Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

By: Joanne Fluke

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

In her first foray into the sleuthing game, resourceful, red-headed Hannah Swensen must find the right ingredients to solve two perplexing murders. One chilly morning on her way to The Cookie Jar, Hannah discovers Ron, the dairy delivery man, shot dead in his truck. When she begins to investigate, she suspects the dairy owner. But when he, too, is murdered, Hannah must look further afield for the culprit.

©2006 Joanne Fluke (P)2007 Recorded Books

hallmark made for movie series

this is better than the series....it should have said something about it when purchasing...great listen

Great cozy, better cookies

This was a wonderful cozy style amateur sleuth mystery.

The main character -cookie baker turned investigator- Hannah was immediately likable. She had a great attitude, and I liked both her internal sarcastic and flippant commentary and her reminders to be more tactful, and I appreciated her intelligence and the logical way she went about trying to follow up all of her leads.

Plot-wise, there were one or two things I picked up on earlier than Hannah (like Danielle's situation) but she caught up, and she always tried to do the right thing and help people when she could (like getting Tracy's old things to Luanne). I also realized the true identity of the murderer a step ahead of her, but she was biased a bit about her suspect, so I forgave her oversight. And of course the Eureka moment wouldn't have been nearly as suspenseful or well/satisfyingly played out if she'd come to the correct conclusion earlier. With Hannah doing all the sleuthing and legwork that she did, I wonder how Bill is going to get on during future investigations...

Great supporting cast of friends, family, and other townspeople ... Norman was entertaining, as were "the mothers" (though thank heavens my mom isn't of the matchmaking persuasion). Her shop assistant and friend Lisa sounds like a godsend, the kindest and hardest working young woman you'll ever meet. I wasn't sure about Hannah's sister Andrea but she grew on me, and her daughter was adorable. And I have high hopes for the new detective in town.

And I can't forget to mention the cookies! I loved all the cookies. I've bookmarked and copied out the recipes and can't wait to bake them -the chocolate covered cherry delights especially, they sounded to-die-for. My mouth is watering just thinking about them...

The narration was great. Suzanne Toren had the perfect tone for Hannah - sometimes she sounded like a no nonsense Catherine Hepburn type, which I thought was perfect. She did manage varied voices for most of the cast, though a few of the younger females sounded a bit too high and airy for my liking. For the male voices she didn't do anything too rough or growl-y sounding, she lowered her tone a little, but aside from knowing who was speaking, they didn't have a distinct masculine quality- but that's fine by me. I'd rather have it sound natural and distinct and less male sounding than to have to grit my teeth through a poor attempt at a deep or gruff tone that just sounds constipated or always angry (which I have heard female narrators do to the heroes of novels)... It was well done, no glaring inconsistencies in dialogue or other narration or editing issues.

I look forward to the next installment (both for the great story and characters, and for the recipes)!

Cute Mystery with Recipes

Hannah Swensen owns The Cookie Jar, a small coffee house and bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota. Life in this small town is good, until Hannah finds Ron LaSalle, the delivery man for Cozy Cow Dairy, murdered in the alley behind the bakery. As Hannah discusses the murder with her brother-in-law, Deputy Sheriff Bill Todd, he asks her to help him uncover the killer.

This is the first book in the Hannah Swensen series. I liked Hannah and her determination to help her brother solve this mystery, but I did find it strange that he would ask her to help. I don't think the police would want a civilian interviewing suspects. But, it did move the story forward and put Hannah into the thick of the whodunit.

This mystery had loads of suspects with a couple red herrings. I eliminated some suspects only to add them back to the list later. The narration was very good. I'm looking forward to more of this series.

This Is Everything You Want in a Cozy

I read cozy mysteries because they are a fun, clean, sweet escape. That's what you get with a cozy. This is all of that and more. It's honestly the perfect cozy. You get to sleuth along with the main character. The characters are fun and loveable in a caricature of a town. I love all mysteries and thrillers as well...but sometimes you just want to escape to a place that's not too scary and still mysterious....with a hint of romance and some fun recipes. This is all of that and more. Love this series. It's no wonder Joanne Fluke is such a popular author. The narrator was quite perfect for the book. I just purchased the second book in the series and I can't wait to start that one.

Funny, inoffensive, light murder

What did you love best about Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder?

It's hard to pin it down to one or two things. I like Ms. Fluke's fun, inoffensive style. Even though there's murder involved (and I'm a big murder mystery fan), this series of books provides a light, enjoyable, good-natured read. It's nice, too, to read a book that doesn't resort to five expletives on every line. As a guy, I'm surprised I like this book as much as I do, but there's no denying it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder?

I think that would be the lead-up to, and the finding of the second body. You kind of know it's about to happen, but you're still caught up in how exactly it does happen.

Which scene was your favorite?

I think any scenes involving the child Tracey are my favorite.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Antedote to Low-Fat Gore

Any additional comments?

The narration in this book is also terrific. My only complaint is that the narrator has a slight problem keeping her different voices consistent. But that's okay, she still does a terrific job.

Great start to series

Well read and an entertaining story. Easy to just keep listening and enjoy. Easy to imagine small town mystery.

love this series ❤

I have loved this series since the beginning however with audible books I think that they could have found a different reader but it wasn't horrible just not the greatest

A bit slow for my taste.

This was my first book I listened too from Joanne Fluke. A bit slow, not really impressed. I’ll try one more just in case this was a dud.

Lovely calm read

For those that enjoy a calm mystery word word word word word word word word

Pleasant Listening

Light book with development of characters which am sure will be in all of her books. This book is very much like Diane Mott Davidsons writing.
Will probably read the remaining of her books.