Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke

Hannah Swensen is back in her seventh mystery set in Lake Eden, Minnesota. It is the February, so cue lots of snow, heaters...and murder.

Hannah's business is in a bit of a slump. The gorgeous Quinn sisters have opened a bakery just across the street, and it seems as though the whole town has taken their loyalty with them across the road even thoug Hannah's baked goods taste much better than theirs. To make it worse, it still seems as that Shawna Lee Quinn is chasing after Mike Kingston, one of Hannah's regular dates, so they are rivals in love as well as business.

After Shawna Lee doesn't turn up to Hannah's partner Lisa's wedding, Hannah notices that the lights are on in the bakery across the road, so sets off to check if everything is okay. Lake Eden being the dangerous place that it is, Hannah finds Shawna Lee, but unfortunately a murderer has found her first! Hannah is an obvious suspect, although she quickly provides her alibi, and decides that it is her duty to investigate the murder.

I have read all the Hannah Swensen murders and whilst this was a welcome return to a full length mystery after Sugar Cookie Murder, this wasn't the best of Joanne Fluke's books. The murder investigatioin seemed a bit flat, and a bit obvious really, although there were a couple of interesting subplots.

Or maybe it is just that there is one thing that is really, really beginning to irritate me in relation to this series, and that is Hannah's love life. I understand that having our heroine dithering between two men makes for interesting reading, and almost like a hook to pick up the next book to see what happens next, but this has been going on for seven books now! And neither relationship appears to be progressing much, until right at the end of this book, but even that cliffhanger still doesn't resolve any issues. And there is much shock horror at the thought of any of the unmarried couples in the book sleeping together, so chances are that that isn't happening either!

The two men in question are as different as chalk and cheese. Norman is the town dentist, comfortable, safe, companiable, whilst Mike is the sexy town policeman who sets Hannah's heartrate sky high whenever she sees him. Sure they both have positives, but surely after a year or two of dating both of them, Hannah should be in a position to be able to choose which one she wants. Or maybe I just don't understand the American dating system.

Whilst I still enjoyed Peach Cobbler Murder, and will continue to read the series, please Ms Fluke, give us some resolution!

You can read my post about other books in this series here.

Rating 3.5 out of 5