Friday, August 13, 2010

Gingerbread Cookie Murder-Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine & Leslie Meier

Gingerbread Cookie Murder
Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine & Leslie Meier
Kensington, Oct 1 2010, $23.00
ISBN: 9780758234957

"Gingerbread Cookie Murder" by Joanne Fluke. Hannah Swensen and other condo owners are furious with neighbor Ernie Kusak for playing the music so loud he cannot hear the knocking on his door. When the police arrive and enter the apartment, Hannah joins them and sees Ernie’s corpse. Another neighbor who had incidents with Ernie is the prime suspect but Hannah thinks otherwise; so she runs a parallel investigation to that of the cops. Joanne Fluke provides a delectable whodunit.

"The Dangers Of Gingerbread Cookies" by Laura Levine. Jaine Austen visits her parents at their Florida retirement village. The community play is The Gingerbread Cookie That Saved Christmas starring Dr. Preston McCay as the heroic gingerbread cookie. When he dies from a fall while performing, the police suspect Edna, a friend of Jaine’s mother, as the killer. The cops believe her motive was she believed they were engaged as did two other women in the complex. Jaine investigates in order to prove Edna never killed the lothario. With plenty of humor and wit, McCay’s final act makes for a fun novella.

"Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" by Leslie Meier. Lucy Stone is buying groceries when she spots four years old Nemo at the store. The child wants a gingerbread man, but his mother insists they cannot afford it. Lucy buys a cookie for the child, but is perplexed to notice his mom and stepfather own a Porsche. On the TV news,Lucy learns there is an Amber Alert out on Nemo who was kidnapped. Soon afterward, Rick, Nemo’s step-father is found dead with his head bashed in. Worried about the boy, Lucy investigates the homicide and the alleged kidnapping. Lucy Meier writes a charming Christmas cozy.

These three wonderful amateur sleuths star popular protagonists who sweeten the Christmas season with fun homicide investigations.

Harriet Klausner

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