Reviews - Double Fudge Brownie Murder

Double Fudge Brownie Murder by Joanne Fluke

199 reviews for:

Well, I have never been madder at a fictional character. I have read all the Hannah Swensen but this may well be the last. As many before have said, it is almost as if it was written by a different author.

First of all, the 'murder mystery' hardly exists and even if it catches your interest you have NO chance of solving it because Ms Fluke commits what has been a cardinal sin of mystery writing for nearly a century - she introduces a random character right at the end complete with back story that Hannah would surely have been aware of - if only because it is a complete rip-off of a very famous case.

But what really, really got to me was the apparent resolution of the 'love triangle' (Team Norman here, by the way) by the introduction of another character. To be fair, he is not a completely new introduction and when he was in a previous story I did think there was supposed to a 'spark' between him and Hannah, but then he vanished from the storyline - until now. What quality is this woman supposed to have that she can keep THREE men dangling after her? As regards how she behaves in this book towards two of them, all I can say is there are words for women like Hannah but I couldn't possibly use them in a public review...

Finally, why has Hannah been 'dumbed down' so much and WHY is the book so padded out with recipes that are fairly mundane but which are apparently completely unknown to our heroine. Someone has already commented that she was wrong about the peppers. As a Brit, I was struck dumb by a comment at the start of Chapter 9 - Hannah wonders why the court parking spaces are marked 'Counselor' which apparently is the British term for lawyers - er, no, no it most certainly is not and I have NO idea why Hannah (or Ms Fluke) would believe it was...although since Hannah has to be taught how to use a smartphone by a 7 (?) year old perhaps her IQ has dropped even more than I thought.

Despite all this I probably will read the next instalment of this series as it was left on a cliff hanger of sorts - but unless this author seriously ups her game, I sincerely hope the next one is the last.

readkerryread's review

3.0

I typically read these books for the recipes. When I make them, they have always been successfully approved by those sampling them. They books are campy enough to not be totally dreadful. Though I have to say they are getting a little out there. Hannah seems to be more dense than usual.

The introduction of a third suitor is a bit much. We shall see how this plays out.