I have been a fan of this series since book 1. This one was a disappointment.
The premise of the story sounded very promising. Why has Ross disappeared and who was the poison candy meant for, Ross or his assistant, P. K..
It just felt very rushed towards the end to get to the murderer.
This storyline it seemed that all the characters did was drink coffee, try new recipes, and eat.
There were a lot of good recipes.
I will continue reading this series and hope the next one goes back to the old style.

Well, it's an improvement over Banana Cream Pie Murder. The writing style is still very confusing. It started out with a juvenile style, then randomly switched to describing the death in detail, and went right back to juvenile. I'm still not sure who the target audience is at this point. Ignoring the weird writing, the mystery was pretty good. I am a little annoyed that it ended on another cliffhanger (but wow, that was a shocking one). Since cliffhangers were never used in the series until recently, could this be a ploy to try to keep readers?

I can honestly not say enough about this series! I have loved (and gotten very hungry) with every book. These characters, from book one, have given themselves a place in my heart. I am amazed at how different the author can make each book, the amount of amazing recipes, and the exceptional writing. I always get a bit giddy when I see a new Hannah Swenson book. I know to curl up, relax, and dive right in.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

I really think you need to read this series in order or not read this as a stand alone. I have seen the series on the hallmark movies and mysteries and I realize they take liberties with the characters. Was shocked Hannah was with someone else not Mike or Norman. Not sure that I like that. Overall a good mystery but Hannah seems not as strong and independent in this book as I recall from the Hallmark movies. Would recommend but only to those who have read the previous books. I think it was too hard to jump in on book # 22 of this series and only having had the Hallmark movies as my basis for this character.

I absolutely loved this book! The ending was just what I was hoping for! I'm trying not to give anything away but even the book descriptions of these last few books in this series are sort of spoiler-like if all a person has read has been the first books. I had only read books in the beginning but I knew what was coming and I was just curious to find out! So I didn't mind knowing. Now I can go back and read the rest of the series.
It was two weeks after Ross had left and the police had nothing as to why. Hannah was trying to go about life as usual with her sister Michelle staying at the condo with her and her good friends, Mike and Norman keeping her sanity intact.

The Ross mystery continues through the end of this book but something is revealed then that will explain why he's gone. Hannah's trip to the bank reveals that she is now a very wealthy woman who is also the new owner of Ross's car.

When Ross's assistant eats drugged candy that came from Ross's desk, both Hannah and Mike start wondering if the candy went to its intended victim or was Ross the intended victim. Was he tipped off that someone might be trying to kill him so he left? Only Ross knows for sure!

In the meantime Hannah and Michelle with the help of Norman and sometimes Andrea continued to look into the murder.

Since Thanksgiving and Christmas were getting closer, the Lake Eden Inn is having a holiday gift convention and Hannah is invited to take a booth (for free) plus be able to keep her profits so that ended up being a win-win for the Cookie Jar, which seems to have plenty of regular help.

In this book we get to see more of Andrea's daughter Tracey, a 7-year-old who is working on her career path to be a baker like her Aunt Hannah. Cute kid and smart too! Norman is as sweet as ever and I always get a kick out of Mike and his food-dar as the girls call it since he seems to have a 6th sense as to when to show up at the Cookie Jar or the condo for meals or new baked items.

The take down scene was epic and also very funny. I could totally picture it happening since I happen to be a fan of TV movie Hannah as well so it's easy to picture the on-screen characters doing the scenes in the books. PK's murder got wrapped up nicely, the perp got hauled to jail and the cookie booth at the convention did extremely well in three days. At the very end, Mike came with some important news for Hannah about Ross.

If you're as big of a Hannah fan as I am, you'll do a happy dance, I promise! It's very apparent that Joanne Fluke loves her fans! I can't wait for the next book!

Oh, how I miss the "old" Hannah, the character I came to look forward to checking in with book after book. Up to about book #20 she was still there but not any more. Maybe it's time for a long break or to shut the series down altogether. Hannah is now married, her husband has vanished - foul play or did he do a runner? The Hannah we knew from the beginning would not be beating herself up and being such a downer. She would be out there trying to find answers. So the new husband is missing, his assistant is poisoned and the mystery just doesn't hold together for me. I wanted to give her a lecture and then give her a firm shaking to get her to snap out of her funk. Not even the sort of cliff hanger at the end did anything to change my mind. By the half way point not all that much had happened and I was ready to move on to another book. If I hadn't read the rest of the series I would't have stuck around but would have flipped to the last chapter. This series just seems to have run out of steam and that really disappoints me.

** spoiler alert ** Ok maybe I shouldn't have started with this series here... because this was just ok bordering on boring. The recipes looks great though and I hope to try it.

Reluctant amateur sleuth Hannah (she seemed pretty reluctant though being left behind could've been the reason for that) is depressed about her missing husband and is given another blow when a good friend (?) is murdered. Between getting ready for the trade fair, trying to figure out where Ross is and helping solve PK's murder, she's super busy. Plus there's that shocking reveal in the end.

I guess I'm kinda used to Diane Mott Davidson's mysteries that this story was just ok. Hannah is not that interesting to me except that she's a good baker/cook. Still wondering why the police go to her for help. And Ross, as a love interest there...thumbs down. I never met Ross and Hannah till now and this book isn't making me want to start this series from the beginning. I've read other stories of Joanne Fluke so maybe I'll check the others out instead.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the copy.

I have read all the books in this series and I enjoyed this one more than the last few. I enjoy Hannah’s adventures. The killer was not as obvious to me in this one as in some previous books. I look forward to the next one.

This is another mystery with the character Hannah Swensen. As always there are wonderful recipes included.
I enjoyed the mystery and would recommend. You would not have to have read the other books to enjoy this one. The author explains enough about the characters so that you can jump right in and read this one number 22 in the series.

I used to love Joanne Fluke's book and was really happy to got this one. I didn't read the last instalments and it seemed to me they changed so much that it was hard to recognized them.
The mystery could have been interesting but the flow of the story was interrupted by the recipes and people kept on eating, drinking coffee and discussing details that had small or no relevance to the mystery.
I wanted so much to like this one but I had to force myself to end it as I found it a bit boring.
Hope the next one will be better.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books.

I've been a fan of Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden series since book one. This is the 22th installment of the series and ,admittedly, not my favorite. When Hannah married Ross after dividing her attentions between Mike and Norman since book one, it ruined the character for me. That said, I will continue with the series. Raspberry Danish Murder contains two mysteries, the continuation of the cliffhanger from the last book, "Where is Ross?", and the murder of Ross' assistant, PK, who dies in a car crash as a result of being poisoned. There is a cliffhanger at the end of this book, which left me on the edge of my seat. Now waiting for book 23 to see how it all comes together. Thankfully, baking all the mouth watering recipes included in the book should keep me busy...

I have to say that this series has been struggling for the past couple of books. The conversations between Hannah and her family/friends has gotten unrealistic to say the least. While Hannah is a bit better with technology in this book, the author still has to over explain many parts of the story. Instead of the excitement I once held for this series, it has now become a chore to read. I think it may finally be time for Hannah to retire.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed.

Hannah Swenson, who owns the bakery in small-town Lake Eden, Minnesota, has not heard from her new husband, Ross Barton, in over two weeks. He left home one day, leaving his house keys and car behind with no indication of where he has gone. One evening, Hannah lets P.K., Ross’s assistant, borrow Ross’s car and P.K. ends up dead, wrecking the car after being poisoned. Hannah immediately jumps in to investigate, aided by her best friend, Norman, the dentist. She soon finds that Ross has left her more than just the keys and his car.

Raspberry Danish Murder is the 22nd book in Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swenson series. I have read a few of the books in this series before reading this one, and I believe that this book could be read as a stand-alone, but the reader may be missing the background on most of the characters. The Hannah Swenson series seems to be a very popular cozy mystery series, but I can say after reading this that I am not a fan. First, I find it a little hard to believe that Hannah, a baker, would be allowed to involve herself in a police investigation the way she does in this book, trading clues with her former boyfriend, a policeman, and being able to question witnesses. Second, there wasn’t anything of interest happening in this story – there was nothing that made me care about any of the characters. The characters were all a little annoying to me and a little one-dimensional. Third, I find it difficult to believe that a bakery in such a small town could afford to employ as many people as seem to work there, and still provide enough income for the livelihood of both owners. There were several other things in the story that didn’t make sense to me but I won’t share them because they are spoilers.

In a few places, I wondered who the author thinks might be reading her books when she proceeds to explain that the quote “it never rains, but it pours” means that everything happens at once. Another example occurs when Hannah goes to check her telephone messages, and she sees a blinking light and the numeral five, Fluke explains to the reader that this meant five people had called. Sigh.

Aside from the recipes, which although they sound delicious, seem to feature quite a few bar cookies, it was hard for me to find much to recommend about this book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Surprisingly, this story ends on a cliffhanger. If that will turn you off the way that it did me, this is not the book for you.

I used to enjoy this author's books, but the last few have been especially frustrating with weak story lines and an ungodly amount of recipes. When the recipes are as long as (or longer than) the actual chapters, you're doing something wrong.

This book had what could have been a good story line, but it was incredibly frustrating from start to finish. The story itself seemed to take a back seat to a plethora of meaningless details. While I'm sure the author found what Hannah, Norman, and Michelle bought at the deli interesting, I couldn't have cared less. And the tinsel/war time info/recycling stuff might be interesting in a book about history, but it was stupidly pointless and boring in this book. It felt like the author had a basic idea of a story and then just blathered on and on about unimportant things to bulk it up so she could slap a title on it and get it out fast and make a quick buck. Combine a bunch of pointless details with the recipes that always take up more of Joanne Fluke's books than the actual story and it makes for a very frustrating read.

The first few books of this series were so good and I looked forward to reading the next ones, but I am at the point where I honestly couldn't care less what happens to these characters. I have repeatedly rewarded the bad story-telling behavior of charging a fortune for half a book by buying them, but this will be my last book by this author. I'm tired of paying twice the price of a full-length book for half a book. It just doesn't make sense. I don't even care about the big, infuriating twist at the end. Perhaps Ms. Fluke thinks that having that cliffhanger at the end will convince readers to keep buying her half-written books, but I'm done.

I was graciously granted a copy of this story via NetGalley and wrote this review because I wanted to. I'm sure the publisher wishes that I hadn't.

Raspberry Danish Murder by Joanne Fluke is the latest A Hannah Swensen Mystery. Hannah Swensen Barton is wondering why her husband disappeared two weeks ago. To get her mind off the conundrum, she is keeping herself busy baking delightful treats for The Cookie Jar. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and people are clambering for baked goods. Hannah gets a late-night call from P.K. Alesworth, Ross’s assistant at KCOW Television, who is using Ross’ car while his is being worked on. It is a video call and they (Hannah and Michelle) can instantly tell that something is wrong with Ross. They witness him crash the car after muttering something about candies in Ross’ desk. P.K. is rushed to the hospital, but he does not survive. It turns out that P.K. ingested a lethal dose of a drug that caused a fatal heart attack via candy sent to Ross’ office. They do not know is if the killer was targeting P.K. or Ross since P.K. has been using Ross’ office at the station. Hannah dives into the case to get answers. Along the way, Hannah discovers that she did not know Ross as well as she thought. Why did Ross leave? Is he trying to protect Hannah? Hannah wants answers, and she starts with uncovering P.K.’s killer.

Raspberry Danish Murder is the twenty-second book in A Hannah Swensen Mystery series and it cannot be read alone. A new reader to the series would be utterly lost. I did enjoy Raspberry Danish Murder better than Banana Cream Pie Murder, but it still does not have the feel of the earlier books in the series. The last few books feel as if they are written by someone other than Joanne Fluke. The book has a nice steady pace and smooth transitions. There is a significant amount of repetition of information (the details of the case). One character gets some information than repeats it to Hannah, then Hannah tells Michelle and then they must share it with Mike and Norman. It was completely unnecessary. The dialogue was stilted, and the characters names were overused. Hannah is unlike herself in Raspberry Danish Murder. She is not the strong, confident woman we are used to, and I miss that Hannah Swensen. She actually worried that Ross left her because she might snore (really). The two mysteries are interlaced with baking, chatting, cooking, drinking coffee (I do not know how they can drink that much coffee) and munching on cookies. Every meal and cookie they bake is described in detail. P.K.’s murder is not the main focus. There is a limited suspect list, and, to my disappointment, the culprit is easily identified. The revelations regarding Ross are more interesting. As more details were revealed, the phrase “marry in haste and repent in leisure” came to mind (I wish the author had not brought Ross into the series). Hannah was quick to marry Ross and she now realizes that the background information he gave her is contradictory (I would say more but I do not want to spoil it for you). There is a dilly of a disclosure and cliffhanger at the end of the book (which will have me reading the next book in this series). There are twenty-nine recipes in the book (too many) and an excerpt from Winter Chill at the end. I give Raspberry Danish Murder 3 out of 5 stars. Raspberry Danish Murder is a book for the die-hard Hannah Swensen fans.

Another wonderful story from Joanne Fluke and actions from her characters. Whether you have read any of her books before or not this is a great book. The mystery is wonderful and the characters engaging. If you enjoy her work and watch the movies you will not be disappointed with this new book. I can't wait for the next adventure and mystery. LOVE IT!

Believe it or not, Hannah Swenson has starred in 21 previous novels. Raspberry Danish Murder is the 22nd and it, like the ones before it, are full of easy mouthwatering recipes. Hannah lives in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and owns The Cookie Jar, a popular coffee shop. Of course her life is idyllic, and she and her sisters, mother, and friends spend most of their time drinking coffee and eating cookies. Nobody gains an ounce, and nobody ends up with diabetes or has a heart attack. Life seems to go well even though they accomplish close to nothing compared to real life. There is some bad weather, of course (Minnesota), and Hannah always seems to get herself involved in a murder or two.

In this installment, Hannah’s husband, Ross, who disappeared in the previous novel, is still missing. His assistant, P.K., is murdered, and no one is sure if he was the actual target or if it was Ross. Hannah, of course, investigates; she is broken-hearted because Ross isn’t back, and there is a suspicion of foul play. These last two novels have been a bit different than previous ones, in that there have been cliffhangers at the end, forcing those of us who are hooked on this series to wait longer for the next installment that we’d like.

The recipes are written in such a way that they could be prepared by two year olds (a bit too simplistic and an insult to anyone who has done more than heat a can of soup), and the characters interact like they are in a 60s sitcom. So why do we read the books in the series and anticipate all of the subsequent ones? Why read Raspberry Danish Murder? I have no explanation, except that I’m always first in line to pick up the newest installment and actually keep every one of the Hannah Swenson novels on a shelf and prepare the recipes often when I want something new and delicious.

If you are into cozy mysteries, especially culinary cozy mysteries, Raspberry Danish Murder and the previous novels are highly recommended. They are fast reads, the characters are well-developed (albeit in a fantasy world of their own), and the plots are fun. Hannah and the other main characters have evolved throughout the series, and they seem like real friends and acquaintances.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Solid cozy in true Fluke form. Plenty of action and recipes with a compelling cliff hanger. Love those covers!

Raspberry Danish Murder by Joanne Fluke is the 22nd book in the Hannah Swensen series, and much better than the last couple of books in the series. Hannah was recently married to Ross, after being pursued by both Norman and Mike for years. I will always be team Norman, Mike just shows up to eat. Anyway, Ross has disappeared, leaving behind few clues. On top of Ross disappearance, his assistant at the TV station, P. K., has taken over Ross desk and car when he is discovered murdered. Are the two things related? I am happy this series has gone back to it's old formula. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I recommended this book and series for cozy book lovers. Recipes included.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.