Plum Pudding Murder (Hannah Swensen Series #12)

by Joanne Fluke Narrated by Suzanne Toren

Overview

The Cookie Jar's busiest time of the year also happens to be the most wonderful time...for Christmas cookies, Hannah's own special plum pudding - and romance! Holiday orders are high, and Hannah's slated to provide dessert at the Reverend Knudsen's upcoming nuptials. She's busy as can be and loving it. She also gets a kick out of 'Lunatic Larry Jaeger's Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot', a kitschy carnival taking place smack-dab in the middle of the village green. Larry thinks he's crazy like a fox with his wild business schemes, but this time, the entrepreneur may have bitten off more than he can chew. Rumour has it that Larry's in the red - an idea that takes a sinister turn when Hannah discovers the man himself dead as a doornail in his own office...It seems quite a few people would have liked to fill Larry's stocking with coal and then bash him with it - including his bitter ex-wife, his ex-partner's daughter, a woman he was wooing, and the Crazy Elf Tree lot's extremely exasperated investors...Now, with so many suspects to investigate and the twelve days of Christmas ticking away, Hannah's running out of time to nab a murderous Scrooge who doesn't want her to see the New Year.

Editorial Reviews

Holiday business is booming at Hannah Swenson's Cookie Jar pastry shop, but the mysterious murder of "Lunatic Larry" Jaeger puts a serious crimp in the season of good cheer. From the looks of it, Larry had as many enemies as Hannah's sugar cookies have sprinkles. With the 12 days of Christmas ticking down and cookie orders piling up, tracking down the killer won't be easy. A clever whodunit with pastry recipe dividends.

Kirkus Reviews

Sleuthing Minnesota baker Hannah Swensen (Carrot Cake Murder, 2008, etc.) discovers that something just doesn't add up at a local holiday emporium. Even though she accompanies her mother Dolores to only one session of Lake Eden Community College's course in Small Business Practices, Hannah learns a lot about how to succeed in business without really trying. So when Dolores' shop assistant Luanne can't balance Larry Jaeger's books, Hannah wonders why the apparently thriving Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot isn't making any money. Larry's nearly doubled his order of White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams and Fudge-Mallow Cookie Bars, and holiday shoppers have scarfed down all seven of the Minnesota Plum Puddings she sent him. But when she goes to collect her fee for the treats, she finds both Larry and his plasma TV riddled with bullets. Forget Hannah's inquiry into Carrie Rhoades's sudden unavailability to play bridge with Dolores or go to the movies with her son Norman, one of Hannah's two beaux. Instead, she cross-examines detective Mike Kingston, her other sweetie, to find out who might have it in for Larry. As her cat Moishe demolishes the handmade bird ornaments on her tree, Hannah unravels the tangle of schemes that brought Larry and his flat-screen to an untimely end. Fluke's tale of an unorthodox entrepreneur is really just business as usual. Neither the domestic details nor the staggering number of recipes give the mystery any more traction than an Oldsmobile in a Lake Eden winter.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169417777
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/29/2009
Series:	Hannah Swensen Series , #12
Edition description:	Unabridged

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