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Review: 'Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder' by Joanne Fluke

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I first read about this book on the blog Musings of a Bookshop Girl and was tempted in by the fact that the story was laced with recipes for cookies - yes, I'm that easy to suck in! So, here are my thoughts:

What the blurb said:

Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off, while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunches scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp.



What I would say:

Apparently, this type of book is known in the literary world as a "cozy". I hadn't heard of this but the description does fit...

"...a mystery which includes a bloodless crime and contains very little violence, sex or coarse language...The character solving the crime is often an amateur sleuth who becomes involved for personal reasons"


What I loved the most about this book (awesome recipes aside - Regency Ginger Cookie anyone?) was that it was set in a cutesy little village and had quaint little clues thrown all over a la Murder She Wrote, for example, lipstick on a cup and a cryptic appointment in a diary.

Hannah Swensen, who discovers the crime, is pursuing the murderer to help her brother-in-law secure a promotion. She pulls off endearingly nosy perfectly and the village residents are great back up. Don't expect political intrigue or mega criminal twists - just good clean fun with a teensy bit of murder.

Overall: This is completely inoffensive and very entertaining for a sunny afternoon or two. Kind of like munching your way through a plate of cookies but without the post-gorge guilt!

If you fancy checking out this and the rest of the series (do it...), try Joanne Fluke's website here
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