Take one amateur sleuth. Mix in some eccentric Minnesota locals. Add a generous dollop of crackling suspense, and you've got the recipe for this delicious new mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking heroine whose gingersnaps are almost as tart as her mouth, and whose penchant for solving crime is definitely stirring things up. Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Diary, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp!
I wasn’t sure I was going to like this. I’d just finished listening to Before I Wake and lamenting about how nice everyone was, and now I’m going to listen to a cozy mystery? Instead of boring me, this book charmed me. I liked Hannah a lot. Even her amateur sleuthing is believable, because she never really does anything to find her information that I couldn’t have done (except maybe the breaking and entering!). She mostly just asks the right questions of the right people. The fact that she’s helping the cops is something that is only believable in this small town atmosphere. My only regret is that I was listening to this rather than reading it, because now I’m going to have to track down a hard copy of the book so I can get some of the recipes! I’ll definitely be continuing with this series.
