Hannah Swensen Mystery #27
The beloved New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Culinary Mystery delivers a new mouthwatering Hannah Swensen Mystery with brand new recipes, but it’s not just chocolate bunnies and Peeps on the menu, this year someone is serving up murder for Easter!
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller!
Spring has sprung in Lake Eden, Minnesota, but Hannah Swensen doesn’t have time to stop and smell the roses—not with hot cross buns to make, treats to bake, and a sister to exonerate . . .
Hannah’s up to her ears with Easter orders rushing in at The Cookie Jar, plus a festive meal to prepare for a dinner party at her mother’s penthouse. But everything comes crashing to a halt when Hannah receives a panicked call from her sister Andrea—Mayor Richard Bascomb has been murdered . . . and Andrea is the prime suspect.
Even with his reputation for being a bully, Mayor Bascomb had been unusually testy in the days leading up to his death, leaving Hannah to wonder if he knew he was in danger. There are plenty of suspects to sift through for sure. And as orders pile up at The Cookie Jar—and children line up for Easter egg hunts—Hannah must spring into investigation mode and identify the real killer . . . before another murder happens!
Features Over a Dozen Cookie and Dessert Recipes from The Cookie Jar!
“Another sweet-tempered outing filled with tempting sweets.” —Kirkus Reviews
Chapter One
The chairs in Mayor Bascomb’s outer office were uncomfortable and Hannah Swensen shifted her position. She’d brought the mayor’s secretary, Terry Neilson, some sample cookies from The Cookie Jar, Hannah’s bakery and coffee shop, and Terry was reaching for her third Chocolate Chip Crunch cookie.
“These are great cookies, Hannah!” Terry told her, biting into the crunchy confection. “I’d better stop soon or Mayor Bascomb won’t get any of these.”
“Forget it, Andrea!” Mayor Bascomb’s voice was so loud they could hear it in the outer office. “Nothing you can say will change my mind. And if you keep it up, you’re going to make me even madder! You and I both know that Bill was wrong to make that arrest!”
“Uh-oh!” Terry reacted to the angry words that they could hear even though the mayor’s office door was closed. “He’s been in a horrid mood all week, and now he’s on a real rant. I really hope your sister’s got enough sense to leave before he says something really nasty.”
Hannah sighed and shook her head. “Andrea won’t leave. She’s never walked away from a fight in her life. She’s even more stubborn than Mayor Bascomb, especially when somebody insults her husband. And from what she told me, Bill was caught between a rock and a hard place. He had to arrest the mayor’s nephew. The state trooper was standing right there, and Bill couldn’t just let Bruce go the way he did the last two times.”
Terry looked very apologetic. “I know. Bruce is a real menace on the road when he gets a snootful. I told the mayor that, but he never listens to reason when it comes to his brother’s kid. He still thinks that Bill should have figured out a way to let Bruce go.”
“But didn’t the state trooper test Bruce for alcohol?”
“Yes, and Bruce’s blood alcohol was twice as high as it should have been.”
“I don’t want to hear it, Andrea!” The mayor’s angry voice interrupted their conversation. “My mind’s made up, and your husband is history. He won’t even get a job as a dogcatcher as long as I’m the mayor of Lake Eden!”
Both Hannah and Terry listened, but they couldn’t hear Andrea’s response. This made Hannah proud of her younger sister. So far, Andrea hadn’t yelled back. The fact that they couldn’t hear her meant that Andrea was still using a perfectly reasonable tone of voice, but Hannah knew that couldn’t last forever. Eventually, Andrea would lose control and she’d give the mayor a piece of her mind!
“I’m impressed,” Terry said admiringly. “Andrea’s really keeping her cool.”
“Yes, she is . . . so far. But she’s always been very protective of her family. If Mayor Bascomb keeps this up, she’ll snap.”
“I almost wish she would. Nobody else has the nerve to tell him when he’s being a you-know-what. Did Andrea tell you that Bill came in to talk to the mayor yesterday?”
“Yes, and she said the mayor refused to see Bill. That’s one of the reasons Andrea came over here today. She promised me she’d be calm and reasonable, but she also said that she’d kick down his office door if he refused to see her.”
“Do you think she actually would have done it?”
Hannah laughed. “Oh, yes. Maybe she wouldn’t have succeeded. It looks like a pretty heavy door to me. But I know that Andrea would have given it her best shot. She’s in mother-lion-protecting-her-cub mode.”
“Enough!” Mayor Bascomb’s voice was even louder than it had been before. “I’ve listened to your pathetic whining and sniveling for long enough. You’re every bit as stupid as your husband!”
“Let me tell you something, Mayor Bascomb . . .” Andrea’s voice was louder.
Hannah picked up her purse and Andrea’s parka. “I think that’ll do it,” she said.
“You mean Andrea’s going to . . .”
“You bet,” Hannah interrupted. “I know my sister and she can’t take much more.”
“You’re the one who’s pathetic!” Andrea’s voice was almost as loud as Mayor Bascomb’s had been. “You’re nothing but a bully, and it’s long past time that somebody stood up to you!”
“And you think that you can stand up to me, little lady?”
“I know I can! Bill’s too much of a gentleman to take you on, but not me! Somebody’s got to give you exactly what you deserve, you . . . you pig!”
Hannah jumped up from the chair. “Grab your coat, Terry! When Andrea charges in here, it’s time for us all to get out of Dodge!”
“Right!” Terry grabbed her coat and purse and was pulling on her boots when they heard a sharp, stinging sound that was followed by a loud crash. “She slapped him?”
“That’s what it sounded like to me. I think she slapped him right out of his chair!” Hannah hurried across the room and opened the door to the hallway. “Go out first, Terry. And stand out of the way. Andrea’s so mad, she’s going to explode out the door!”
Terry grabbed the plate of cookies that Hannah had brought, and ran to the door. She had just stepped out into the hallway when Andrea came storming out of Mayor Bascomb’s office. “Whoa!” Terry gasped, sheltering against the wall as Andrea raced past her. “Wait for us, Andrea!”
But Andrea didn’t wait. She practically flew down the staircase and out into the street. By the time Hannah and Terry had managed to catch up with her, she was leaning against the old-fashioned designer lamppost in front of the building, gasping for breath.
“Here, Andrea,” Hannah, who had been holding her sister’s parka, draped it around Andrea’s shoulders. “Deep, calming breaths. It’s okay. You’re out of there now.”
“I . . . I . . . I . . .”
“We heard,” Hannah told her.
“I . . . slapped . . .”
“We know,” Terry said.
“I . . . knocked . . . him . . .”
“You knocked him over in his chair,” Hannah finished the sentence for her. “Put your arms in your sleeves, Andrea. It’s cold out here and you’re overheated.”
“Nasty . . . bully,” Andrea managed to say. “I . . . I should have killed him!”
“A lot of people feel that way,” Terry said.
“But . . . all I did was . . . was slap him!”
“Nobody else has ever done that before,” Terry told her. “They might have felt like it, but they never had the courage to actually do it.”
Once Andrea had calmed down enough to zip up her parka, they walked to their respective cars. “That was a really loud crash,” Terry said as she unlocked her car door and slid into the driver’s seat. “I wonder if you broke his chair.”
“Maybe.” Andrea gave a weak little smile. “I hope I did, but after the things he said about Bill, I should have broken his neck!”
Release Date: May 16, 2026
Release Time: 84 minutes
Director: Peter Benson
Cast:
Alison Sweeney as Hannah Swensen
Victor Webster as Chad
Barbara Niven as Delores
Daylin Willis as Lonnie
Tess Atkins as Michelle
Mike Dopud as Sheriff Ron Ealing
Juliana Wimbles as Lisa
Meghan Heffern as Mitzi Jacobson
Cliff Prang as Paul Jacobson
Rhonda Dent as Danielle Straub
David Attar as Lucas Straub
Jaylee Hamidi as Terry Neilson
Chris Shields as Judge Talley
Tyrone Pak as Witness
Carey Feehan as Pro Shop Employee
Nevin Burkholder as Fisherman
Potato as Moishe the Cat
Joanne Fluke is the multi-book New York Times bestselling Cozy Mystery author of over 20 novels in the Hannah Swensen Mysteries series. Like Hannah Swensen, she was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in sunny Southern California. She is currently working on her next Hannah Swensen mystery, "Coconut Layer Cake Murder" ( available on Amazon.com for pre-order NOW!) Readers are welcome to contact her at the following e-mail address: Gr8Cles@joannefluke.com, or by visiting her website.
EMAIL: Gr8Cles@joannefluke.com
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder #27
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