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Hannah Swensen #29
Pink Lemonade Cake Murder
In this irresistible mystery from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joanne Fluke, Hannah Swensen is at the center of a lively summer fest with fun for everyone in Lake Eden, Minnesota--including a cold-blooded murderer . . .
The Tri-County Summer Solstice Celebration has come to town, and even among local artisans, athletes, and marching bands, Hannah attracts fans of her own while serving lip-smacking pink lemonade desserts. But the mood sours when a body turns up, leading revelers to wonder if the festivities mark both the longest day of the year and the deadliest . . .
A retired professional MLB player has met a terrifying end--and, considering the rumors swirling about his past, the list of suspects could fill a small stadium. Among them could soon be Delores, Hannah's mother, who publicly held a grudge against the victim after he infamously dunked her in the tank at a previous county fair . . .
Now, with her mother's innocence on the line, a life-changing announcement at The Cookie Jar, and a plethora of desserts to bake, Hannah can't afford to strike out as she begins a dangerous investigation into the ruthless killer who's truly in a league of their own . . .
The Tri-County Summer Solstice Celebration has come to town, and even among local artisans, athletes, and marching bands, Hannah attracts fans of her own while serving lip-smacking pink lemonade desserts. But the mood sours when a body turns up, leading revelers to wonder if the festivities mark both the longest day of the year and the deadliest . . .
A retired professional MLB player has met a terrifying end--and, considering the rumors swirling about his past, the list of suspects could fill a small stadium. Among them could soon be Delores, Hannah's mother, who publicly held a grudge against the victim after he infamously dunked her in the tank at a previous county fair . . .
Now, with her mother's innocence on the line, a life-changing announcement at The Cookie Jar, and a plethora of desserts to bake, Hannah can't afford to strike out as she begins a dangerous investigation into the ruthless killer who's truly in a league of their own . . .
290 pages, Hardcover
First published July 25, 2023
1271 people are currently reading
21980 people want to read
About the author
Joanne Fluke
127 books8,412 followersLike Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota where her neighbors were friendly, the winters were fierce, and the biggest scandal was the spotting of unidentified male undergarments on a young widow's clothesline. She insists that there really are 10,000 lakes and the mosquito is NOT the state bird.
While pursuing her writing career, Joanne has worked as: a public school teacher, a psychologist, a musician, a private detective's assistant, a corporate, legal, and pharmaceutical secretary, a short order cook, a florist's assistant, a caterer and party planner, a computer consultant on a now-defunct operating system, a production assistant on a TV quiz show, half of a screenwriting team with her husband, and a mother, wife, and homemaker.
She now lives in Southern California with her husband, her kids, his kids, their three dogs, one elderly tabby, and several noisy rats in the attic.
Series:
* Hannah Swensen
While pursuing her writing career, Joanne has worked as: a public school teacher, a psychologist, a musician, a private detective's assistant, a corporate, legal, and pharmaceutical secretary, a short order cook, a florist's assistant, a caterer and party planner, a computer consultant on a now-defunct operating system, a production assistant on a TV quiz show, half of a screenwriting team with her husband, and a mother, wife, and homemaker.
She now lives in Southern California with her husband, her kids, his kids, their three dogs, one elderly tabby, and several noisy rats in the attic.
Series:
* Hannah Swensen
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,056 reviews
May 14, 2023
Oh no...I've read every book in this series and I keep coming back for more, but at this point, I don't know why. In the last 3-4 books the writing quality has truly gone so downhill that it's distracting from the already loose plot line. Is this a ghost writer? Joanne Fluke's writing style has changed so much and not for the better. It feels amateur. The need to express unnecessary details, the word repetition, and action repetition really bothered me. For example, early on in the book Andrea knocks on the back door of The Cookie Jar and then scolds Hannah for not looking through the peephole. Hannah then tells her to not be silly since Andrea has her own unique knock. Then at like 75% of the way through the book this scene happens AGAIN! I genuinely had to check to see if my Kindle accidentally jumped backward. Unfortunately, this is just one example of many. I do not consider myself a writer by any means, but I found myself reading the frequently clunky and awkward sentences and editing them myself as I re-read the sentence, because it was so off.
Alright, let's discuss plot. Things didn't make sense. Mike is burned out, Stella has him on a relaxation retreat at her family cabin by the lake. Now, 29 books in, Hannah is a welcomed asset to the police department? I don't buy it. Also, they act like Mike couldn't just leave of his own accord. He could. The tough love that Stella suggests is weird. It's as though no one knows how to think for themselves anymore. Hannah is considered observant and in this book she sounds dim. Hannah's mom ends up being the prime suspect, but not really. No one believes it and she begs to be considered as the prime suspect so they agree... that's just beyond my suspension of reality. Oh and is Stella, Mike's new love interest? I don't get it.
Lastly, the series hasn't aged well. I don't mind that the book is squeaky clean, but the shaming that occurs in this book is so dated. I also think it's bizarre that they all drink alcohol, but bend over backwards to never swear or speak plainly. It's gone to an extreme where characters are speaking in unnatural ways.
I see a lot of folks saying they will come back for the next, because they are loyal to Hannah's story, but I have to be honest, I won't be. It's unfair to readers that this is the product being delivered. I can't imagine this book would make it through edits without a lot of feedback. I love Kensington Books, but fans of Hannah Swensen deserve a proper Hannah Swensen book, this feels like a bad knock-off.
Alright, let's discuss plot. Things didn't make sense. Mike is burned out, Stella has him on a relaxation retreat at her family cabin by the lake. Now, 29 books in, Hannah is a welcomed asset to the police department? I don't buy it. Also, they act like Mike couldn't just leave of his own accord. He could. The tough love that Stella suggests is weird. It's as though no one knows how to think for themselves anymore. Hannah is considered observant and in this book she sounds dim. Hannah's mom ends up being the prime suspect, but not really. No one believes it and she begs to be considered as the prime suspect so they agree... that's just beyond my suspension of reality. Oh and is Stella, Mike's new love interest? I don't get it.
Lastly, the series hasn't aged well. I don't mind that the book is squeaky clean, but the shaming that occurs in this book is so dated. I also think it's bizarre that they all drink alcohol, but bend over backwards to never swear or speak plainly. It's gone to an extreme where characters are speaking in unnatural ways.
I see a lot of folks saying they will come back for the next, because they are loyal to Hannah's story, but I have to be honest, I won't be. It's unfair to readers that this is the product being delivered. I can't imagine this book would make it through edits without a lot of feedback. I love Kensington Books, but fans of Hannah Swensen deserve a proper Hannah Swensen book, this feels like a bad knock-off.
July 16, 2023
There may be spoilers below. The recipes here were appalling, and most of them didn’t even tie in with what was being made in the books. I may make a few just to see what is what.
The murder victim here is a disgraced ball player that no one cares about. Not exactly linked to the town. The whole book reads like an excuse to talk baseball. There were a lot of spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Hopefully those are fixed prior to publication.
Here we go:
1. Right from the start we have Hannah asking Bill for Mike’s private personnel file. Lake Eden could really use a good lawyer.
2. Next up Hannah asks Bill if he thinks Mike is independently wealthy. Wouldn’t she know this? If Mike was wealthy surely he wouldn’t be stealing food from everyone in town.
3. In this same conversation Hannah tells Bill “one more thing Bill” more than once. That’s a lot of things Hannah.
4. Is Hannah on drugs? Now she’s asking Bill to confirm that Mike is a good cop. Does she suspect our Mike of being a shady crooked cop? So rude Hannah.
5. Grandma Knudsen discusses Hannah’s potential sex life if she married both Mike and Norman. Don’t worry it’s only six days a week for sex because even the good lord rested on the seventh. No sex on sundays!
6. Poor Norman is still living in the guest room in his own dang house.
7. Andrea at first mentions her pb and mint jelly sandwiches and then declares she no longer makes them. Hannah is not nice enough to tell her sister she’s making a poop flavored sandwich. What kind of person decides mint jelly is good on a sandwich? Andrea. I’m shocked Florence stocks mint jelly.
8. Hannah sends Andrea to the store to get bratwurst, and ingredients for a disgusting sounding stew. She instructs Andrea to buy everything pre cut or prepared including precut onions and carrots. How lazy are you Hannah? Ps this soup also includes like 30 cans of Campbell condensed soups
9. Andrea is learning cake decorating, Florence suggests practicing with instant mashed potatoes. Hannah is concerned Andrea wants to ice cookies or a cake with mashed potatoes.
10. Hannah explains to Normal Norman how she can’t go back to the condo yet because Ross (the man she thought was her husband) was killed in the living room. Im pretty sure Normal knows this. He was there for the investigation!
11. Mike is excited to get cable television out at a cabin. Don’t get too excited Mike. It turns out the cable guy is coming out to the lake to hook up cable to get…one channel. KCOW so they can watch the local school baseball team. In what world does cable include one channel and who is still getting cable hooked up these days
12. Speaking of baseball this book had way too much baseball filler we didn’t need to know about local players. No one cares about No-No, which is why he’s dead
13. Hannah complains she’s lucky to go to baseball games because she taunts the umpires. Despite not knowing anything about baseball really.
14. Mike gets a new name! Detective Mike the Bee Whisperer. Now that’s a show I would watch.
15. Someone asks what is the state perfume of Minnesota. Do states have perfumes? Well Normal Normans guess is “le parfum de green bean casserole” which sounds like a perfect signature scent for Hannah.
16. We have to keep hearing over and over how the dead guy once embarrassed poor Delorimother at the Winnetka county fair. I as apparently one of the worst moments of her life. Not losing her husband or other family members, not seeing murdered people, not knowing her daughter is murder obsessed. Guys the worst moment of Delorimother’s life was being dunked in a dunk tank over and over and ruining her dress. The dress must have been special because even the boutique owner remembers it. I bet she remembers all 5 things she sells per year.
17. All these poor girls who are vying for Summer Solstice Queen have old people names like Dorothy, Donna, Susan. Poor girls. Only a few of them have modern names. Everyone in Lake Eden is in a time warp.
18. Hannah is very concerned to know whether or not the cabin cable got hooked up in time for Mike to see the murder body on tv, so concerned that she forces Andrea to call and check for her. Hannah learn to do something for yourself please
19. Hannah whisks Delorimother away from a murder scene hiding her so no one sees that Delorimother should be the prime suspect, more on that later
20. Delorimother drinks domestic champagne! After Doc prescribed wine Hannah buys champagne.
21. Delorimother is disappointed to not be considered the prime suspect and badgers Bill until he agrees to make her the prime suspect. I bet she feels left out.
22. Bill questions why Hannah went under the bleachers and Hannah snaps at him “I thought I just told Lonnie didn’t I?” Damn Bill pay attention son.
23. Delorimother knows how to check for a pulse! When asked how she knows how to check for a pulse she says she say her husband, Doc, do it once but oh she also saw her daughter a non medical professional who can’t even bake do it once so it must be the medically correct thing to do.
24. Hannah bakes a lot more gross stuff like cookies made from kool-aid
25. Hannah orders a pink lemonade after questioning the ingredients, is told it’s made with grenadine and then Rose admits she used strawberry kool aid. So which one is it rose?
26. Andrea explains these blue cheese disgusting sounding meatloaf cupcake things to Hannah in a prior chapter, then Rose offers Hannah the same thing and Hannah asks again “how do you make them Rose?” So the reader is treated again to a gross description of these treats including parsley trees.
27. Hannah tried to recruit Hank who works at the liquor store to be a detective because he can make people talk. Hank says he’s a bartender but last we heard he runs the liquor store. Maybe he has a secret speakeasy. Or does he still work with Rose? Who knows.
28. Someone calls the dead man “that fool baseball player who hung around Lake Eden a while back and dunked Delorimother at the fair” that’s quite a nickname
29. Normal invites Hannah for a film in the house in which she’s living with him and explains that *gasp* the film is a romance but is also…a comedy. Maybe Normal it’s what we people call a rom-com
30. Hannah has a vendetta against geese and can’t wait to eat one. Normal agrees to also eat goose in solidarity. Just marry the guy.
31. Hannah’s goose vendetta stems from being chased and bitten as a child, and having fallen over in her pink dress which got ruined. I could swear early in the series we are treated to Hannah lamenting that she could never and can never wear pink due to her coloring. But I’m too lazy to research.
32. Hannah recalls being taken into a family members house the back way into something her dad called “the mud room” how exotic.
33. Dick the bartender at the in comes back to the bar with drinks for Normal and Hannah that are described as “thick, dark brown, and creamy” watch out for poop.
34. Normal and Hannah are asked to sit in on every police interview because Bill, Lonnie and Rick have no idea how to do their job and Mike is out of commission banished at the lake. They even say they are not used to doing these interviews themselves and will likely miss something. Damn guys. Watch an episode of law and order.
35. Lonnie completely forgets about the rival of the dead man who is shooting daggers at the baseball banquet. The one he spent like 40 pages talking to Hannah about. Lonnie should go see Doc I suspect early dementia.
36. One of the recipes calls for the reader to add “2 large eggs (just zoop them up with a fork)” what’s a zooper fork? Does Florence sell these down at the Red Owl?
37. Our first interviewee questions why Hannah is there and why he’s being interviewed in a dang cookie shop instead of the police station. Instead of the sheriff answering Hannah let’s him know that “we’re not really that far along in the process yet” the girl is on fire
38. This man tells us how his granddaughters reputation was spiraling down because she dared wear a skimpy outfit. These girls are later mentioned as hussies. Shaming these poor girls for wearing skirts and crop tops
39. This interview suspect was amazing with Hannah and declares to her “there’s your alibi Hannah I believe we are through here, good day to you!” Hoo boy
40. Hannah didn’t like that and calls the poor grandpa a pompous windbag
41. Hannah has to cook dinner for Delorimother’s dinner party and asks Lisa to check if a cookie store has instant rice. Why would they? But no worries as Lisa reports they have 4 boxes of Uncle Bens minute rice. Still…why? Rice whippersnappers? Has Andrea been stocking the pantry?
42. Delorimother and Doc both keep insisting both cats have never caught a ladybug. This is repeated like 80 times in the book. I have three cats, they love to kill any bug.
43. Normal brings a whole damn cooler of supplies to make cocktails at the dinner party and is questioned as to why he brought domestic champagne. Yeah normal you are a dentist splash out for some fancy bubbles
44. Hannah muses that Normal is a bit like cracker jacks. “A little nutty, more than a little corny, but very comforting to have around” I don’t feel comforted by cracked jacks. And normal probs wouldn’t like being referred to as a stick caramel treat being a dentist and all.
45. At one point Lonnie exclaims what may be my favorite line in the whole book “Yikes! That must have put the cat among the pigeons!” What does it mean? Who knows.
46. Hannah offers to tell a young woman that wisdom comes with age and we all make mistakes when we are young. Hannah you are no longer young and all you make are mistakes.
47. Normal visits the bakery owned by his true love Hannah that lives at his house and greets her with a hug. No wonder you aren’t winning the race normal.
48. Mike tells Hannah that in case she doesn’t know there’s been a murder in his little town. Hannah is shocked.
49. Normal and Hannah have a full on conversation only with their eyeballs. How amazing is that?
50. Dick the bartender strides right up to a suspect and straight up asks if they came to town to hit No-No. Dick has a set of balls on him
51. Hannah is alarmed by this and tells Dick that the word of the day is DISCREET and scolds him about confronting murder suspects. Which she does in every single book.
52. Normal gets some bad news at the end of the book, another cliffhanger! However will this play out.
The murder victim here is a disgraced ball player that no one cares about. Not exactly linked to the town. The whole book reads like an excuse to talk baseball. There were a lot of spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Hopefully those are fixed prior to publication.
Here we go:
1. Right from the start we have Hannah asking Bill for Mike’s private personnel file. Lake Eden could really use a good lawyer.
2. Next up Hannah asks Bill if he thinks Mike is independently wealthy. Wouldn’t she know this? If Mike was wealthy surely he wouldn’t be stealing food from everyone in town.
3. In this same conversation Hannah tells Bill “one more thing Bill” more than once. That’s a lot of things Hannah.
4. Is Hannah on drugs? Now she’s asking Bill to confirm that Mike is a good cop. Does she suspect our Mike of being a shady crooked cop? So rude Hannah.
5. Grandma Knudsen discusses Hannah’s potential sex life if she married both Mike and Norman. Don’t worry it’s only six days a week for sex because even the good lord rested on the seventh. No sex on sundays!
6. Poor Norman is still living in the guest room in his own dang house.
7. Andrea at first mentions her pb and mint jelly sandwiches and then declares she no longer makes them. Hannah is not nice enough to tell her sister she’s making a poop flavored sandwich. What kind of person decides mint jelly is good on a sandwich? Andrea. I’m shocked Florence stocks mint jelly.
8. Hannah sends Andrea to the store to get bratwurst, and ingredients for a disgusting sounding stew. She instructs Andrea to buy everything pre cut or prepared including precut onions and carrots. How lazy are you Hannah? Ps this soup also includes like 30 cans of Campbell condensed soups
9. Andrea is learning cake decorating, Florence suggests practicing with instant mashed potatoes. Hannah is concerned Andrea wants to ice cookies or a cake with mashed potatoes.
10. Hannah explains to Normal Norman how she can’t go back to the condo yet because Ross (the man she thought was her husband) was killed in the living room. Im pretty sure Normal knows this. He was there for the investigation!
11. Mike is excited to get cable television out at a cabin. Don’t get too excited Mike. It turns out the cable guy is coming out to the lake to hook up cable to get…one channel. KCOW so they can watch the local school baseball team. In what world does cable include one channel and who is still getting cable hooked up these days
12. Speaking of baseball this book had way too much baseball filler we didn’t need to know about local players. No one cares about No-No, which is why he’s dead
13. Hannah complains she’s lucky to go to baseball games because she taunts the umpires. Despite not knowing anything about baseball really.
14. Mike gets a new name! Detective Mike the Bee Whisperer. Now that’s a show I would watch.
15. Someone asks what is the state perfume of Minnesota. Do states have perfumes? Well Normal Normans guess is “le parfum de green bean casserole” which sounds like a perfect signature scent for Hannah.
16. We have to keep hearing over and over how the dead guy once embarrassed poor Delorimother at the Winnetka county fair. I as apparently one of the worst moments of her life. Not losing her husband or other family members, not seeing murdered people, not knowing her daughter is murder obsessed. Guys the worst moment of Delorimother’s life was being dunked in a dunk tank over and over and ruining her dress. The dress must have been special because even the boutique owner remembers it. I bet she remembers all 5 things she sells per year.
17. All these poor girls who are vying for Summer Solstice Queen have old people names like Dorothy, Donna, Susan. Poor girls. Only a few of them have modern names. Everyone in Lake Eden is in a time warp.
18. Hannah is very concerned to know whether or not the cabin cable got hooked up in time for Mike to see the murder body on tv, so concerned that she forces Andrea to call and check for her. Hannah learn to do something for yourself please
19. Hannah whisks Delorimother away from a murder scene hiding her so no one sees that Delorimother should be the prime suspect, more on that later
20. Delorimother drinks domestic champagne! After Doc prescribed wine Hannah buys champagne.
21. Delorimother is disappointed to not be considered the prime suspect and badgers Bill until he agrees to make her the prime suspect. I bet she feels left out.
22. Bill questions why Hannah went under the bleachers and Hannah snaps at him “I thought I just told Lonnie didn’t I?” Damn Bill pay attention son.
23. Delorimother knows how to check for a pulse! When asked how she knows how to check for a pulse she says she say her husband, Doc, do it once but oh she also saw her daughter a non medical professional who can’t even bake do it once so it must be the medically correct thing to do.
24. Hannah bakes a lot more gross stuff like cookies made from kool-aid
25. Hannah orders a pink lemonade after questioning the ingredients, is told it’s made with grenadine and then Rose admits she used strawberry kool aid. So which one is it rose?
26. Andrea explains these blue cheese disgusting sounding meatloaf cupcake things to Hannah in a prior chapter, then Rose offers Hannah the same thing and Hannah asks again “how do you make them Rose?” So the reader is treated again to a gross description of these treats including parsley trees.
27. Hannah tried to recruit Hank who works at the liquor store to be a detective because he can make people talk. Hank says he’s a bartender but last we heard he runs the liquor store. Maybe he has a secret speakeasy. Or does he still work with Rose? Who knows.
28. Someone calls the dead man “that fool baseball player who hung around Lake Eden a while back and dunked Delorimother at the fair” that’s quite a nickname
29. Normal invites Hannah for a film in the house in which she’s living with him and explains that *gasp* the film is a romance but is also…a comedy. Maybe Normal it’s what we people call a rom-com
30. Hannah has a vendetta against geese and can’t wait to eat one. Normal agrees to also eat goose in solidarity. Just marry the guy.
31. Hannah’s goose vendetta stems from being chased and bitten as a child, and having fallen over in her pink dress which got ruined. I could swear early in the series we are treated to Hannah lamenting that she could never and can never wear pink due to her coloring. But I’m too lazy to research.
32. Hannah recalls being taken into a family members house the back way into something her dad called “the mud room” how exotic.
33. Dick the bartender at the in comes back to the bar with drinks for Normal and Hannah that are described as “thick, dark brown, and creamy” watch out for poop.
34. Normal and Hannah are asked to sit in on every police interview because Bill, Lonnie and Rick have no idea how to do their job and Mike is out of commission banished at the lake. They even say they are not used to doing these interviews themselves and will likely miss something. Damn guys. Watch an episode of law and order.
35. Lonnie completely forgets about the rival of the dead man who is shooting daggers at the baseball banquet. The one he spent like 40 pages talking to Hannah about. Lonnie should go see Doc I suspect early dementia.
36. One of the recipes calls for the reader to add “2 large eggs (just zoop them up with a fork)” what’s a zooper fork? Does Florence sell these down at the Red Owl?
37. Our first interviewee questions why Hannah is there and why he’s being interviewed in a dang cookie shop instead of the police station. Instead of the sheriff answering Hannah let’s him know that “we’re not really that far along in the process yet” the girl is on fire
38. This man tells us how his granddaughters reputation was spiraling down because she dared wear a skimpy outfit. These girls are later mentioned as hussies. Shaming these poor girls for wearing skirts and crop tops
39. This interview suspect was amazing with Hannah and declares to her “there’s your alibi Hannah I believe we are through here, good day to you!” Hoo boy
40. Hannah didn’t like that and calls the poor grandpa a pompous windbag
41. Hannah has to cook dinner for Delorimother’s dinner party and asks Lisa to check if a cookie store has instant rice. Why would they? But no worries as Lisa reports they have 4 boxes of Uncle Bens minute rice. Still…why? Rice whippersnappers? Has Andrea been stocking the pantry?
42. Delorimother and Doc both keep insisting both cats have never caught a ladybug. This is repeated like 80 times in the book. I have three cats, they love to kill any bug.
43. Normal brings a whole damn cooler of supplies to make cocktails at the dinner party and is questioned as to why he brought domestic champagne. Yeah normal you are a dentist splash out for some fancy bubbles
44. Hannah muses that Normal is a bit like cracker jacks. “A little nutty, more than a little corny, but very comforting to have around” I don’t feel comforted by cracked jacks. And normal probs wouldn’t like being referred to as a stick caramel treat being a dentist and all.
45. At one point Lonnie exclaims what may be my favorite line in the whole book “Yikes! That must have put the cat among the pigeons!” What does it mean? Who knows.
46. Hannah offers to tell a young woman that wisdom comes with age and we all make mistakes when we are young. Hannah you are no longer young and all you make are mistakes.
47. Normal visits the bakery owned by his true love Hannah that lives at his house and greets her with a hug. No wonder you aren’t winning the race normal.
48. Mike tells Hannah that in case she doesn’t know there’s been a murder in his little town. Hannah is shocked.
49. Normal and Hannah have a full on conversation only with their eyeballs. How amazing is that?
50. Dick the bartender strides right up to a suspect and straight up asks if they came to town to hit No-No. Dick has a set of balls on him
51. Hannah is alarmed by this and tells Dick that the word of the day is DISCREET and scolds him about confronting murder suspects. Which she does in every single book.
52. Normal gets some bad news at the end of the book, another cliffhanger! However will this play out.
June 8, 2023
I'm not sure why I continue to read this series at this point. It is such a train wreck (maybe that's why...I can't look away). The inconsistencies with character actions or the way they act makes for a very difficult reading time. I swear Andrea was not this helpless in the earlier books. Hannah talks to her like she is a child, but then again, Andrea's responses leave you wondering. I could see the person who was murdered being the victim as soon as he was introduced in the story. The whole dunk tank thing was baffling (like you voluntarily went into the dunk tank, why did you wear your best dress and get mad when someone dunked you...literally in the name of the game). And the mother being upset for not being a suspect?! Um...what is happening here?? The treatment of Mike (who is having a mental breakdown) was absurd. And I don't ever remember Mike's mentor being in any of the previous books, but they treated her like she came to visit all the time. The story did end on a pretty good cliffhanger, but I need to work up my nerve to read the next book. Good thing, it'll probably be a year before it's out.
May 14, 2023
Pink Lemonade Cake Murder is the latest Hannah Swensen Mystery written by Joanne Fluke. If you've read my reviews in the past, you know I've read all the previous ones and the books are very simple and straightforward. More pages devoted to recipes and less to the plot. So... when I consider my ratings and reviews, I incorporate those boundaries into my thinking. Unfortunately, this one got even lighter... the murder happens to unlikeable guy, check. The primary suspect is someone close to Hannah, check. The list of victims comes from a bunch of places, check. But that's where it got strange - repetitive, upside down, and quite boring. The cops helped keep the detective out of town so Hannah could investigate. The chief took direction from Hannah. And the story ended without a conclusion to the detective's predicament. It also made it sound like Hannah had finally chosen Norman over him, but it was weird. And then the huge ending with a personal impact to Hannah and Norman that just sets up a new mystery without any context. Oy... good thing I love these characters!
July 26, 2023
Awful. Just awful. Legitimately, someone should be held accountable for the horrendous editing (or lack of?) of this book. End the series. Don’t let an author’s entire career conclude with these garbage offerings. The only interesting part was the last few pages leading up to the cliffhanger - and even that section was bizarrely repetitious.
If you were on the shelf about reading this one - do yourself a favor and skip it. Absolutely zero progress for any characters or plot lines. You’ll miss nothing
If you were on the shelf about reading this one - do yourself a favor and skip it. Absolutely zero progress for any characters or plot lines. You’ll miss nothing
July 28, 2023
This book did it, it finally made me quit reading the series, in fact, I ended up "hate" reading the last half of the book. I'm mostly been reading these books for the recipes, but it's not even worth that at this point.
Here are my big issues from this that have pushed me over the edge with the series.
Through out most of the series, Hannah has no clue about technology, can't even use a basic cell phone. Yet in this one she is able to get Dolores's phone and let Bill know a 15 minute window of when Dolores last was with Hannah by checking the phone log on Dolores's phone. Not believable due to how things have been written in past books.
This one really burned my butt...how the teen girls were shamed for riding on the convertible with the ball player. MY GOD.... you would have thought it was 1950 with how everyone talked about the event and then how the girls were talked about, basically slut shaming them, but in clean language. It's 2023, what they did wasn't wise (in safety and lusting after an older man), but it wasn't anything over the top, in fact most people would laugh if they saw the 1 car parade, while saying "stupid kids".
Then we have everyone in town making sure Mike gets a vacation, which is a good thing, but they all kept saying it was ok, because if anything happened, Hannah would be there to help, even as they said that Mike trained the 2 detectives and Bill being the Sheriff. So Mike is a god at figuring out criminals, but the rest of the department are sub-par and need a civilian to help. It was stated more than a few times, in fact they had a celebration at Hannah solving the case. I know this has happened in other books, but this time it just grated at my last sane nerve.
I could go on with more, but honestly I just want to be done, once and for all, with this book and this series.
Here are my big issues from this that have pushed me over the edge with the series.
Through out most of the series, Hannah has no clue about technology, can't even use a basic cell phone. Yet in this one she is able to get Dolores's phone and let Bill know a 15 minute window of when Dolores last was with Hannah by checking the phone log on Dolores's phone. Not believable due to how things have been written in past books.
This one really burned my butt...how the teen girls were shamed for riding on the convertible with the ball player. MY GOD.... you would have thought it was 1950 with how everyone talked about the event and then how the girls were talked about, basically slut shaming them, but in clean language. It's 2023, what they did wasn't wise (in safety and lusting after an older man), but it wasn't anything over the top, in fact most people would laugh if they saw the 1 car parade, while saying "stupid kids".
Then we have everyone in town making sure Mike gets a vacation, which is a good thing, but they all kept saying it was ok, because if anything happened, Hannah would be there to help, even as they said that Mike trained the 2 detectives and Bill being the Sheriff. So Mike is a god at figuring out criminals, but the rest of the department are sub-par and need a civilian to help. It was stated more than a few times, in fact they had a celebration at Hannah solving the case. I know this has happened in other books, but this time it just grated at my last sane nerve.
I could go on with more, but honestly I just want to be done, once and for all, with this book and this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2023
Why do I keep torturing myself with this series?! 😫 The never ending love triangle, the repetitive writing, and the *slut shaming* make this installment one of the worst yet! 😖
July 26, 2023
This book was a fun and quick, cozy murder mystery read. I was hoping that I might be able to jump into this series, but I found that I needed more background on events and characters. I was loosely able to follow the plot, but the storyline was very direct and to the point, and there wasn't much to fill in the lines.
July 27, 2023
I've been a long-time fan and own every Hannah book. The series has had its ups and downs and I've stuck with it through all of them, but this book...yikes. It's not even the mystery, although that seems more like an afterthought than any of the other books. The writing itself is painful to get through, from the clunky dialogue, to the random italicized words, to the chapters that are less than two pages long. No joke, there's forty-four chapters and they could easily be condensed into fifteen or less. On top of this, I had an extremely hard time reading about how the high school girls were "jeopardizing their futures", "bringing shame to their families", and needing to "beg their boyfriends for forgiveness" for the dire sin of...riding in the back of a convertible. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it might to time to wrap things up and send Hannah and Moishe (because shes obviously never going to choose between Mike and Norman) into their happily ever after before the quality of the series gets even worse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2023
This book was really not good. The story was tired. The mystery was a joke. The only redeeming quality was the cliffhanger ending, and that sucked because now I feel compelled to read the next book just as I was ready to give up on the series forever. Well played, Fluke…
dnf
August 19, 2023It's not you, it's me... I think I'll just quit while I'm ahead, before I decide I'm too far into it to stop.
May 27, 2023
Pink Lemonade Cake Murder is the twenty-ninth installment in the A Hannah Swensen Mystery series set in Lake Eden and featuring The Cookie Jar owner Hannah Swensen. I've been saying after reading each of the past several books in this series that I would not continue to torture myself, but here I am and once again kicking myself in the behind for even thinking things this time around might be better.
You can read the book jacket and the reviews prior to mine to get the gist of the mystery. This installment is so farfetched, so wordy and so repetitive. Are you really supposed to believe that Mike is going to just sit back and stay out of town while Hannah and Company solve the murder for which her mother is a suspect? I want to scream every time the person speaking has to say the the name of the person they are speaking to in each and every sentence and sometimes twice in the same sentence. If there's only 2 people in a room, I think we (and they) can figure out the dialogue.
There is a cliffhanger at the end in order to get you to read the next addition - but I'm seriously thinking it's time for Hannah to choose Norman and ride off into the sunset with the cats.
I received an advanced copy of Pink Lemonade Cake Murder from NetGalley via Kensington Cozies. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.
You can read the book jacket and the reviews prior to mine to get the gist of the mystery. This installment is so farfetched, so wordy and so repetitive. Are you really supposed to believe that Mike is going to just sit back and stay out of town while Hannah and Company solve the murder for which her mother is a suspect? I want to scream every time the person speaking has to say the the name of the person they are speaking to in each and every sentence and sometimes twice in the same sentence. If there's only 2 people in a room, I think we (and they) can figure out the dialogue.
There is a cliffhanger at the end in order to get you to read the next addition - but I'm seriously thinking it's time for Hannah to choose Norman and ride off into the sunset with the cats.
I received an advanced copy of Pink Lemonade Cake Murder from NetGalley via Kensington Cozies. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.
March 12, 2023
I received an ARC from Netgalley and Kensington in exchange for a review.
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I continue to be a longtime series reader. Similar to my Carmel Pecan Roll Murder review, this book left me feeling a bit meh. The setup is what Hannah Swensen reader's come to expect: some character driven plot, lots of delicious dessert recipes, a few quirky savory recipes, another murder in the small town of Lake Eden. Mike's midlife crisis heads the narrative. Fearing he will retire as a detective, Hannah & Crew devise to keep him out of the loop when the inevitable next murder of the unsavory character, No-No, occurs under the baseball field blechers. Hannah and the others question suspect, talk baseball and yet still have time for improptu dinner parties to solve the case. The story wraps up as readers would expect. However, Fluke adds a juicy cliffhanger to the end to keep us coming back next time.
PS - Hannah and Norman, please just admit the feels, elope and live happily ever after very soon.
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I continue to be a longtime series reader. Similar to my Carmel Pecan Roll Murder review, this book left me feeling a bit meh. The setup is what Hannah Swensen reader's come to expect: some character driven plot, lots of delicious dessert recipes, a few quirky savory recipes, another murder in the small town of Lake Eden. Mike's midlife crisis heads the narrative. Fearing he will retire as a detective, Hannah & Crew devise to keep him out of the loop when the inevitable next murder of the unsavory character, No-No, occurs under the baseball field blechers. Hannah and the others question suspect, talk baseball and yet still have time for improptu dinner parties to solve the case. The story wraps up as readers would expect. However, Fluke adds a juicy cliffhanger to the end to keep us coming back next time.
PS - Hannah and Norman, please just admit the feels, elope and live happily ever after very soon.
August 4, 2023
Hoping to get this one! I've read all the others!!
3 & 1/2 stars. The first half of the book was enjoyable as always, then it started to drag. The victim (who goes by No-No, which I found a bit annoying reading that name about 400 times) was a creep so I didn't really care who the suspect was. I understand an author will have to explain things sometimes more than once but that's not really enjoyable for the reader (for me anyway). Like when Hannah answers the door without looking through the peephole. Over and over this went. With her having to explain "I know your knock." and the other person explaining why it's still not safe. This happened too much. There were a few more situations like this. It just felt like filler information that wasn't necessary (We get it). The ending did leave a cliff hanger so I will read the next one when it comes out. I won't give up on the series. This one just wasn't my favorite. The dessert recipes all sounded really good. Happy reading. 🩷🥤🎂🔪
3 & 1/2 stars. The first half of the book was enjoyable as always, then it started to drag. The victim (who goes by No-No, which I found a bit annoying reading that name about 400 times) was a creep so I didn't really care who the suspect was. I understand an author will have to explain things sometimes more than once but that's not really enjoyable for the reader (for me anyway). Like when Hannah answers the door without looking through the peephole. Over and over this went. With her having to explain "I know your knock." and the other person explaining why it's still not safe. This happened too much. There were a few more situations like this. It just felt like filler information that wasn't necessary (We get it). The ending did leave a cliff hanger so I will read the next one when it comes out. I won't give up on the series. This one just wasn't my favorite. The dessert recipes all sounded really good. Happy reading. 🩷🥤🎂🔪
August 12, 2023
Wish I could give this negative stars…so horrible. The author is clearly a misogynist and 110 years old. The dwelling on three young women who rode in the back of a man’s convertible “scantily dressed” like “hussies” and “destroying their futures” and “family reputations” made me sick. The murder was such an after thought to the shaming of the high school girls, the awful sounding recipes and way too much talk about baseball. I also can’t figure out why people enter a coffee shop/cafe by knocking at a door with a peephole. It’s a business, just come in.
I cannot believe there are 30 books in this series and never want to meet the people who read them.
I cannot believe there are 30 books in this series and never want to meet the people who read them.
August 30, 2023
Even though the writing style has changed, this one was definitely much more enjoyable than the last couple of books in the series. I'm glad to see Hannah returning to her normal self but I really do hate that the last couple have ended with cliffhangers. It's almost as if the author is trying to force you to read the next one.
August 5, 2023
I’ve been reading Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swenson murder mysteries since I was in 7th grade. After seeing my mom read them and seeing how much she loved them I decided to pick the first one up. Up until 5 or so books ago we would always be so excited for new books and the next chapter of Hannah’s story but ever since Ross came into the picture everything has gone terribly, awfully, downhill.
Reiterating again that these books have always been our favorites! So it pains me to write a bad review but I’m just not sure how many more of these books I can read. Nothing happens! It’s like copy and paste from old books! All of a sudden everyone in the book has a 3rd grade intelligence level? Because it’s not only Andrea that is communicated with like at toddler anymore. How is she there every morning? Does she work? Where are her kids? If there’s one more whippersnapper recipe I think I’ll lose it.
In parts where it’s not even the story that is the issue, I find huge issues with the writing itself. These books used to be engaging, fun, had you brainstorming ideas on who did it! Now it is hard to read. I find myself scanning the pages.
Referring to this last book specifically, it all seems very cheap. Nothing happens in the book. Nothing is really built up around the mystery of the murder. Nothing and no one is really developed. It all seems very half-assed. The content was rather fillers of dinners and coffee breaks that add nothing to the book. And what is that ending? We have no idea who the killer is, just going to gather more info, just having a conversation then boom! “Oh you caught me!”. What??? She wasn’t even accusing him of anything? She was simply saying he’d remain on the list (that her mother was also on) because he didn’t have an alibi. And his reasoning? Because “no one makes a fool out of Tony!”. He was going to college on scholarship and he didn’t even like the girl that much. None of it makes sense.
And randomly at the end, the only exciting thing to happen in the entire book, someone covers up a murder at Normans house????? So Norman will be the prime suspect, and just why? Why? And the one exciting scene wasn’t even good because of the writing.
I’ll stop there because now I have to read the next book and continue to be disappointed, sad and irritated at the lack of effort.
Actually I’ll end here. WHY IS THE MIKE AND NORMAN THING STILL GOING? SHE HAS BEEN LIVING AT NORMAN’S HOUSE AND THEY JUST STAY IN SEPARATE ROOMS ALL THE TIME? and make each other breakfast? And sometimes, ONLY sometimes her head leans on his shoulder? She barely even interacts with Mike. It’s like she’s dating Norman but has the hots for Mike. It’s weird. And I’m not even a stickler for traditional stuff which btw what is up with the parents and grandparents in this book…. The way they talk and the things they say? There’s no way. Okay okay I’ll stop.
Reiterating again that these books have always been our favorites! So it pains me to write a bad review but I’m just not sure how many more of these books I can read. Nothing happens! It’s like copy and paste from old books! All of a sudden everyone in the book has a 3rd grade intelligence level? Because it’s not only Andrea that is communicated with like at toddler anymore. How is she there every morning? Does she work? Where are her kids? If there’s one more whippersnapper recipe I think I’ll lose it.
In parts where it’s not even the story that is the issue, I find huge issues with the writing itself. These books used to be engaging, fun, had you brainstorming ideas on who did it! Now it is hard to read. I find myself scanning the pages.
Referring to this last book specifically, it all seems very cheap. Nothing happens in the book. Nothing is really built up around the mystery of the murder. Nothing and no one is really developed. It all seems very half-assed. The content was rather fillers of dinners and coffee breaks that add nothing to the book. And what is that ending? We have no idea who the killer is, just going to gather more info, just having a conversation then boom! “Oh you caught me!”. What??? She wasn’t even accusing him of anything? She was simply saying he’d remain on the list (that her mother was also on) because he didn’t have an alibi. And his reasoning? Because “no one makes a fool out of Tony!”. He was going to college on scholarship and he didn’t even like the girl that much. None of it makes sense.
And randomly at the end, the only exciting thing to happen in the entire book, someone covers up a murder at Normans house????? So Norman will be the prime suspect, and just why? Why? And the one exciting scene wasn’t even good because of the writing.
I’ll stop there because now I have to read the next book and continue to be disappointed, sad and irritated at the lack of effort.
Actually I’ll end here. WHY IS THE MIKE AND NORMAN THING STILL GOING? SHE HAS BEEN LIVING AT NORMAN’S HOUSE AND THEY JUST STAY IN SEPARATE ROOMS ALL THE TIME? and make each other breakfast? And sometimes, ONLY sometimes her head leans on his shoulder? She barely even interacts with Mike. It’s like she’s dating Norman but has the hots for Mike. It’s weird. And I’m not even a stickler for traditional stuff which btw what is up with the parents and grandparents in this book…. The way they talk and the things they say? There’s no way. Okay okay I’ll stop.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2023
This series has been disappointing me for a few years, but this book may be the end for me. The writing style changes with everyone of the last few books and whoever (I firmly believe it must be a ghost writer) wrote this missed the mark completely.
The plot of this story is poorly developed and almost non-existent. It reminds me of the Andy Griffith show when Andy and Gomer create a robbery for Barney to solve, only in the case of the book there is a real murder.
The setting left me wonder what year this was supposed to take place. Three of the high school queens are named Dorothy, Donna and Dawn. There is not one child in the high schools I work in with those names.
Characters have also changed. Delores was always no nonsense and now she seems a little dotty. Michelle was almost none existent. I also feel like the reader made all of the women seem weak and annoying. I couldn't tell if that is how they were written, or if that was her interpretation.
I have stuck with the series over the last few years because I was invested in the characters. Now I don't even like them.
The plot of this story is poorly developed and almost non-existent. It reminds me of the Andy Griffith show when Andy and Gomer create a robbery for Barney to solve, only in the case of the book there is a real murder.
The setting left me wonder what year this was supposed to take place. Three of the high school queens are named Dorothy, Donna and Dawn. There is not one child in the high schools I work in with those names.
Characters have also changed. Delores was always no nonsense and now she seems a little dotty. Michelle was almost none existent. I also feel like the reader made all of the women seem weak and annoying. I couldn't tell if that is how they were written, or if that was her interpretation.
I have stuck with the series over the last few years because I was invested in the characters. Now I don't even like them.
August 22, 2023
No. Just no.
First, Hannah asks Bill to give her personal information from Mike's personnel file and he does it! He gives out someone's phone number without permission. Hannah greets the person on the other end of the phone with her name and her place of business.
I don't care who killed No-No and neither does anyone else. Delores's motive is so lame. Why did she wear her best dress in a dunk tank? Isn't that the point of a dunk tank? You get dunked!
Suddenly Andrea is a culinary genius cake decorator and working for Hannah. Doesn't she have a job and kids?
Hannah and Norman are consultants with the police?! Are they trained detectives? No. Do they have a P.I. license? No.
Why are interviews happening at the Cookie Jar?
Everything Kim said and more!
The recipes as usual contain too many premade ingredients full of chemicals, SALTED butter and strange things no one wants to eat. I do like the sound of the pink lemonade recipes and I REALLY want Norman's "How Now Brown Bessie?" drink.
TRIGGER WARNING
Grandma Knudson is the only character I like. Not only does she make a dirty joke with her grandson, Rev. Bob, she also stands up for the teen girls and uses the same weapon as the haters against them. I would have preferred she confront them directly.
The book ends on a cliffhanger so now I need to know what happens and why!! I just can't even with this series anymore though. I don't know if I can stand to read the next one. Hannah and Norman should get married, sell the condo to Michelle and Lonnie, find someone with enough brains to build a time machine and go back to the 1950s with the rest of Lake Eden. Either that or the next villain needs to murder Hannah since she's too dumb to actually figure things out BEFORE the murderer comes after her.
First, Hannah asks Bill to give her personal information from Mike's personnel file and he does it! He gives out someone's phone number without permission. Hannah greets the person on the other end of the phone with her name and her place of business.
I don't care who killed No-No and neither does anyone else. Delores's motive is so lame. Why did she wear her best dress in a dunk tank? Isn't that the point of a dunk tank? You get dunked!
Suddenly Andrea is a culinary genius cake decorator and working for Hannah. Doesn't she have a job and kids?
Hannah and Norman are consultants with the police?! Are they trained detectives? No. Do they have a P.I. license? No.
Why are interviews happening at the Cookie Jar?
Everything Kim said and more!
The recipes as usual contain too many premade ingredients full of chemicals, SALTED butter and strange things no one wants to eat. I do like the sound of the pink lemonade recipes and I REALLY want Norman's "How Now Brown Bessie?" drink.
TRIGGER WARNING
Grandma Knudson is the only character I like. Not only does she make a dirty joke with her grandson, Rev. Bob, she also stands up for the teen girls and uses the same weapon as the haters against them. I would have preferred she confront them directly.
The book ends on a cliffhanger so now I need to know what happens and why!! I just can't even with this series anymore though. I don't know if I can stand to read the next one. Hannah and Norman should get married, sell the condo to Michelle and Lonnie, find someone with enough brains to build a time machine and go back to the 1950s with the rest of Lake Eden. Either that or the next villain needs to murder Hannah since she's too dumb to actually figure things out BEFORE the murderer comes after her.
August 10, 2023
Why (coffee) do (coffee) I (coffee) keep (coffee) reading (coffee) these (coffee) books (coffee)???
Here's the gist. They make coffee and then they drink coffee. Someone is a jerk and gets killed. Several people have threatened the victim in public. Oh, and Mike wants to retire from the police department so of course Bill has to get Hannah's help to fix that blunder and then to solve the case. And can she make coffee and serve cookies and help them interview the suspects? Seriously.
Oh, and it's all about baseball. I don't know why there has to be such ridiculous dramatic story telling - see below.
"what happened?" asked Hannah.
"I went to the house to see the girl," said the guy.
"And then what happened? asked Hannah.
"I knocked on the door"
"and did they answer?"
LET HIM FINISH THE STORY AND STOP INTERRUPTING!!!!
Dang! the book could be cut in half if the ridiculousness of these types of conversations were omitted.
At least that is one for my book count.
Here's the gist. They make coffee and then they drink coffee. Someone is a jerk and gets killed. Several people have threatened the victim in public. Oh, and Mike wants to retire from the police department so of course Bill has to get Hannah's help to fix that blunder and then to solve the case. And can she make coffee and serve cookies and help them interview the suspects? Seriously.
Oh, and it's all about baseball. I don't know why there has to be such ridiculous dramatic story telling - see below.
"what happened?" asked Hannah.
"I went to the house to see the girl," said the guy.
"And then what happened? asked Hannah.
"I knocked on the door"
"and did they answer?"
LET HIM FINISH THE STORY AND STOP INTERRUPTING!!!!
Dang! the book could be cut in half if the ridiculousness of these types of conversations were omitted.
At least that is one for my book count.
July 24, 2023
Umm. I don’t know anymore. I’m a huge fan of the earlier books but this was really making me mad. The girl shaming because they were wearing bikinis on the back of a sports car?!
I’m so disappointed in this book. It doesn’t feel like Joanne at all. I’m sorry but this the first in a long time I’m not recommending this book. I’ll read the next one because of the cliff hanger, but if the next book is like this, this author has lost a long time fan.
I’m so disappointed in this book. It doesn’t feel like Joanne at all. I’m sorry but this the first in a long time I’m not recommending this book. I’ll read the next one because of the cliff hanger, but if the next book is like this, this author has lost a long time fan.
June 17, 2023
I have very mixed feelings about this latest installment. This series has sentimental value to me as I started reading it when first published with my grandmother. I love Hannah, Mike and Norman and keep reading to see if their love triangle will finally be resolved. 29 books in and I’m still left disappointed & frustrated. This particular book just seemed off & like it was an entirely different author writing it. The conversations were simple, but with a repetitive forced dialogue that distracted me.
The murder actually happened early on in this book but the investigation was lacking. With Mike on leave they looked to Hannah to solve the case. Really? After 20+ years of being detectives they couldn’t figure out how to run a case without Mike? It took out the entire pull & push banter between the police force & the Sleuther that help keep a mystery interesting.
And the ending? I don’t like how it ended on a weird cliff hanger. And after so many books why has the cliffhanger all of a sudden been introduced these last 2 books.
Overall I will most likely continue reading, praying that this series finally has a conclusion and happy ever after. I’m not sure how much more I can take with writing like this though and a book more full of recipes than plot.
The murder actually happened early on in this book but the investigation was lacking. With Mike on leave they looked to Hannah to solve the case. Really? After 20+ years of being detectives they couldn’t figure out how to run a case without Mike? It took out the entire pull & push banter between the police force & the Sleuther that help keep a mystery interesting.
And the ending? I don’t like how it ended on a weird cliff hanger. And after so many books why has the cliffhanger all of a sudden been introduced these last 2 books.
Overall I will most likely continue reading, praying that this series finally has a conclusion and happy ever after. I’m not sure how much more I can take with writing like this though and a book more full of recipes than plot.
September 13, 2023
After 29 books I will finally be retiring from this series. They’ve been terrible for at least the last 10 books- maybe more but this one was just so bad I couldn’t even finish it. Especially when I have stacks of quality literature sitting in my nightstand waiting for me. In what I did read of this book the dialogue was even worse than normal- the characters have become idiots. Hannah explains to Andrea that she can’t actually frost cupcakes with the instant mash potatoes she is practicing with (she can’t practice with real frosting why??) and is 100% serious. I have no idea who Stella is. Maybe someone I forgot from the previous book? Norman and Mike, but especially Norman are so dumb to continue to wait around for Hannah who has declared she can’t choose between them. It also seemed like entire chapters were missing. The jump from scene to scene was so clunky. Some of the chapters were only a page and a half long with absolutely no transitions. Based on what I read in other reviews I think I might read the ending before I return this book to the library but this is my farewell to a series I once looked upon fondly.
April 28, 2024
Cute cozy mystery with one murder solved but ending in a cliff hanger. Lots of fairly easy recipes included.
October 10, 2023
The dialogue is strange and awkward and the recipes make me cringe. Was this book actually edited before it was sent to the printers? Was this written by AI? I am very baffled. Yet no matter how annoying the series is getting, I secretly look forward to the next book. What annoyed me:
-Everyone was eating or drinking every two minutes.
-Mother complaining about getting dunked in her best clothes. Why would she be in a dunking booth if she didn’t want to get dunked and why was she wearing her best outfit? That didn’t make sense.
-Why was everyone going on and on about bratwurst? It was getting weird.
-The people of Lake Eden don’t seem like the brightest but then again they love baked goods made with artificial ingredients and crockpot meals loaded with cream of something soup or gravy packets. And when Hannah or Mother checked the pulse on the body, she acted like it was this complicated procedure she was doing . I think most people know about checking a pulse.
-How many time does one have to mention Andrea’s knock on the door and Hannah not looking through the peep hole?
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next book. Perhaps it would be best if the town got a Crumbl and could put Hannah out of business….
-Everyone was eating or drinking every two minutes.
-Mother complaining about getting dunked in her best clothes. Why would she be in a dunking booth if she didn’t want to get dunked and why was she wearing her best outfit? That didn’t make sense.
-Why was everyone going on and on about bratwurst? It was getting weird.
-The people of Lake Eden don’t seem like the brightest but then again they love baked goods made with artificial ingredients and crockpot meals loaded with cream of something soup or gravy packets. And when Hannah or Mother checked the pulse on the body, she acted like it was this complicated procedure she was doing . I think most people know about checking a pulse.
-How many time does one have to mention Andrea’s knock on the door and Hannah not looking through the peep hole?
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next book. Perhaps it would be best if the town got a Crumbl and could put Hannah out of business….
June 30, 2023
Cozy mystery, Pink Lemonade Cake Murder is another enjoyable light read from one of my favorites, Joanne Fluke but feels more like a prelude with an awkwardness that leads one to wonder more for the next installment to find out what’s really going on in Lake Eden and beyond. #HannahSwensenMystery. #GoodreadsGiveaway.
August 25, 2023
I skimmed this one, and I have no idea why I’m still reading these. The writing in this one is awful for a variety of reasons, the characters mostly bear little resemblance to who they were early to mid series, and I really don’t need several chapters to explain what’s in a crockpot of stew. The extra star is for the cliffhanger at the end that will probably manage to suck me back in to find out what happened, but… man, these aren’t what they used to be.
August 19, 2023
Originally gave this two stars because having recipes is cool, but even the recipes are not very good? Like most of them use box mix (which is totally fine but she is supposed to own a cookie shop??)
I am new to this series (thanks to Kensington Publishing for sending me this ARC), so maybe I just started way too late in the game, but there was essentially nothing I liked about this book, except that it only took me like four hours to read. Half of the chapters added literally nothing to the plot, and of the chapters that even slightly moved the plot along, 60% of the dialogue in them was useless. I am not kidding, 80% of this book is people talking about ingredients and not even in a fun way (there’s a whole exchange about what pomegranate tastes like).
The murder plot line was barely anything, and no one in the town really seemed pressed to solve it. Like literally the lady who found the body left the crime scene to go drink champagne and eat cookies and the police have to be convinced to question her. The only interesting thing that happened was the literal last sentence cliffhanger of the book.
The worst part of the book to me was the bizarre victim blaming and slut shaming of teenagers who were being groomed by an adult man. Like this man is hanging around with high schoolers in their bathing suits and even openly dating one who is 17, and everyone in this town is saying that the GIRLS are embarrassing themselves and ruining their futures. This one girl’s parents were upset because they were worried that her high school boyfriend, to whom she was apparently promised to already, might no longer want to marry her. She JUST graduated high school, what parent in their right mind is so set on their 18 year old being betrothed to their high school boyfriend????
I am new to this series (thanks to Kensington Publishing for sending me this ARC), so maybe I just started way too late in the game, but there was essentially nothing I liked about this book, except that it only took me like four hours to read. Half of the chapters added literally nothing to the plot, and of the chapters that even slightly moved the plot along, 60% of the dialogue in them was useless. I am not kidding, 80% of this book is people talking about ingredients and not even in a fun way (there’s a whole exchange about what pomegranate tastes like).
The murder plot line was barely anything, and no one in the town really seemed pressed to solve it. Like literally the lady who found the body left the crime scene to go drink champagne and eat cookies and the police have to be convinced to question her. The only interesting thing that happened was the literal last sentence cliffhanger of the book.
The worst part of the book to me was the bizarre victim blaming and slut shaming of teenagers who were being groomed by an adult man. Like this man is hanging around with high schoolers in their bathing suits and even openly dating one who is 17, and everyone in this town is saying that the GIRLS are embarrassing themselves and ruining their futures. This one girl’s parents were upset because they were worried that her high school boyfriend, to whom she was apparently promised to already, might no longer want to marry her. She JUST graduated high school, what parent in their right mind is so set on their 18 year old being betrothed to their high school boyfriend????
July 16, 2023
Pink Lemonade Cake Murder is the twenty-ninth book in the Hannah Swensen series.The Hannah Swensen series is one of the first cozy mystery series I started following regularly, so I have fond memories of these books. I love the small town setting and Hannah's bakery. Hannah is observant and makes a good amateur sleuth. I really like when she teams up with Norman to question people who may have information about the case. In this book, the victim is an arrogant man who has made several enemies, so there are plenty of suspects.
On the downside, the quality of the books hasn't been as good as it used to be with repetitious and stilted dialogue. The recipes are a cute addition to the books, but have been starting to take over the story. (There were 28 in this one!) So far, Hannah still hasn't chosen between her two suitors, Detective Mike Kingston and dentist Norman Rhodes, but I'm forever hopeful she will. The case wraps up nicely as well as the subplot of Mike feeling burned out in his job. There is a surprising and kind of strangely communicated cliffhanger at the end of the story that I assume is setting up the next book.
Overall, this is a quick, cozy read that has some fun moments. I like the plot and the investigation better in this one than some of the recent books, but don't care for the stilted dialogue, never-ending triangle, and book ending on a cliffhanger. If you're new to the series, I would recommend starting with the earliest books in the series.
I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and Kensington Book, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.
On the downside, the quality of the books hasn't been as good as it used to be with repetitious and stilted dialogue. The recipes are a cute addition to the books, but have been starting to take over the story. (There were 28 in this one!) So far, Hannah still hasn't chosen between her two suitors, Detective Mike Kingston and dentist Norman Rhodes, but I'm forever hopeful she will. The case wraps up nicely as well as the subplot of Mike feeling burned out in his job. There is a surprising and kind of strangely communicated cliffhanger at the end of the story that I assume is setting up the next book.
Overall, this is a quick, cozy read that has some fun moments. I like the plot and the investigation better in this one than some of the recent books, but don't care for the stilted dialogue, never-ending triangle, and book ending on a cliffhanger. If you're new to the series, I would recommend starting with the earliest books in the series.
I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and Kensington Book, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.
July 29, 2023
Can I do a zero star rating?
This book was painful to read.
It's like the author suddenly thinks all the readers and all the characters are idiots. Everything is spelled out, and then repeated. Oh, and then a few chapters later, repeated again. Repeatedly.
Am I using the same words too often in this review? That's a preview for the book.
I would "reward" myself for reading some of this book by re-reading books from another series. I should have just left it unfinished. I kept hoping it'd get better. It didn't.
Note to self: don't automatically buy books in this series anymore. It's a waste of money!
This book was painful to read.
It's like the author suddenly thinks all the readers and all the characters are idiots. Everything is spelled out, and then repeated. Oh, and then a few chapters later, repeated again. Repeatedly.
Am I using the same words too often in this review? That's a preview for the book.
I would "reward" myself for reading some of this book by re-reading books from another series. I should have just left it unfinished. I kept hoping it'd get better. It didn't.
Note to self: don't automatically buy books in this series anymore. It's a waste of money!
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