Cherry Cheesecake Murder

February 27, 2006
The mildly entertaining seventh Hannah Swensen mystery (after 2005's Sugar Cookie Murder) finds our heroine up to her usual tricks: keeping her hometown of Lake Eden, Minn., happily fed with tasty cookies, chatting with her precocious niece and, of course, sleuthing. A movie crew in search of a quaint Minnesota location has landed in Hannah's 'hood, and filming goes smoothly until the director, a womanizing tyrant, accidentally shoots himself on the set. But was his death really an accident? Of course not. Someone nabbed the unloaded prop gun and left another revolver in its place. Between baking batches of Double Flake Cookies and Angel Kisses, Hannah figures out whodunit. What she can't figure out is her personal life. Hannah still refuses to choose between her two beaux. Nerdy Norman and hunky Mike put up with her indecisiveness, but readers are likely to weary of Hannah's by now tedious shilly-shallying.

With more humor than horror, CHERRY CHEESECAKE is the eighth in a mystery series featuring such titles as BLUEBERRY MUFFIN and KEY LIME PIE and starring Hannah Swensen, owner of the Cookie Jar Bakery and part-time sleuth. This is a perfect combination of cozy and confection. Hannah's hometown of Lake Eden is chosen for the location of a movie shoot, and Hannah gets the catering requests. This involvement gives her the inside track when the unpopular director turns up dead. Suzanne Toren relates the story with a hint of heat for Hannah's several suitors and manages to make each recipe sprinkled throughout sound mouth-watering. Toren makes this tasty tale a yummy diversion. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine