woensdag 9 juni 2010

Joanne Fluke - Cherry Cheesecake Murder

This is the 8th book in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series, and I still enjoy reading them.

Cherry Cheesecake Murder

Hannah Swensen and her bakery, The Cookie Jar, bask in the glow of Hollywood glamour when Main Street becomes a movie set. And although tensions simmer as the cameras roll, no one expects the action to turn deadly...until it's too late...

There's no such thing as privacy in Lake Eden, but Hannah never thought things would go this far. Everyone has been telling her what to do ever since she got not one but two marriage proposals. Movie Mania soon shoves Hannah’s marriage dilemma into the background and even gives her cat a shot at stardom/ The Cookie Jar serves as Snack Central with Main Street rented out for the week. She stirs lots of fresh gossip, whipping up treats for cast and crew, including demanding director Dean Lawrence’s favourite – cherry cheesecake.

Everything is on schedule until Dean demonstrates a suicide scene with a prop gun that turns out to be all too real. As filming continues, Hannah sifts through the clues, hoping against hope that the person responsible for Dean’s death is half-baked enough to have made a mistake. When it happens, Hannah intends to be there – ready to rewrite a killer’s lethal script with the kind of quirky ending that can only happen in Lake Eden.



Hannah is still struggling with the decision which marriage proposal she is going to accept, when she gets pestered by almost everyone to make a decision. Some want her to marry Mike, he has been in a dreadful mood for last week, and if she chooses Norman, Mike might leave town. Others want her to marry Norman, they don’t want the best dentist they ever had. Both Mike and Norman are wracked with nerves, until she marches in on them and tells them …. she won’t marry either of them until she is ready to do so. And then SHE will propose the man she chooses. (I loved that part!)

Then her sister Michelle calls, to tell her Lake Eden will be the backdrop for a movie! And most residents will get small parts in it, and every business will be compensated for having to close down for a week. To Hannah’s big surprise, her two best friends from college are part of the crew! Ross is the producer, and Linne (who not only had her name altered, but also her face and body!) is the leading actress. It is great to catch up with them, especially with Ross. They used to have a crush on each other, even though Ross and Linda were an item back then. But Mike and Norman are not very happy with her dating Ross, and their mothers are sicking them on her, with catsitting, so she won’t be alone with Ross in her appartment.

Lots of things are happing in the book, Hannah’s niece Tracy is getting the role of the young lead actress, Moishe gets a part as her pet, and almost every one else she knows is casted or hired for something else too.

The famous director Dean Lawrence is a pain in the butt though. He thinks he is gods gift to women, and although he is married, he makes a pass at almost every girl he meets, including Hannah, Lisa and Andrea!
And when Hannah brings him his daily Cherry Cheesecake every morning, there always is another woman in his trailer, leaving through the back door … and did she just recognize Andrea’s voice?!

So when Dean is murdered, there are suspects everywhere. But with good actors, you can’t tell if they are telling the truth or acting …

Yes, great mystery and lots of fun in the personal sphere. I’ll sleep on it if I will get on with the next book tomorrow, or pick something else for a change.


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