothered me, despite it’s stretching out an insanely long amount of time.

For fans of these cozy mysteries, they will be pleased to find out that this books follows the rest of the series in sync. We open the book with a bang as Hannah swerves out of the way to avoid a nasty winter accident on the highway. There she and her younger sister, Michelle notice an overturned bus in the median and rush to help. On the bus we meet the band, The Cinnamon Roll Six, and find their bus driver dead in his seat.

Then we follow Hannah to the hospital where all of the accident victims have been transported. Once there, we get reacquainted with all of our favorite characters – even Norman, Hannah’s dentist boyfriend who is now engaged to his former fiance, Dr. Bev who showed up at the end of the last book announcing that her preschool aged daughter was Norman’s. It’s here, after we bump into Norman and Dr. Bev that the book veers from the normal path slightly. Hannah’s mother, Delores, discovers the body of the keyboardest from the band who was awaiting a release for a sprained wrist. It appears he has been stabbed with a pair of hospital scissors! And from here, the usual hunt for the suspect begins.
Unfortunately? It is also here where I realized that either my tastes have changed in the year since her past book was released, or this series is officially past it’s prime. I suspect it’s a little of both. Sure, I still enjoyed Hannah’s character as well as the bulk of my favorite characters. And her cat Moishe was up to his usual hilarious shenanigans too!

But, the writing felt simplistic and even a bit condescending to me, especially in the cooking scenes where they were overly simplistic and descriptive to a point where the author doesn’t give the readers any credits for intelligence. While Hannah and her sisters are baking, they are basically reading you the recipe which is also printed just two pages later. There was barely any interaction between Hannah and Mike, which leads the readers to really feel as though she’s made her decision to stay with the practical Norman, despite the fact that he’s already engaged to someone else. There was very little of either man, nor of Hannah’s sister Andrea in the book. It truly was the Hannah and Michelle show, and they only went into the Cookie Jar two or three times and for only a brief moment. Then, one of the major plots was left hanging.

One definite positive, is that the recipes in this book are as wonderful as ever! I look forward to baking a few of the cookies, and there is one recipe for Cheddar Jalapeño Biscuits that I’m sure will be a hit in my house!

Despite the disappointments, I would recommend this book to dedicated fans of the series like myself! (And I will read her next book as well, just to follow the relationships between Mike and Norman!) However, if you’re new to this series and a fan of cozy mysteries? I would definitely recommend one of the earlier Hannah books like Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder or Fudge Cupcake Murder!(less)

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Dec 11, 2012 Sonja Isaacson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I think I am going to stop with this series. Maybe after this Hannah will no longer be in a dither about making a decision on which guy to be with, but it could still end up being a long, drawn out affair. It's interesting that Hannah was acting like a dolt and her friends and family are all "buck up and get a plan". And that Mike doesn't even try and prevent her from investigating despite her winding up in dangerous situtions before. I also wonder that there is enough daily demand for cookies t...more

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May 07, 2012 Lorna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll give it two stars since Norman grew a backbone, but I'm really tired of being treated like an idiot...the recipes, using a term only to define it just in case we're so dumb we've never heard it before, the overusing of character's names like we can't keep the people straight. Why, for the love of Pete, is Bev always referred to as "Doctor Bev"? Who would talk like that? I think we know who Bev is. Norman is a doctor, he's not referred to as Doctor Norman all the time. (Doc Knight I can live...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Nancy Narma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“A Spicy Mix of Scandal and Murder You’ll Devour”

“Mud Season’ has arrived in Lake Eden, Minnesota. Hannah and her younger Sister, Michelle, are enroute with a delicious-smelling delivery of Cinnamon Rolls for the Lake Eden Inn. Innkeepers; Sally and Dick are sponsoring the first Weekend Jazz Festival featuring the well-known “Cinnamon Roll Six”. Hannah’s yummy rolls will be served after the group’s rehearsal. With the unseasonably warm weather during the day, the accumulated snow has melted and...more “A Spicy Mix of Scandal and Murder You’ll Devour”

“Mud Season’ has arrived in Lake Eden, Minnesota. Hannah and her younger Sister, Michelle, are enroute with a delicious-smelling delivery of Cinnamon Rolls for the Lake Eden Inn. Innkeepers; Sally and Dick are sponsoring the first Weekend Jazz Festival featuring the well-known “Cinnamon Roll Six”. Hannah’s yummy rolls will be served after the group’s rehearsal. With the unseasonably warm weather during the day, the accumulated snow has melted and frozen on the roadways, creating black ice and extremely hazardous driving. As much as Hannah’s trusty truck is good on Lake Eden’s snowy roads, it is no match for the ice, so after fish-tailing and watching a sea of red brake lights appear on the horizon, Hannah avoids a collision and swerves onto an access road. Others were not so lucky and when Hannah and Michelle trudge through the snow to offer assistance, they discover the tour bus of the “Cinnamon Roll Six” on its roof in a snow-packed ditch. They manage to enter through the rear door and assess any injuries. They find the bus driver is dead and Keyboardist, Buddy Neiman has a possible broken wrist. Hannah and Michelle tend to the shaken group and accompany them to the hospital. Everything goes like clockwork until the slightly injured Buddy Neiman is discovered stabbed to death by none other than Hannah’s Mother, Delores. Delores has been “assisting” Doc Knight as well as becoming leader of the Hospital Auxiliary’s ”Rainbow Ladies”. Who would want to murder Buddy Neiman?? The Band’s groupies; Lynnette and Cammy? Ex-girlfriend Shelby?? Or maybe keyboardist wanna-be, young Devin Murphy?? Was Clayton the bus driver’s death due to a heart attack or foul play?? Does Hannah have two (2) murders to set her already boggled mind to spinning? Luckily, Michelle, Andrea and Delores join the investigation as Hannah receives the one article of mail she has been dreading..Norman and Doctor Bev’s wedding invitation!! She agonizes over whether she should attend or not—and her feelings are raw. After all, she and Norman are still friends. Obligation is one thing—Love is something else. What part does the snowflake bracelet play in this crime? I have to say this is one of, if not the best, Lake Eden volume to date. Fellow Hannah-ites, you will love, love, love the twists and twirls Ms. Fluke has “rolled” between its covers as well as the D-licious recipes including “Tapioca Pie”, “Piggy Chicken” and very special “Peaches and Cream Cookies”. Re-arrange your bookshelf and don’t miss out on this winner!! You won’t be disappointed!!
Kensington ARC –Nancy Narma
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Apr 02, 2012 Katherine Grey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't enjoy this installment as much as I have others in the series. The pacing dragged a bit for me. Also there were numerous spelling and punctuation errors. For example Patsy is mentioned and in the very next sentence her name is spelled as Pasty. There were instances where the punctuation stood alone instead of next to the last letter of the sentence or the punctuation was outside the end quotations.

Also there were a number of things that should have been caught in the editing process. Fo...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Whitney D rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So disappointed in this book and the way the series is going now. It's like the writer turned the series over to a inexperienced writer. Stilted and uninteresting conversations. Predictable story line. At the beginning when Hannah is in the hospital there is a discrepancy in the story about the bus driver. She mentions that he was dead and on the next page her mother freaks out about it even though she already said that he was. The story makes her younger sister seem like she is 10. Hannah has t...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Phil rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was rather disappointed, really. I had noticed the eventual villain in the background but the "big reveal" seemed more like a deus ex machina.

I also felt that the flyleaf matter was highly misleading. One character was suggested to be under suspicion: he was cleared (or rather, he had already been cleared in the background) in two brief paragraphs. Another character was said to "know too much", a notion which never actually made an appearance in the book.

I can't pronounce on the romantic aspec...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Margaret Skrivseth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoy Joanne Fluke's mysteries. They are gentle, fun, and have a lot of good recipes!

The Cinnamon Roll Murder continues the story of Hannah's relationship with Norman. Fluke also continues to add to the personalities of the rest of the recurring characters. I especially like the way Hannah's mother's character has developed over the course of the series.

This book features the untimely murder of Buddy, keyboard player for a jazz band called the Cinnamon Roll Six. As the story unfolds...more

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May 21, 2012 Nicole rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The last one was a cliffhanger and it seemed like the series was really going to perk up. This was one of the worst books since the very first one, going back to tired (and not even necessarily accurate) cliches about Minnesota weather and small town living. Hannah still plays the part of someone's grandmother (though not my MN grandmother because she's way hipper than Hannah). The part where she wanted to "protect" her sister from the sight of the dead body was lame, since Michelle is 20-someth...more

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About Joanne Fluke

Like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota where her neighbors were friendly, the winters were fierce, and the biggest scandal was the spotting of unidentified male undergarments on a young widow's clothesline. She insists that there really are 10,000 lakes and the mosquito is NOT the state bird.

While pursuing her writing career, Joanne has worked as: a public sch...more

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Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen #15)

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