Hannah Swensen, boutique bakeshop proprietor with a hunger for solving murders, guarantees listeners a tasty mystery plus irresistible recipes.
What’s cooking in Lake Eden, Minnesota? For Hannah Swenson, owner of The Cookie Jar bakeshop, the sweetness of small-town life is routinely disrupted by murder. The resourceful amateur sleuth just can’t keep her hands out of the batter when dead bodies—a fellow dessert contest judge, a popular cookbook author, a nasty cooking show host, a rival bakery store owner, and others—appear. Hannah searches for the killer who used her mother’s cherished cake knife as a lethal weapon, sifts through the clues of assorted crimes, and turns up the heat on a baker’s dozen worth of suspects. Mixing culinary intrigue with suspense, these delightful cozies are sprinkled with down-home wisdom and a dash of romance. The icing on the cake: each title (Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Strawberry Shortcake Murder, Lemon Meringue Pie Murder, Carrot Cake Murder, Cream Puff Murder, and many more) gives listeners a hint of the scrumptious original recipe that’s served with every mystery.
Suzanne Toren brings local Minnesota flavor to her performance of the entire series. Voicing Minnesota’s tonal patterns and colloquialisms like a native, this accomplished New York stage actress and narrator, who counts multiple Earphones Awards among her honors, brings grace, ease, and perfect pacing to each mystery. She adds a melodious quality to Hannah’s voice, which matches her personality.
Like Hannah Swensen, author Joanne Fluke was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in sunny Southern California. Publishers Weekly dubs her “the queen of culinary cozies.” Her inspiration for the series? “Murder and munchies just seem to go together,” she declares.
Several of the Hannah Swensen mysteries have become New York Times best sellers. The novels inspired the Murder, She Baked series of Hallmark Channel movies (Just Desserts, A Deadly Recipe, A Peach Cobbler Mystery, A Plum Pudding Mystery, and A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery), starring Alison Sweeney as Hannah Swensen.
