Name: Cherry Cheesecake Murder
ISBN: 9780758202956

Joanne Fluke

When Main Street in Lake Eden becomes a movie set, a clever killer rewrites the script and bakery owner Hannah Swenson must sift through a cast of suspects before the film wraps with an even deadlier ending.

Cherry Cheesecake Murder

Annalissa Powner 

I really wanted to give this book a 5 star review but because of the sudden love instead that was thrown in I couldn't. I loved the twists and the sisterly bonding that has grown so much stronger, but this whole love triangle turned square was too far. I understand blast from the past but the way Hannah treated Norman and mike was just too much. Good read otherwise.

Boothby

Hannah is the black hole at the center of town that everyone orbits around. That's what the book is really about. There isn't much mystery solving. Hannah gossips with her friends about who had motives for almost a week, and then the murderer makes a very obvious play that anyone would notice. 

The book is also weirdly condescending to the people around Hannah, but the knowledge and skills that are supposed to make Hannah seem smart are really basic and widely known. If she were an unreliable narrator, you might infer that Hannah actually isn't very bright, but she's not self aware enough to see that the things that she applauds herself for, like reading upsidedown* or knowing that small cakes bake differently than large ones, aren't actually impressive. But nope, Hannah truly is the smartest person in the book... it makes me wonder if Hannah's level of intelligence is simply the upper limit that this author can depict. Like, she goes to the trouble to explain "script edits" as though she thinks that's a difficult concept.

*The passage about hannah's upsidedown reading thing is actually hilarious: she's reading her sister's grocery list from across the table, so we get a generous paragraph of flashback describing how she taught herself to read upsidedown as a child by helping her sisters read. Then when she mentions the items on her sister's list, her sister is shocked that she could read it upsidedown. Wow, what cunning!

Mean book club pick btw

Ley Stanton

Way too much fluff in this book, I could have been much shorter. But I liked the reveal in this one, even if it was a bit of a cliche twist.

laura

Another strong mystery in this world. book 2 i did not know the killer in a row. can't wait to read more soon!