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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Caramel Pecan Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke 304 pages 7 hours and 59 minutes narrated by Suzanne Toren
Hannah Swenson #28 (25 according to my library)
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Food, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Humor
Featuring: Minnesota, Slapstick, Questionable Recipes, Murder, Sex - off-camera, Drinking, Strange Relationships, Small Towns, Blatant Stupidity, Unrelieved Banter, Monotonous Conversations, Tedious Investigating, Capitan Obvious, Television Show Style Flow and Continuity, Cliffhanger
Rating as a movie: PG-13 for adult themes
My rating: ⭐¾
Opening Scene: Hannah is baking cookies at The Cookie Jar when the phone on the wall rings. She goes through a list of employees she won't wait for and answers the phone. Mike wants to know if Earl is there because there has been an accident and he needs a tow truck. Earl is in the dining room with his wife, Hannah motions him into the kitchen where he uses the phone. Earl is going to get Digger, also at The Cookie Jar, because Mike wants him to drive his hearse up and down the road because the sight of it makes drivers slow down and drive carefully.
My thoughts: 20% - Meh.
31% - OK, I'll just be honest, the story doesn't make any sense at all. The opening scene was ridiculous, the plot is just pathetic, and all these good ideas are actually terrible ideas and silly to boot, but they are "a stroke of genius" according to the characters. This is very Three Stooges and I'm just going to pretend it's a parody to get through it.
53% - Over 40!
75% - This plot is thin!
91% - You ain't learned nothing in all these years? Don't do it girl!
The opening scene says it all. The story makes no sense. Why wouldn't Earl have a cellphone or pager for his tow truck company? Accidents stop traffic, you don't need a hearse to remind people of their mortality to slow them down. Do they not have rubbernecking in Lake Eden? In previous books, Hannah got her information the old-fashioned way, gossip but now she is the local dispatcher and apparently head detective. There is no real plot here. This story is night and day from the last book and I'm starting to believe the ghostwriting claims. This series has become very BSC lately. Instead of repeating previous scenes with new food, Caramel Pecan has a series of new scenes that are loosely connected and somehow moves the story along. No one actually does their job so, they can all hang around the Lake Eden Inn for a fishing tournament pretending to work while waiting for someone to die. They even gave Andrea a job in the kitchen. This book is 60% recipes, expected, and 40% sitting around talking, annoying. I didn't hate it as much as Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder, but at least that was a true book. This is like a sitcom, you don't know how you got to the next scene, but here you are, plothole, but keep it moving. My mom gave up on this series around Wedding Cake Murder, once again my mom was right. This will be my last book, I finally don't care anymore. On the bright side, there weren't any house fires, never mind, Hannah has been displaced just the same.
Recommend to others?: Nope. I'd had a better time as a kid listening to my grandma argue with the TV during her soaps.
Hannah Swenson #28 (25 according to my library)
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Food, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Humor
Featuring: Minnesota, Slapstick, Questionable Recipes, Murder, Sex - off-camera, Drinking, Strange Relationships, Small Towns, Blatant Stupidity, Unrelieved Banter, Monotonous Conversations, Tedious Investigating, Capitan Obvious, Television Show Style Flow and Continuity, Cliffhanger
Rating as a movie: PG-13 for adult themes
My rating: ⭐¾
Opening Scene: Hannah is baking cookies at The Cookie Jar when the phone on the wall rings. She goes through a list of employees she won't wait for and answers the phone. Mike wants to know if Earl is there because there has been an accident and he needs a tow truck. Earl is in the dining room with his wife, Hannah motions him into the kitchen where he uses the phone. Earl is going to get Digger, also at The Cookie Jar, because Mike wants him to drive his hearse up and down the road because the sight of it makes drivers slow down and drive carefully.
My thoughts: 20% - Meh.
31% - OK, I'll just be honest, the story doesn't make any sense at all. The opening scene was ridiculous, the plot is just pathetic, and all these good ideas are actually terrible ideas and silly to boot, but they are "a stroke of genius" according to the characters. This is very Three Stooges and I'm just going to pretend it's a parody to get through it.
53% - Over 40!
75% - This plot is thin!
91% - You ain't learned nothing in all these years? Don't do it girl!
The opening scene says it all. The story makes no sense. Why wouldn't Earl have a cellphone or pager for his tow truck company? Accidents stop traffic, you don't need a hearse to remind people of their mortality to slow them down. Do they not have rubbernecking in Lake Eden? In previous books, Hannah got her information the old-fashioned way, gossip but now she is the local dispatcher and apparently head detective. There is no real plot here. This story is night and day from the last book and I'm starting to believe the ghostwriting claims. This series has become very BSC lately. Instead of repeating previous scenes with new food, Caramel Pecan has a series of new scenes that are loosely connected and somehow moves the story along. No one actually does their job so, they can all hang around the Lake Eden Inn for a fishing tournament pretending to work while waiting for someone to die. They even gave Andrea a job in the kitchen. This book is 60% recipes, expected, and 40% sitting around talking, annoying. I didn't hate it as much as Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder, but at least that was a true book. This is like a sitcom, you don't know how you got to the next scene, but here you are, plothole, but keep it moving. My mom gave up on this series around Wedding Cake Murder, once again my mom was right. This will be my last book, I finally don't care anymore. On the bright side, there weren't any house fires, never mind, Hannah has been displaced just the same.
Recommend to others?: Nope. I'd had a better time as a kid listening to my grandma argue with the TV during her soaps.
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
A sweet break from some of my heavier reading, Hannah also takes a break from her cookie shop to help out at the local inn during a fishing tournament. No surprise, someone ends up dead. And, honestly, no surprise who did the dastardly deed. I was a little surprised that at no point did Hannah check in with The Cookie Jar to see how things were going. I did somehow feel like the story wrapped up too quickly at the end. The fishing tournament seemed like the main storyline and I think I could have used an extra chapter at the end to tie that up, even after the murder had been solved. And yes, I know, normally I complain that the books linger on and on after solving the crime. But, I did like how the ending leaves us wondering what will take place in the next installment. Seems like the author has finally figured out where this series might be headed!
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No