Devil's Food Cake Murder

January 3, 2011
Bestseller Fluke's fabulous 14th foodie mystery (after 2010's Apple Turnover Murder) finds Hannah Swenson, the baking whiz of the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minn., still torn between the two less than perfect men in her life—dentist Norman Rhodes, whose attractive former fiancée and fellow dentist, Bev Thorndike, has just joined Norman's practice, and Mike Kingston, Winnetka County's chief detective, who has a roving eye. When someone shoots visiting Lutheran minister Matthew Walters, who's covering Rev. Bob Knudsen's duties at Holy Redeemer while Bob is on a belated honeymoon cruise, the only witness to the murder is Jacob, a mynah bird, who squawks, "The wages of sin is death." Unlike your typical boyfriend cop, Mike is thrilled to have Hannah tracking down clues. Between eating and baking, Hannah and cronies investigate Matthew's background, especially his relationship to his creepy, paroled convict cousin, Paul. Mouthwatering recipes include butterscotch bonanza bars and pineapple casserole.