Monday, February 24, 2020

REVIEW: Coconut Layer Cake Murder

Coconut Layer Cat Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke

I have been reading the Hannah Swensen series ever since the first book, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, came out in 2000! I love the setting, the characters, the recipes, and the light mysteries. Each time a new book comes out, I nab it as quickly as possible and binge read it to find out what's going on in good ol' Lake Eden, MN.

Coconut Layer Cake Murder is the 25th book in the series. I happily curled up with this newest book, a cup of tea and my chihuahua for a long night of happy reading. The last book ended on a bit of a cliff hanger of sorts and I just HAD to find out what was going on.....  I waited an entire year to find out! :)

I enjoyed this newest book. About 3 books ago, there were some major writing problems with this series, but it's HANNAH....I can't do without my Hannah-fix each year. The writing seems to have smoothed itself out for the most part, as have some plot developments that left long-time Hannah fans upset (the evil R...boooo hisssss). But, I still see differences in these later books when compared to earlier books in the series. The mystery portion of the plot is much lighter, and the recipes are much longer (instead of just recipes and cooking instructions, they include cute comments from story characters and other things. And each one can be 3 pages long or more). After reading a series this long, I'm ok with the books being shorter, but it does make me think that the series might be winding down. Maybe when Hannah finally makes The Decision, the series will have a final book? I read through this entire book in less than 2 hours....I'm a fast reader, but a lot of this book is recipes. I'm ok with that -- some of them really sound YUMMY this time! I'm going to do a bit of experimenting and see if I can't change over some of the cookie recipes to a diabetic version my hubby can enjoy. :) There are several savory recipes as well -- a mushroom rice dish as well as other non-dessert goodies.

All in all, a fun entertaining read as usual. I'm definitely in line for my next visit with my book friends from Lake Eden! And maybe......The Decision????  It's been 20 years....we need The Decision.ha ha

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**


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