Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swenson Mysteries with Recipes)

Millions savor New York Times best-selling author Joanne Fluke's delicious Hannah Swensen Mysteries. It's summer time in Lake Eden, Minnesota, which means picnics aplenty for bakery proprietress and amateur sleuth Hannah. Then Uncle Gus is murdered following a big family reunion, and the only clues to be found at the crime scene are two slices of Hannah's infamous carrot cake.

Publishers Weekly

Three big-name cozy writers contribute candy cane-themed novellas to this entertaining yuletide anthology. Levine's series heroine Jaine Austen (Death by Pantyhose, etc.) spots a wealthy suburbanite's killer in the unfortunately skimpy "The Danger of Candy Canes," where the subplot about a troubled teen is more compelling than the actual mystery. Hannah Swensen (Key Lime Pie Murder, etc.) experiments with new Christmas cookies (recipes included, of course) and gets to the bottom of a Santa slaying in Fluke's complex "Candy Cane Murder," which includes several plausible suspects and a surprising twist-an impressive feat in just 150 pages. Meier's powerful "Candy Canes of Christmas Past" takes heroine Lucy Stone (Bake Sale Murder, etc.) back to December 1983, when, newly arrived in Tinker's Cove, Maine, she found herself investigating the circumstances of a decades-old local death and struggling with her own financial and domestic difficulties. Fluke and Meier ably make up for Levine's shortcomings to create a sweet holiday treat for mystery lovers. (Oct.)