by Joanne Fluke
Part of Hannah Swensen, book 23
First published 2018
Hannah Swensen stands at the threshold of her dream. The Cookie Jar bakery is finally taking shape in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Christmas approaches with all its familiar chaos. When Hannah volunteers to help recreate a vintage Christmas Ball for Essie Granger, an elderly woman in hospice care, she expects to focus on dessert recipes and holiday decorations. Instead, she discovers Essie's hidden notebooks filled with crime stories. The tales captivate Hannah, particularly one about a woman fleeing danger in New York City. Hannah assumes these are works of fiction until details begin matching real events. Now she faces a double challenge. She must establish her bakery, move out of her mother's house, and navigate the December rush in Lake Eden. But the mystery in Essie's notebooks demands attention, threatening to turn another Christmas season deadly. Hannah realizes she must solve this puzzle before the holiday celebrations become a disaster.
Genres: fiction, christmas, mystery, cozy-mystery
Vibes: cozy, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, small-town
Setting: Lake Eden, Minnesota, New York City
Period: Christmas
327 pages · Library Binding · Thorndike Press Large Print