All summaries are courtesy of each book’s publisher…and many of them contain tasty recipes!
Spotlight on joanne fluke
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Available on Libby
Take one amateur sleuth. Mix in some eccentric Minnesota locals. Add a generous dollop of crackling suspense, and you’ve got the recipe for this mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking heroine whose gingersnaps are almost as tart as her comments and whose penchant for solving crime is definitely stirring things up. While dodging her mother’s attempts to marry her off, Hannah runs The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden’s most popular bakery. But after Ron LaSalle, the beloved deliveryman from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery—with Hannah’s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him—she’s determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, so she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn’t watch her back, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.
Devil’s Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Available at Warren Public Library and on Libby
Hannah Swensen has to admit life is pretty sweet. Things are going well in the romance department, and her bakery’s delectable confections are selling as fast as she can make them. Even her good friend Claire is head over heels with her new husband, Reverend Bob Knudson. If only they could find time to take their honeymoon! When Bob’s childhood friend, Matthew Walters, comes to town, it seems like divine intervention. Matthew, like Bob, is a Lutheran minister with a stubborn sweet tooth. Since he’s on sabbatical, Matthew is happy to fill in for Bob while he and Claire take that long-awaited honeymoon. It sounds like the perfect plan—until Hannah finds Matthew facedown in a plate of Devil’s Food Cake, a single bullet in his head. And the only witness is a bird who squawks “The wages of sin is death.” It will take some sleuthing for Hannah to sift out the killer…
Chocolate Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Available at Warren Public Library and on Libby
When The Cookie Jar becomes the setting of a star-studded TV special about movies filmed in Minnesota, Hannah hopes to shine the spotlight on her bakery—not the unsavory scandal swirling around her personal life. But that’s practically impossible with a disturbing visit from the shifty character she once believed was her one and only love, a group of bodyguards following her every move, and a murder victim in her bedroom. Now, swapping the crime scene in her condo for her mother Delores’s penthouse, Hannah and an old flame team up to solve a case that’s messier than an upended chocolate cream pie. As suspects emerge and secrets hit close to home, Hannah must serve a hefty helping of justice to an unnamed killer prowling around Lake Eden…before someone takes a slice out of her!
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Available at Warren Public Library
Hannah’s up to her ears with Easter orders rushing in at The Cookie Jar, plus a festive meal to prepare for a dinner party at her mother’s penthouse. But everything comes crashing to a halt when Hannah receives a panicked call from her sister Andrea – Mayor Richard Bascomb has been murdered … and Andrea is the prime suspect. Even with his reputation for being a bully, Mayor Bascomb – or “Ricky Ticky,” as Hannah’s mother likes to call him – had been unusually testy in the days leading up to his death, leaving Hannah to wonder if he knew he was in danger. Meanwhile, folks with a motive for mayoral murder are popping up in Lake Eden. Was it a beleaguered colleague? A political rival? A jealous wife? Or a scorned mistress? As orders pile up at The Cookie Jar – and children line up for Easter egg hunts – Hannah must spring into investigation mode and identify the real killer … before another murder happens!
More Chocolately Goodness and stealthy sleuthes
Chocolate Covered Murder by Leslie Meier
Available at Warren Public Library
No one in their right mind would vacation in Maine this time of year, but to boost the economy, the town of Tinker’s Cove is launching a travel promotion for Valentine’s Day. As a reporter for the Pennysaver, Lucy Stone is assigned a puff piece on upscale Chanticleer’s Chocolates, and its deliciously handsome owner, Trey Meacham. Not the best way to keep her widening waistline under control. Soon Lucy discovers there’s another tantalizing tart behind the counter. Sultry store manager Tamzin Graves is only too eager to serve her male customers. With a throng of jealous women in her wake, it’s almost no surprise when Tamzin turns up dead, her body covered in chocolate. There’s no sugar-coating murder, and Lucy must crisscross the snow-covered landscape as she tries to find a heartless killer…
Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson
Available on Libby
Goldy Bear is the bright, opinionated, wildly inventive caterer whose personal life is a recipe for disaster, with bills taking a bite out of her budget and her abusive ex-husband making tasteless threats. Determined to take control, Goldy moves her business to the ritzy Aspen Meadow Country Club. Soon she’s preparing decadent dinners and posh society picnics—and enjoying the favors of Philip Miller, a handsome local shrink, and Tom Schulz, her more-than-friendly neighborhood cop. Until, that is, the dishy doctor drives his BMW into an oncoming bus. Convinced that Philip’s bizarre death was no accident, Goldy begins to sift through the dead doc’s unpalatable secrets. But this case is seasoned with unexpected danger and even more unexpected revelations—the kind that could get a caterer killed.
Chocolate Cake and Chaos by Agatha Frost
Available on Libby (eAudio)
A funeral wreath is delivered to Barker’s cottage. Is it a prank, or a grim warning? Julia’s fears that somebody is trying to kill Barker are confirmed when a dead body with a striking resemblance to him is found on his doorstep the very next day, just as their romance is deepening. Barker might be on temporary suspension from his role as Detective Inspector at the village police station, but that doesn’t mean he’s short of enemies in Peridale, especially when a dark face from his past arrives in the small village to stir up painful memories. With an unclear list of suspects and motives, Julia vows to keep Barker safe, but can they figure out the puzzle as they work outside of the law in a race against time to stop Barker paying the ultimate price?
Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake
Available at Warren Public Library and on Libby
Life gets a little sweeter in the island fishing village of Eastport, Maine, when Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her best friend Ellie open a chocolate-themed bakeshop, the Chocolate Moose. They expect to make plenty of dough this Fourth of July weekend, and having family home for the holiday only sweetens the deal for Jake—until an early-season hurricane sours her plans. But an empty bakeshop and a ruined reunion are a piece of cake compare to murder…When health inspector Matt Muldoon is found dead in the kitchen of The Chocolate Moose, Ellie is suspected of indulging in revenge. She made no secret of her distaste for Matt, who had been raining on their parade with bogus health code violations. Now, with no alibi for the night of the murder, she’s in a sticky situation—and it’s up to Jake to catch the real killer and keep Ellie living in the land of the free.
All Fudged Up by Nancy Coco
Available on Libby
Allie McMurphy is up to her neck in renovations at the grand old hotel that’s been in her family for generations. With its quaint Victorian charm—and world-famous fudge shop—the place is one of Mackinac Island’s most beloved landmarks. Sure, every family has a skeleton or two in the closet. But Allie didn’t expect to find an actual corpse inside hers, especially one Joe Jessup, who had a long-running feud with her dear departed grandfather. Which makes Allie the number-one suspect. Can she sniff out the culprit before another victim checks in?
Death of a Chocoholic by Lee Hollis
Available on Libby
Fed up with dating after a disastrous setup, the only thing Hayley wants to snuggle up to is a box of made-to-order chocolates from plus-sized, plus-mouthed chocolatier Bessie Winthrop. But when Bessie is found dead in her kitchen, only Hayley suspects that Bessie’s “heart attack” might actually be a candy-coated murder. Turns out Bessie had more enemies than a boxful of chocolates, each one a suspicious flavor. It’s sticky business juggling a job and two teenagers while finding a killer, but it’s better than letting a killer find Hayley first…
Rocky Road by Josi S. Kilpack
Available on Libby
It was supposed to be a girls’ weekend in scenic St. George, Utah, that would included shopping, trying out the local cuisine, and participating in a breast cancer fund-raiser. The fact that one of the organizers of the fund-raising event, a local doctor, had disappeared two months before was not supposed to be Sadie Hoffmiller’s problem. When Sadie learns that her friend Caro and Caro’s cousin, Tess, have started a grassroots investigation into Dr. Hendricks’s disappearance, Sadie graciously refuses to be a part of it. With her wedding to plan and her most recent case still fresh in her mind, Sadie is determined to leave this case to the police—until she meets the ex-wife of the missing man. How could she not ask a few questions…that lead to more questions…that lead to a small town and even more questions? When the local police ask her to be their eyes and ears, Sadie can’t help but jump in with both feet. Before she knows it, she is on the rocky road of another investigation and following a convoluted trail of good intentions, hidden motivations, and philanthropy turned big business.
Dying for Devil’s Food by Jenn McKinlay
Available at Warren Public Library
Melanie Cooper has zero interest in catering her fifteen-year high school reunion, but Angie insists it’s only right that they bask in the success of Fairy Tale Cupcakes. Everything is going better than expected until Cassidy Havers, resident mean girl and Mel’s high school nemesis, picks a fight. No longer willing to put up with Cassidy’s bullying, Mel is ready to tell the former homecoming queen to shut her piehole and call it a night. But as Mel and Joe prepare to depart, Cassidy is found dead in the girl’s bathroom, next to a note written in lipstick that points right to Mel.
The Chocolate Raccoon Rigmarole by JoAnna Carl
Available at Warren Public Library
In this eighteenth mystery in the national bestselling Chocoholic series, a gang of crooks with a wicked sweet tooth wreaks havoc on the resort town of Warner Pier, and it’s up to Lee Woodyard to rout the hungry rascals. A frantic late-night phone call from her right-hand woman, Dolly Jolly, brings Lee Woodyard to the scene of a break-in at the Warner Pier jewelry store next door to TenHuis Chocolade. To her shock, the suspect being held at gunpoint by police is Dolly’s boyfriend, Mike Westerly, who was recently hired as a night watchman specifically to prevent break-ins. Dolly hopes Lee can help straighten out the crazy misunderstanding. Even crazier? The thieves took nothing of value from the jewelry store, only swiping some snacks. It’s another in a series of break-ins by burglars the media has dubbed the Cookie Monsters. They’ve been hitting shops selling everything from sunglasses to shoes but stealing only sweets: lollipops, cookies, even chewing gum! It all seems pretty funny-until the discovery of a dead body. With her friends and community in danger, Lee must stop one very sour killer before someone else comes to a bitter end.
Chocolate a la Murder by Kirsten Weiss
Available at Warren Public Library
When paranormal museum owner Maddie Kosloski stops by the artisan chocolate shop and finds the owner dead, she vows to catch the killer and silence the rattling of the haunted Mexican whisk in her Magic of Chocolate exhibit.
Death by Chocolate by G. A. McKevett
Available at Warren Public Library
Business has been a little slow at the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency, but full-figured P.I. Savannah Reid doesn’t have time to drown her sorrows in a box of double-chocolate truffles. She’s too busy watching the Gourmet Network–and drooling over the sinfully scrumptious confections that Lady Eleanor (“The Queen of Chocolate”) whips up on-air. But someone isn’t sweet on the Queen’s charming chatter–and wants her to hang up her oh-so-quaint apron–for good…When Savannah hears that Lady Eleanor’s been getting death threats, she jumps at the chance to be her round-the-clock bodyguard. It’s a great chance to meet her idol in person–and maybe pick up some free chocolates, too! But her sweet dreams melt away the minute she meets Lady Eleanor. The woman is as rotten as last year’s Valentine candy–and stingy with the chocolates to boot! After a few miserable days of her boss’s put-downs and pettiness, Savannah finally understands why someone wants to put an end to Her Majesty’s reign. But when the Queen of Chocolate bites into a chocolate and drops dead in the middle of her own live TV show, Savannah is horrified. After all, it was her job to protect Lady Eleanor–and now thousands of traumatized chocoholics know how horribly she failed. Talk about bad for business. If only to save her own reputation, Savannah has to figure out who’s to blame for the Queen’s untimely (and very ungraceful) demise…
Chocolate Macaroons and a Dead Groom by A. Gardner
Available on Libby
When Poppy Peters takes an internship in Paris working for a top pastry chef, she realizes that bakery life isn’t all cupcakes and frosting. The sous pastry chef dislikes foreigners, her mentor only speaks French, and to top that all off she finds the groom of the wedding she’s catering dead in his own backyard. But Lord Dovington wasn’t just a handsome royal waiting to sweep his bride-to-be off of her feet. He was also a well-known playboy with a long line of vengeful exes. Now, as one of the prime suspects, Poppy must prove she’s innocent . . . and that her recipe for chocolate macaroons isn’t to blame. But the clock is ticking, and with a missing diamond, a break-in, and a hot batch of reporters on her tail, Poppy has a lot of sifting to do. Will she find the killer before she too gets baked?
