Coconut Layer Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Fans of Hannah Swensen can rejoice as their wait for the latest in Joanne Fluke's cozy mystery series is over. If you enjoy the series, then you will love Coconut Layer Cake Murder.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

February 2020; Kensington; 978-1496718891
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); cozy mystery

The Hannah Swensen series is light and fluffy, much like the baked goods featured in every book.

Coconut Layer Cake Murder is the 25th book in the series. It isn't absolutely necessary to have read all the books in the series, as I have not. I'm starting to think I should read the series backwards instead of going back to the beginning and reading them in order as I have a few questions. I have read books 1 - 5 and in those, she is dating Norman and Mike is still interested in her. So I'm curious about what happened and how she wound up married to another man. (I've also read book 24 Chocolate Cream Pie Murder) In Coconut Layer Cake Murder, I might have gotten the answer to what happened between Norman and Hannah.

The book has everything that fans of the series have come to know and love. It is chocked full of recipes. I do wish they didn't make 5 or 6 dozen as some of the cookies sound really good. The cakes are more manageable sizes so I might try one of them. Have you ever tried one of the recipes in this series?

Because one of the detectives of the local police force is the main suspect in a murder investigation most of the regular police characters are off the case. So it is up to Hannah to clear Michelle's boyfriend Lonnie of murder. She has Norman and Andrea to help her and Mike is "mentoring" from the background. The cast of characters has grown quite a bit since the start of the series so other characters aren't as prominent in this latest installment, like Lisa and Bill.

The mystery is pretty good as there are a lot of potential suspects, which adds to the expanding cast of characters though little time is spent on character development for them. I thought that the murder was solved a little too abruptly at the end. Hannah wasn't sure who it was and then a character just confesses.

If you are looking for a light read, then Coconut Layer Cake Murder is great for a lazy weekend of reading.

Buy Coconut Layer Cake Murder at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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