Once again we end up with a weirdly too obvious plot and a lot of stupidity from Hannah and friends. Poor Andrea learns to cook and bake. Mrs. Bascomb has no problem galloping around town socializing after her husband is found dead and Hannah is still cohabitating with Norman and using his master bedroom. Go home Hannah!

Lots of inconsistencies in this book that need better editing.

Twenty-seven books in to the series and this one makes me wonder if someone else is starting to write the books. Why? Well, Hannah has started talking to herself with a suspicious mind and a rational mind. Did she always do that and somehow I have completely forgotten? And when did Andrea stop selling real estate? She seems like an entirely different person here. These distractions aside, Hannah and friends once again come to the rescue when the mayor is murdered in his office. I somehow expected more fanfare for this death as Bascomb has played a large part throughout the series. Usually the people killed are outsiders, not central to Lake Eden. The end result is a book that doesn't quite have the same feel as the rest of the series.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder is the 27th book in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series by Joanne Fluke. I picked up this series with Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (book 24) and I also thoroughly enjoyed book 25, Coconut Layer Cake Murder as well as book 26, Christmas Cupcake Murder.

In Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder Hannah Swensen, the owner of 'The Cookie Jar', is busy working through her enormous Easter order list. She also has to find the time to prepare a festive meal for a dinner party taking place at her mum, Delores' penthouse. In the midst of all of this, Hannah’s older sister Andrea gets added to the suspect list after Mayor Bascomb is found murdered in his office. She was seen arguing with him in attempts to dissuade him from trying to punish her husband, Bill the Sheriff, after he arrested the mayor’s spoiled, drunk nephew Bruce, instead of figuring out a way to let him off.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder was an extremely intriguing tale that included a variety of recipes, many of the treats with an Easter theme and I'm particularly keen to try the Butterscotch Marshmallow Bar Cookies and the Tropical Vacation Bundt Cake! Hannah was delighted to be asked to help with the crime investigation whereas normally her involvement would be considered by the police force to be unwelcome. I thoroughly enjoyed being back with the Lake Eden crowd. Unravelling the mystery in the pockets of Hannah was lots of fun and I welcomed the comfortable pace. In common with the other novels I've read in this series, a lot of cake eating takes place, particularly cheesecake (one of my favourites!) and family and friends regularly get together for champagne drinks, with numerous comedic scenes. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder is a highly recommended five star read and a fabulous Easter-themed story that will be of interest to many cozy readers, and I’m game to see what shenanigans Hannah and the Lake Eden rabble get into next.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Hannah is back at it again. This time Mayor Bascomb is the victim after an altercation with Hannah’s sister, Andrea. Hannah enlists just about the whole town to help her solve the murder.
Opinion
This series is an old favorite of mine. Ms. Fluke has created this perfect small town vibe for her cozy mysteries. The reader has all the fun trying to solve the mystery and none of the gore. Add in the awesome recipes and you have one hell of a book.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I enjoyed this book overall. The characters were as interesting as always and the plot was strong, I did not enjoy the suspicious vs rational conversation of Hannah’s mind. I found these moments confusing and really unnecessary. As always, all of the recipes look delish!

Sigh.
To start, I was actually looking forward to this one; we were back in the present time and now we can see Hannah moving forward after the whole debacle with hewhomustotbenamed. ALLLLLLL good things IMO. If only it was as easy as writing that sentence was.

I have read all of the Hannah Swensen books. Even the short stories. I have spent good money on these books. I read ALL the crappy books that were there for awhile [featuring hewhomustnotbenamed and some of the most ridiculous storylines I have ever read in my whole reading life]. I keep saying that I need to be done with this series because it isn't enjoyable reading for me anymore. And I keep reading them because I hope that they will go back to being what they used to be and because aside from my immense dislike of Hannah, I absolutely love all the other characters. But this book might have broke me. I really do think that I have to be done. And this is why:

1. Hannah and her new "inner dialogue". WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE??? This was truly the most annoying part of the book [besides the end]. It was almost constant and there were at least two chapters where that was how 98% of the whole chapter was written. NO. Just no. Please stop. Hannah doesn't need to be any more annoying than she already it. THIS is both unnecessary and LAZY writing. It needs to stop. It was absolutely horrible.
And the whole "Hannah ignored the inner dialogue/inner conflict" was even more annoying. THIS WAS NOT NEEDED. UGH.

2. How is it, that all of the sudden, ALL THREE OF THE SISTERS have become helpless waifs? None of them have ever been that [especially Michelle and Hannah], and they have all become...helpless and simpering. And it was gross. They are all absolutely used to the men in their lives both helping them and taking care of them, and to have them all of the sudden become simpering, hand-waving, helpless-acting waifs was really annoying. Thankfully, this only happened a few times, but this is also something that needs to stay out of the next book. NONE of these women are helpless waifs [especially the sisters - their father taught them about life and cars and such and to imply otherwise, when previous books have talked about how he taught them is insulting]. Please stop writing them as such.

3. ALL. OF. CHAPTER. 7.
We absolutely did not need a chapter where Hannah and Norman fight over who is nicer [that is easy - Norman. Hannah isn't really a nice person when you come right down to it, though, she breaks some of that mold in this book, much to my delight. More on that later] and it really goes on for WAY too many pages. Like a whole chapter. I may or may not have sprained my eyes from rolling them so hard whilst reading that chapter.

4. WHY WHY WHY is Andrea suddenly acting like she is FIVE??? She is a successful business woman. She sells real estate. She is the wife of the Sheriff. She has two amazing kids and she is a very good mother [even though she does rely on Grandma McCann a lot]. She may not be the greatest cook, but she is not a childish, clingy person. THIS portrayal of her is a huge disservice to her character. Andrea went from being a snappy, critical, character, to someone who I really like and who has developed into an amazing character and this book took that all away from her. I can understand her initial clinging because finding a dead body is horrible. But the rest of it was really lame and just meh. At one point, when she was so "happy to be helping in the kitchen", I thought she was going to squeal and clap her hands like she was a little kid [and Hannah treating her as such - that involved some rather mean "inner dialogue" which was unnecessary] and I actually cringed.
I know that Andrea isn't a great cook and that her whippersnappers are her crowing glory, but WHAT GROWN UP GIRL FROM A SMALL TOWN doesn't know how to make a green salad? Really?
STOP. DUMBING. THESE. WOMEN. DOWN.

5. There is so much repetition in this book, that most chapters was just the same information, told to you twice, just in different ways [and sometimes, not so different ways]. It was like being hammered over the head with the same information so you didn't notice that there wasn't much of a plot and that everything going on was rather lukewarm and that the only thing going on was food and cooking and recipes [all very good things, but there WAS a murder to solve and it was such a weak, weak, investigation] and Hannah's constant inner monologue with herself. In one chapter, Hannah explains to Michelle what desserts she is bringing and why and Michelle is all on board. Fast forward to the middle of the chapter and Michelle asks about the desserts and Hannah tells her what she's brought and why and Michelle goes "That's awesome Hannah. You always think of everything". Uh....what?? Y'all had the conversation just a few short hours before. THE SAME CONVERSATION. <--That is the repetition I am talking about.

6. Hannah at one point says she has never been in love [her inner self asks about hewhomustnotbenamed and her other inner self retorts "that was LUST" and I rolled my eyes. If it was lust we still wouldn't be dwelling on it now would we?]. WHAT?? WHAT has she been doing with Norman and Mike all these years? Has she not had any feelings at all for these two men that she continually has led on? WHY WHY WHY is she still with them if she doesn't LOVE THEM? Or even have a glimmer of a stronger feeling that like for them? WOW. That was just...WOW. She needs therapy.

7. W T H was that reveal/ending?? R E A L L Y?? Meh.

8. Are we even sure that these are still be written by the author? Because this book seems like it was written by someone who has never, ever spent time with these characters.

I will say that there was a moment towards the end of the book [even though I was shocked that Andrea didn't know how to make a freaking green salad, but I digress] where Hannah shuts down the inner monologue and actually HELPS her sister learn how to cook/make something. She works WITH her and doesn't criticize and lets Andrea do it on her own. And then tells everyone that Andrea was the one that made it. And that was a huge step for Hannah. That was one of the few really good parts of the book.

I know this is long and if you have stayed with me for the whole thing, thank you. I hope that you understand why I have had to be brutally honest about what I have read. After 27 books, you have a certain expectation and when that hasn't been [and hasn't been for some time] met, you feel the need to let others along WITH the author the reasons why [and in reading other reviews, I am not the only one who has been continually disappointed by these recent books] the book was just one or two star worthy and what should be changed. Unfortunately, I am not sure the tiny amounts of good in this book is enough for me to continue on to book 28 [should there be one]. And that, after years of reading a series, is very, very disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a DNF for me at 37 percent mark when absolutely nothing had happened. A body was found, though not by the main character, Hannah. Her sister Andrea was the main suspect, so Hannah launched a private investigation that consisted of second-hand accounts and hearsay. But most of the book was filled with mundane tasks, unnecessary descriptions (how many times can you make coffee and do I need a blow by blow of a person entering a room?), and banal conversation that made my teeth ache. All the characters were boring. Hannah had no inner life that the third person POV could reveal, and a sort of boyfriend named Norman who was a dentist of all things uninteresting. Andrea was probably a simpleton, or five, judging by how she needed everything explained to her—that, or the author assumes her audience is. Absolutely nothing advanced the plot or the investigation, and I didn’t really care who murdered the Mayor anyway, so I had to stop. But since this is the 27th book in the series, I presume there’s an audience for it, and they are probably happy with it just the way it is

Hannah is back at work but still living at Norman’s. Her cat Moishe refuses to return to her condo. As typical in these books, life centers around food and cooking. Hannah’s sister Andrea is a chief murder suspect as she finds the mayor dead. Andrea and the mayor had a fight earlier in the day.

I’ve read this series for a long time. Although there are the characters that we love, it seems as if the writing may be not to the par of the earlier books. The conversations seem a little adolescent and it might be past time to let Hannah take a next step in her life. As normal the book is filled with recipes to make. I enjoyed but hope for more from the next book.

Overall, I really liked this book. It’s not a good as previous stories but more in track with the before Ross novels.
Liked the depth of care Norman and Hannah had for each other while Hannah is trying to get over her relationship with Ross & his death.

Didn’t like the technique of using suspicious vs rational parts of Hannah’s mind. Too gimmicky and this hasn’t been a part of Hannah’s story this novel. The suspicious mind was too snarky for Hannah’s character.

Loads of recipes, some I’ll never make but others are worth a try.

I was given an advanced copy by Netgalley. I am not required to leave a positive review.

Baker/sleuth Hannah Swensen Is investigating the murder of the Mayor and the prime suspect is her sister Andrea. Great read loaded with recipes.

A deliciously fun romp return to Lake Eden and it was everything fans of the series have come to expect and love over the years.

This series has been so back and forth over the books- for awhile, it felt like Joanne Fluke was letting Hannah (and the other characters) grown and change a little bit, and move the overarching plot of the series forward. But with this one, it's back to the same old, same old, and honestly while the victim in this one is interesting, the ultimate resolution to this one was rapid and a little bit of a let down. Nothing much happens that develops the characters, and while many of the recipes in the series have definitely been Minnesota potluck friendly, the reliance of cake mixes for things that Hannah is supposedly going to be serving in her bakery is a little much.

Fun mystery that isn’t so simple. Strong characters with a bit of humor. Enjoy this easy read
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc

First, let me say that I love Joanne Fluke as an author. I have all the Hannah Swenson books and feel like they are part of my family. I have even fixed some of the recipes provided in the books! And I have read and enjoyed other books by Fluke. That is why this review is difficult to write. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder does not live up to any of the books written by Fluke. The only part of the book that is halfway enjoyable are the recipes. And I say halfway because in most of the recipes there is too much detail and "reminders". As for the story, it was painful to read. Fluke writes as if her readers are too simple minded to understand, without constant repitition, what is happening in the story. From each character repeating what the previous character just said to Hannah arguing with herself in an attempt to explain her trust issue. Also, if people drank as much coffee and ate like these people eat (constantly!), there would not be murders to solve. Instead, people would drop dead from heart attacks and diabetic shock! So, to sum up Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder, there is lots of eating, lots of coffee, lots of recipes, lots of repeated dialogue and, oh, a murder.
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke is the 27th book in the Hannah Swensen series, and it's very disappointing. I have read every book in this series, and it's had it's ups and downs, but what did I just read? There was no suspense, this book was about eating, baking and cooking. This book is half recipes, I don't like the recipes after the chapters, I much prefer them in the back of the book. I might be done with this series, very sad.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A cute small town mystery with quirky characters in this delightful who done it murder mystery. This was a fun read.

Hannah Swensen is back in the 27th book in the Lake Eden mystery series. She is once again drawn into a murder case when the town mayor is found killed. Mayor Bascomb has been involved in the series from the start, so he has a lot of history and connections with various characters from the series. The plot of the mystery is very straight forward and there aren't a bunch of red herrings. In fact, I felt the mystery portion could have been much more fleshed out and interesting, considering the victim was an important member of the community. Joanne Fluke missed an opportunity here to create a more dynamic story. Instead, so much of the book is spent on discussing food, making and drinking coffee (seriously no one can drink that much coffee!) and Hannah's odd inner monologue. It's so frustrating to read this series because the quality has gone down quite a bit and yet, I still find myself reading each one. I'm just so invested in the series after following it for so long.

I wouldn't recommend this book if you are new to the series, Go back the the beginning and the first installments that were much more involved and the series was fresh. I hope that Joanne Fluke either gives up on the series or finally gives Hannah the story and love connection she deserves.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke follows the formula of most of the other books in the Hannah Swensen series. Depending on how you count it, the book is number 28 or so. It stands to reason that the author is not going to mess with success. When she did deviate from the formula, she probably caught lots of flak for it, because she quickly developed a plot to return to her original formula.

The original formula is one of the reasons readers keep coming back to this series...well, that and reading about some of the delicious recipes. The actual writing of the book probably earns somewhere between a 3 and 3.5 rating as it is not that inventive and half of the dialogue is about various recipes the characters are trying. The 4-star rating goes for comfort reading. Readers have come to expect certain things from this series and Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder delivers those things very well.

Fans of the Hannah Swensen series will be satisfied and perhaps even enticed into believing the author is picking a direction on her long and drawn-out romance front. The thing about this book that is a bit unnerving is wondering if Joanne Fluke is really just trying to misdirect the readers and in the end, she will hit them with another plot twist. In the meantime, readers can enjoy the recipes and their friends from Lake Eden.

Hannah is back in the mystery solving "business" which is always an enjoyable story. Plenty of recipes to make your mouth water. Supportive family and friends are always helpful while Hannah delves into crimes with or without the support of law enforcement.

However this book seemed like the author was trying too hard.
Recipes were more detailed than usual, and from this experienced cook, I felt they were "dumbed down" for an inexperienced cook. That made me stop reading them. (They also seemed to have a little too many ingredients not usually found in the pantry, including a cheese I was totally unfamiliar with and didn't know if it was a brand or flavor.)
There were so many internal dialogues between Hannah's "positive/negative" sides that they were distracting and often unnecessary. I don't even remember these from other books in the series.
In another place, Hannah and Mike essentially repeated a conversation.
The friendship between Norman and Hannah came across as too goody-goody with Norman appearing totally selfless. It no longer feels like a genuine relationship.

Giving credit where it's definitely due, the book is an interesting mystery with so many suspects and directions it could go. Just not my favorite in the series.

I would like to thank Kensington Books for allowing me to read and review the book prepublication. The opinions expressed are strictly my own unbiased thoughts.

As always, a quick read with the folks of Lake Eden. Hannah's sister Andrea gets into an argument with the Mayor. She's so angry that she slaps him and storms out of the house. Later on when the Mayor is found dead, Andrea becomes the number one suspect. What's Hannah to do, but come to her rescue!

I love the characters of this series. This book was enjoyable but perhaps more time was spent on the food than the mystery. I like when Hannah is sleuthing and the plot flows better when this happens. Still enjoyed it and Happy to add to my collection

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a free copy for an honest review