Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Decent mystery, characters we love
Cons: Little character development; pacing, especially early
on
The Bottom Line:
Lonnie in hot seat
Slow start; mostly good pacing
Characters we love
Clearing Lonnie
Over the past couple of books, Hannah Swensen’s life has
become a soap opera. I’ll admit to
rolling my eyes at the cliffhanger at the end of the last book. So I wasn’t sure how I’d react to Coconut Layer Cake Murder.
Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar, has been ordered to
rest – it came straight from Doc himself.
But a trip to California to help a friend pack up is cut short when
Hannah’s younger sister, Michelle, calls in a panic. There’s been another murder in Lake Eden, and
Michelle’s boyfriend, Lonnie, is the prime suspect. After a night out with friends, Lonnie took a
drunk woman home only to pass out on her couch.
The next morning, he wakes up to find her dead in her bedroom with no
memory of anything after he passed out.
Since Lonnie is a detective with the police department, most of them
can’t investigate since they are friends with the suspect. Naturally, Hannah immediately flies home, but
can she figure out who is the killer?
If you’ve read the previous book, yes, we do get an answer
to the cliffhanger, and it comes fairly early.
And if you haven’t read the last few books, you definitely should do
that before you pick up this book. While
most of that drama appears to be in the past (at least I hope so), there are
references to those events in this book.
It would be hard for this book to proceed without them, so I get why
they are there. For those who aren’t up
to date on the series, the discussions the characters have are spoilers, so you
have been warned.
The book gets off to a slow start. Honestly, we could have dumped a couple of
chapters with very little impact on the book itself. However, once Hannah gets back to Lake Eden
and starts investigating, the pace is steady.
There are still plenty of discussions about baking and Hannah’s newest
culinary treats, but we get some good clues and red herrings. I didn’t spot the killer until we neared the
end of the book, and the climax was logical when we got there.
This series is notorious for its love triangle. Fair warning, it is back in play here. I still maintain that author Joanne Fluke
knows who Hannah should pick but just can’t actually do it, and this book makes
it even more obvious. Or maybe it’s my
bias since that’s the guy I’m rooting for.
Not that I expect Hannah to ever decide.
I’ve resigned myself to this love triangle continuing forever at this
point.
Anyway, characters.
Honestly, we get the usual interactions here. It’s nice to check in with everyone, but very
little seems to change with the characters any more. Still, fans will enjoy seeing them again. I know I do.
I can’t leave out the recipes. Once again, the book is full of them with a
total of nineteen by my count. Your
mileage may vary depending on how you count frostings and variations.
Coconut Layer Cake Murder is a book that will please
Hannah’s fans who have stuck with the series this long. If you are new to the series, you should be
back to the beginning to see why we fell in love with these characters.
Looking for more Hannah Swensen mysteries? Here are the books in order.
I think one of the reasons I've put off reading this series is the soap opera aspect. I love the Hallmark movies and I really enjoyed the one book I read but just all the love triangle stuff makes me tired.
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