Key Lime Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Joanne Fluke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007 | Series: Hannah Swensen Mysteries

It promises to be a busy week for Hannah Swensen. Not only is she whipping up treats for the chamber of commerce booth at the fair; she's also judging the baking contest; acting as a magician's assistant for her business partner's husband; trying to coax Moishe, her previously rapacious feline, to end his hunger strike, and performing her own private carnival act by juggling the demands of her mother and sisters. With so much on her plate, it's no wonder Hannah finds herself on the midway only moments before the fair closes for the night. As the lights click off, she realizes that she's not alone among the shuttered booths and looming carnival attractions. After hearing a suspicious thump, she goes snooping - only to discover Willa Sunquist, a student teacher and fellow bake contest judge, dead alongside an upended key lime pie. But who would want to kill Willa and why? Before long Hannah is sifting through motives and a list of suspects which include a high school student Willa flunked, the hot-blooded brothers of a disqualified beauty contestant, a rodeo cowboy, a baking competitor who failed to win her yearly blue ribbon, and the college professor Willa was dating. As fair week draws to a close, Hannah cranks up the heat, hoping that the killer will get rattled and make a mistake. If that happens she intends to be there, even if it means getting on a carnival ride that could very well be her last...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The yummy eighth smalltown cozy from Fluke (after 2006's Cherry Cheesecake Murder) finds sometime sleuth Hannah Swensen, owner of the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minn., judging the baking contest at the Tri-County Fair. When one of her fellow judges, home economics teacher Willa Sunquist, is murdered, Hannah determines to sniff out the killer. Was it a man from Willa's mysterious past? Or a student she flunked? Fluke has developed a charming supporting cast—Hannah's besotted (and slightly spineless) two suitors, her overbearing but likable mother, her endearing sisters and her levelheaded business partner all feel like friends by the time the murder is solved. The dozens of tempting recipes Fluke includes are an added treat. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"* "Yummy...Fluke has developed a charming supporting cast who all feel like friends by the time the murder is solved. The dozens of tempting recipes Fluke includes are an added treat." --Publishers Weekly" --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; 1ST edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758210183
• ISBN-13: 978-0758210180
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #603,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joanne Fluke is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 novels. Like Hannah Swensen, she was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in sunny Southern California. She is currently working on her next Hannah Swensen mystery and readers are welcome to contact her at the following e-mail address, [e-mail], or by visiting her website at www.MurderSheBaked.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming as Always, March 12, 2007

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Key Lime Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Tri-County Fair has opened in Lake Eden, and it promises to be a busy week for Hannah. Her cookie shop is providing cookies for the chamber of commerce booth, her two sisters and one niece are in various contests, and Hannah has agreed to step in as the third judge for the baking contest.

It's through the contest that Hannah meets Willa. She seems like a bright, engaging woman, but she hints at secrets in her past. The mystery surrounding Willa is only compounded when Hannah finds her dead on the midway just after closing one night. The list of suspects is actually rather long. But who hated Willa enough to kill her?

These books are an equal mix of charm and mystery. We get doses of Hannah's life as well as the crime at hand. There is a good mix of the two, although the mystery does stall ever so slightly around the middle. My bigger complaint was Hannah's bad habit of not sharing info with the police. That seemed more of an issue this time around then in previous books, or maybe I just noticed it more.

It's best to read these books in order because when you do it feels like catching up with old friends who are as delightful as always. And, if you care about what is happening in their lives, you'll enjoy the many sub-plots that run through the book.

The character moments provided some of the best laughs of the book, especially the scenes where Hannah continues to face her two suitors. This is the most unrealistic storyline of the series, but I love watching the love triangle continue to unfold.

As always, there are more recipes as well. This go around, we get 16 of them. I've already tried the title recipe, and it's delicious. The others sound just as promising.

Even though this is a murder mystery, the book is a throw back to small town life and a more innocent time. If that appeals to you, you'll love this series.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Things Are Starting to Stink in Lake Eden!, February 29, 2008

By 

WiscGRITS "Catherine" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Key Lime Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mystery With Recipes) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read all of the Hannah Swenson mysteries and most have been entertaining and enjoyable, but this one was plodding and uninteresting. In fact, when poor Willa bit the dust, I found I didn't even care! And rather than acting like a 30 year old business woman, experienced in crime solving, in this plodding tome, Hannah is boring, techno-illiterate, and not too smart! (Why would you meet a man whom you considered a suspect in a brutal murder at a deserted fairgrounds late at night and then TELL him you had considered him a suspect???) As far as her relationship with Mike (the Hunk) and Norman (the Reliable One), I'm starting to find the entire love triangle boring and sophomoric! Make a decision, already! You're not 15 years old!

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better than the last one, April 8, 2007

By 

Sharon (Grove City, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Key Lime Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I enjoyed Key Lime Murder more than the last installment. Ms. Fluke seemed to be less condescending to her readers' intelligence. And we were spared the precociousness of Tracy. I still was unsatisfied at the very end. The love triangle between Hannah, Norman and Mike has gone on long enough. I think I've just grown tired of Lake Eden and the characters and the style in which they are written. When you find the recipes more interesting than the plot, it is time for me to move on. There are just too many other better written and interesting books for me to read. I would recommend this for die hard fans only.