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APPLE TURNOVER MURDER by Joanne Fluke

"A delicious serving of intrigue, with a side of romance and a heaping spoonful of fun!"

By: Joanne Fluke

Genres: Mystery Amateur Sleuth

Posted: March 29, 2010

Life is always busy around The Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, and with early summer coming on its all owner Hannah Swensen and her partner, Lisa, can do to keep up with all the orders. So when the mayor's wife sashays in asking for them to donate over one thousand cookies for a charity luncheon, Hannah just about fainted. And when Lisa finds out the theme will be "Turn Over A New Leaf," she volunteered for the shop to bake apple turnovers, a pastry Hannah had no recipe for, for the entire three day event -- well, things were about to get more interesting around the ol' kitchen!

In APPLE TURNOVER MURDER, author Joanne Fluke's 13th book in the "Hannah Swensen Mystery" series, cookie maker extraordinaire and amateur sleuth Hannah Swensen is busy juggling her duties at the bakery, her family's problems, her love life, and her sense of civic duty. But the balls are all about to come crashing down when an old acquaintance shows up in town and threatens to stir up trouble with a capital T.

The Apple Turnover crisis is solved when Lisa's mother-in- law volunteers her family recipe and soon an assembly line of the delicious pastry is in the works and everyone is busy churning out turnovers. With that problem solved, Hannah agrees to help Lisa's husband Herb out as his magician's assistant at the charity talent show. But when Hannah discovers Dr. Bradley Ramsey dead backstage during the intermission, with one of her shop's apple turnovers in his hand, she knows she's got to drop everything to find out who killed the lecherous professor before news of her former romantic ties, as well as her sister Michelle's, are connected to the victim, and their reputations are ruined. And she soon finds that the good Doctor had left quite a trail of broken and angry hearts along the way -- and lots of good reasons for him to be bumped off.

As with her previous books, Fluke catches her readers up on Hannah's life as well as the lives of her family and friends. Hannah's mother Delores is suddenly the "sought- after" woman in town, her sister Andrea is fretting about a possibly move, and there is the always interesting question of which man will Hannah finally settle down with -- policeman Mike or dentist Norman?

Fluke populates her stories with characters that are warm and down-to-earth -- just the kind of folks you'd invite over for coffee and cookies. And speaking of cookies -- there are nearly a dozen new, scrumptious cookie recipes at the end of each chapter -- Yummy!

Joanne Fluke dishes up another delicious serving of intrigue, with a side of romance and a heaping spoonful of fun in APPLE TURNOVER MURDER. Cozy mystery readers and "foodies" alike will enjoy this well-crafted tale.

Book Summary

It's early summer in Lake Ede, MN and The Cookie Jar is bustling with orders for wedding showers, graduation parties, and family gatherings. Hannah's just wondering how they can get it all done when Mrs. Bascomb comes in to order twelve-hundred cookies for the opening luncheon at the 3-day charity event she's holding on the campus of Jordan High. The theme of the event is "Turn Over a New Leaf" the mayor's wife explains. She wants people to give twice as much as they did last year. Lisa loves the theme - - why don't they make turnovers to sell at the event? "Turnover" a New Leaf... get it? Mrs. Bascomb thinks that's a marvelous idea. Hannah thinks they're overworked as it is, but she guesses they can manage if Lisa has a good turnover recipe. Lisa doesn't, but her mother-in-law Marge makes the best apple turnovers in the world, and they set up an apple turnover assembly line after work in The Cookie Jar kitchen. Now every hour in Hannah's day is filled. Thank goodness there hasn't been a murder to investigate for a while!

Hannah vows not to take on any extra work, but she simply can't refuse when Herb asks her to be his magician's assistant at the charity event talent show. At least she had the foresight to give that hideous purple dress she wore last time she assisted him to some Jordan High students for a clothing drive. Now she'll never have to wear it again... she thinks.

The Amazing Herb and his red-haired assistant stop the show -- literally. Right after their act Hannah finds the MC of the show, Bradford Ramsey, dead with one of her apple turnovers in his hand.

Everything is happening at once for Hannah. There's Norman, who's not being forthcoming about his 3-day trip to Minneapolis. There's Mike, who's beating himself up over something. There's Delores, who's not a bit lonely now that Carrie and Earl are away on their honeymoon because all the single men in town are squiring her around, There's Andrea, who's afraid that Bill will take a job in Florida and they'll have to move. And there's Moishe who's decided that he wants to learn how to bake.

There's one other concern for Hannah, perhaps the most important one. She must solve thus murder case before the authorities start asking probing questions. No way she wants her former relationship, and her sister Michelle's not-so-former relationship, with the poetry professor to become the newest topic on the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline!

Read an Excerpt

Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke

Apple Turnover Murder

by: Joanne Fluke

Hannah Swensen #13

Kensington
March 1, 2010
On Sale: March 1, 2010
Featuring: Hannah Swensen
304 pages
ISBN: 0758234899
EAN: 9780758234896
Hardcover

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