Monday, February 23, 2015

Mystery Annotation: Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joann Fluke


Title: Cinnamon Roll Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery)
Author: Joanne Fluke
Publication: Kensington; Reprint edition (January 29, 2013)
Edition: Mass Market Paperback; 384 pages
Series: Hannah Swenson Mystery

Synopsis: Hannah Swenson a baker and also runs a coffee shop with her sister. One icy April afternoon in Minnesota on their way to deliver cinnamon rolls at a local club, the two are driving their catering van which swerves slightly of the road and end up in an accident with a tour bus of the band Cinnamon Roll Six. Set to play at a local club that night, majority of the band members suffered no injuries while the keyboardist Buddy is rushed to the hospital. With his injuries are getting worse, he ends up being murdered at the hospital.  Hannah and her sister suspect that the death of Buddy isn’t from the tour bus accident so they go on to solve the mystery of who killed Buddy.

Setting/Time Period: Set in present time in Minnesota during early spring.

Genre: Mystery; cozy mystery

Subject Headings: Detective and mystery stories, Swenson, Hannah (fictitious character); Women and private investigators--fiction; cooking-fiction; Minnesota--fiction

Elements of a mystery: There’s a crime that is under investigation in form of a puzzle. The Hannah Swenson Mystery series follows the same characters throughout the whole series as she and her friend investigate different murders that occur in each book. The murders are solved at the end of each book but the characters internal plots are ongoing in the series.

Appeal: There is element of romance, mystery for those who prefer mysteries that are on the calmer side. The series has a specific formula so it can be bit predictable but each mystery within itself has twists and not easily predictable yet it holds the readers attention. Intertwines food and mysteries and also includes recipes in the book.





Read A Likes:

  • All the president’s Menus (A White House Chef Mystery) by Julie Hyzy

  • In Hot Water (A Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade) by J.J. Cook

  • Lie of the Needle (A Deadly Notions Mystery) by Cate Price



This series is definitely what I would consider a cozy mystery. A good series to start of with if you haven’t read many mysteries and prefer not to read violent books. It’s safe book to read with content isn't consider violent. Easy to read, investigation and overall progression of the book flowed well and easy to follow. Noting to throw your off course of guessing who the killer is. Good character development if you haven’t read any books from the series prior to reading this one.

3 comments:

  1. I always get a chuckle out of the themes of cozy mysteries. It makes them easy to find for people, though. If they like a baking mystery, they'll probably like ones that have a knitting or sewing theme. Our joke is that it's a cozy mystery if there's a cat in the book. (It's even better if the cats help solve the mysteries, like in the Cat Who books by Lillian Jackson Braun.)

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  2. I agree with you and Jenny, the cozy mystery is definitely a niche within the genre. Most people who read mysteries do not go for this type, this is for the softer side of mystery. I am curious whether the writing style is described as witty. The plot and idea of the book remind me of Janet Evanovich, although her books are more violent. I will have to keep this book in mind for readers who want to ease into mystery.

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  3. I've been curious about the Joanne Fluke mysteries. Both libraries I've worked in have included them in the collections and they have been popular. Thanks for your review!

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