Blackberry Pie Murder

January 6, 2014
Early in bestseller Fluke’s witty 17th novel featuring bakery owner Hannah Swensen of Lake Eden, Minn. (after 2013’s The Red Velvet Cupcake Mystery), Hannah finds yet another dead body—that of the unidentified man she hit and apparently killed while driving on a highway during a summer rainstorm. Of course, it was an accident, but Hannah winds up arrested and arraigned. After one of her two suitors, dentist Norman Rhodes, bails her out, Hannah learns that the stains on the victim’s shirt are not blood but blackberry pie—and an autopsy reveals that he was dead before her car hit him. Hannah is now free to look for a killer, as well as look into the case of a runaway who has been missing for years. Tempting recipes at the end of most chapters, including one for fresh blackberry cookies, will appeal to anyone who loves to bake. Author tour. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

February 15, 2014
Hannah Swensen, owner of the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and her family are trying to plan Hannah's mother's upcoming nuptials despite the fact that the bride is constantly changing her mind over the details. Hannah becomes further distracted after she hits a man with her car while driving in a storm and causes his death. Research into the mystery man uncovers an insidious criminal who was a threat to a local family and who had been beaten before Hannah hit him. She still does not let herself escape responsibility and tries to figure out who the man was and his purpose for being in Lake Eden. Fluke offers a new twist to the series with Hannah's upcoming trial for vehicular homicide planned for a future book. The cookie-shop owner's character gains depth with her acceptance of responsibility for a man's death, making this fifteenth in the popular series an emotionally weighty entry. But there's still room for recipes and for Hannah to move toward an overdue decision on the question of which of her two boyfriends she prefers. Readers will be eager for the next installment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

May 26, 2014
Veteran narrator Toren draws on her special gift for dialogue in the audio edition of the latest installment in Fluke’s popular series describing the adventures of Hannah Swensen, a smalltown Minnesota baker/sleuth. Toren does an effective job of moving the often over-the-top events along, but the highlight is her ability to capture the nuances of individual characters and the speech patterns and flavor of the region. Her turn as Hannah’s high-strung and high-maintenance mother certainly delivers palpable energy and enthusiasm, whether she’s fretting over the details of her upcoming wedding or visiting Minneapolis with her daughter to solve the sordid prostitution case at the heart of the story. Toren even takes pains to voice the distinctive meows of Hannah’s cat. She also handles the recipe segments at the end of each chapter with a pleasant conversational tone. A Kensington hardcover.