by Joanne Fluke
Part of Hannah Swensen, book 3
First published 2003
Hannah Swensen runs The Cookie Jar bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota, where the annual Winter Carnival brings unwelcome competition. Celebrity lifestyle guru Connie Mac arrives in town to create the official carnival cake, stealing what should have been Hannah's job. The famous "Cooking Sweetheart" proves as artificial as her television persona, bullying everyone around her with demands and tantrums. When Hannah discovers the carnival cake burned beyond recognition and Connie Mac's corpse in her pantry, clutching one of Hannah's signature blueberry muffins, the police seal off her kitchen as a crime scene. With the Winter Carnival approaching and her livelihood threatened, Hannah must track down the real killer to reopen her business and clear her name.
Genres: mystery, cozy-mystery, culinary
Vibes: cozy, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, enemies-to-lovers, small-town
Setting: Lake Eden, Minnesota
Period: Winter Carnival
310 pages · Paperback · Kensington