Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Strawberry Shortcake Murder
    Strawberry Shortcake Murder
    Strawberry Shortcake Murder
    Audiobook9 hours

    Strawberry Shortcake Murder

    Written by Joanne Fluke

    Narrated by Suzanne Toren

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    In her debut mystery, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, intrepid amateur sleuth and bakery owner Hannah Swensen proved that when it comes to crime, nothing is sweeter than a woman who knows how to really mix it up. Now, the flame-haired, tart-talking (and baking) heroine is back, judging a contest where the competition is really murder.

    When the president of Hartland Flour chooses cozy Lake Eden, Minnesota, as the spot for their first annual Dessert Bake-Off, Hannah is thrilled to serve as the head judge. She figures the TV coverage can only help her already popular bakery, The Cookie Jar. But when a fellow judge, Coach Boyd Watson, is found stone-cold dead, face-down in Hannah’s celebrated strawberry shortcake, Lake Eden’s sweet ride to fame turns very sour indeed.

    All the evidence seems to point to the dead man’s abused wife, Danielle, whose fresh shiner and blood-stained hands certainly provide more than enough motive and means. But Hannah’s convinced Danielle is innocent and that the real killer is about to walk away with a blue-ribbon crime. Between perfecting her Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie and Chocolate Crunchies, Hannah’s snooping into the coach’s private life and not coming up short on suspects. And could Watson’s harsh criticism during the judging have given one of the contestants a license to kill? The stakes are rising faster than dough, and Hannah will have to be very careful, because somebody is cooking up a recipe for murder … with Hannah landing onthe “necessary ingredients” list.

    Like a favorite dessert, Strawberry Shortcake Murder is a warm and tangy mystery that gets better with each bite. And when Hannah Swensen is dishing up the goods, readers can be sure to expect plenty of delicious surprises.

    Includes 7 delicious dessert recipes!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 11, 2008
    ISBN9781440781711
    Author

    Joanne Fluke

    JOANNE FLUKE is the New York Times bestselling author of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, which include Chocolate Cream Pie Murder, Raspberry Danish Murder, Cinnamon Roll Murder, and the book that started it all, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder. That first installment in the series premiered as Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in Southern California. Please visit her online at www.JoanneFluke.com.

    More audiobooks from Joanne Fluke

    Related to Strawberry Shortcake Murder

    Titles in the series (31)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Summer Reading Guide

      Jan 2, 2022

      Summer Reading Guide
      6 min read

    • Article

      Hannah’s Mum Speaks Out She’ll Be Beautiful FOREVER

      Jan 20, 2021

      Sue Clarke, 59, Camp Hill, Qld What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I asked my toddler Hannah. ‘Beautiful!’ mine and my husband Lloyd’s bright little button declared with a smile that lit up the room. As she grew up, our daughter’s dreams for

      6 min read

    • Article

      Emancipation

      Apr 10, 2024

      A plate of meat loaf and mashed potatoes balanced on her knees, Lorene watched a National Geographic documentary about a fifty-something woman living utterly alone on the tundra north of the Arctic circle, her home a compound of metal storage contain

      20 min read

    • Article

      Secrets From The Past

      May 18, 2022

      Secrets From The Past
      8 min read

    • Article

      Secrets From The Past

      May 18, 2022

      Secrets From The Past
      8 min read

    • Article

      Blended

      Aug 6, 2020

      Blended
      10 min read

    • Article

      Someone To Watch OVER ME

      May 25, 2022

      Someone To Watch OVER ME
      9 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: The Real Thing

      Oct 2, 2017

      LOS ANGELES - Their first date was at Houston's, a restaurant in Irvine where he opened the door for her and put her napkin on her lap. Candles flickered along the polished-mahogany bar; jazz drifted from speakers; conversation purred. Debra Newell h

      10 min read

    • Article

      By the RIVER’S EDGE

      Mar 22, 2023

      By the RIVER’S EDGE
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Way Things TURN OUT

      Jun 3, 2020

      The Way Things TURN OUT
      7 min read

    • Article

      Best Of The Best

      Oct 29, 2022

      Best Of The Best
      8 min read

    • Article

      GRIEF In The Time Of COVID

      Nov 24, 2021

      GRIEF In The Time Of COVID
      4 min read

    • Article

      One Carrot

      Jul 2, 2020

      One Carrot
      5 min read

    • Article

      O Fortuna, Velut Luna

      Sep 15, 2018

      What is Miss Treece’s trouble, according to a popular notion? The man A has failed to show up. Arousing herself at the restaurant, she fixes her lipstick when her solo supper concludes and takes herself down the stairs situated behind the bar. There,

      3 min read

    • Article

      Lemon Trees

      Apr 10, 2024

      When her son walked into their townhouse, Zach’s darkb-rown curls shielded his eyes. It wasn’t the first time Stephanie thought the deflection looked intentional, but she hadn’t yet found evidence that her son’s aloofness hid anything significant. Sh

      16 min read

    • Article

      Euthanasia

      Aug 10, 2023

      On a frigid December morning, Hank Sanders stomped the caked mud off his worn boots and entered Discount Hardware. He couldn’t shake his cousin’s remarks. Put her down, he’d said. The words had rolled so effortlessly off his lips, as if her life mean

      11 min read

    • Article

      Abandoned

      May 24, 2022

      Abandoned
      5 min read

    • Article

      Our Year With Penny

      Dec 24, 2019

      Our Year With Penny
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Lost Prayer

      Feb 2, 2023

      A Lost Prayer
      10 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Jan 1, 2022

      It was an unusual birthday. Colorful banners blanketed the backyard. Kids chased each other through the grass. Adults talked. It all went downhill from there. My little sister was turning five. On her birthday cake, painted in frosting, was a fat, pi

      7 min read

    • Article

      Missing MARY

      Dec 8, 2021

      Missing MARY
      3 min read

    • Article

      Abandoned

      Jun 3, 2021

      Abandoned
      5 min read

    • Article

      AUNT MAUD’S SECRET Part 1

      Sep 1, 2021

      “WHAT! SERIOUSLY?” “Settle down, Martin,” said Ms. Phelps as she poured herself a second mug of coffee that morning. She sat down at the kitchen table, gently blowing on the steam. “Aunt Maud is so excited about her visit and really looking forward

      6 min read

    • Article

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall

      Oct 5, 2023

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall
      10 min read

    • Article

      Coping As A Couple

      Mar 1, 2021

      Both of my wife Janice’s siblings developed dementia, so we were familiar with her symptoms when they first showed up five years ago. Following is an account of a visit to our cabin in Northwestern Wisconsin — formerly an experience that gave her gre

      2 min read

    • Article

      Quiet Night

      Aug 7, 2023

      Quiet Night
      19 min read

    • Article

      Why Did He Kill Our Boys?

      Oct 13, 2023

      IT’S the long, dark nights she dreads the most. Sometimes she wakes in the pitch black and in the few seconds before harsh reality comes flooding back, she believes her baby boy is lying beside her, safe and warm under the covers. But Ryan, her beaut

      4 min read

    • Article

      Someone To Watch OVER ME

      Jun 8, 2022

      Someone To Watch OVER ME
      9 min read

    • Article

      Like Ripe Fruit

      Nov 5, 2020

      Like Ripe Fruit
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Strawberry Shortcake Murder

    3.5/5

    460 ratings34 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I liked the book, can't decide if was a little to long though.
    • 4/5
      The second installment of the series improved on the first. Hannah is obviously growing as a character. She makes better decisions, yet is still her impulsive self. Her relationship with her sister, Andrea, is also growing. This time when murder strikes in Lake Eden, Hannah needs to help her friend, Danielle, who is suspected of murdering her battering husband. Andrea insists on helping Hannah and the two become quite the investigative pair. Andrea is the charmer and can get information from people when they don't even know they are giving it, which Hannah is good at the direct approach and putting the pieces together.Once again, the mystery was good and kept me intrigued all the way to the end.
    • 3/5
      This is another okay mystery with recipes. Weak plotting. I figured it out much earlier. Fluke is getting better as the series progresses, but she's no Evanovitch.
    • 2/5
      When Lake Eden hosts the annual Bake Off competition, Hannah bakes special creations to show off on television. Unfortunately, the violent death of one of the judges will leave everyone with a bitter taste in their mouths. And, once again, Hannah will find a way to get as involved as possible in the investigation... Could murder be in the air?I found the story plot to be fairly enjoyable. Mixing cooking with murder with an amateur sleuth is always fun, but I did not find it as enjoyable and charming as the first book. I am sure that is because cozy mysteries are supposed to be cozy. The writing was fine, it was pretty fluid and easy to follow, and there were even some pretty funny 'laugh out loud' parts as well. As for the mystery itself, I found it pretty unrealistic, which could be characteristic of a cozy mystery.I did not really care about the main character. This is because it seemed like all her answers to questions were handed to her and clues were found too easily. I also felt like she did not make the smartest choices while sleuthing around, and this made her feel pretty unrealistic. I really could not relate to her very well. Again, this might be the way cozy mysteries are written.Overall, there were parts of the book that were entertaining. I liked the humorous parts of the book and the way it flowed. However, I really thought there would be more adventure and excitement, so it was disappointing. I recommend this book if you like cozy mysteries. If you want to read this, but it is a first time read of a cozy mystery, like it was for me, you shouldn't expect bone chilling excitement. I give it two and a half stars.
    • 4/5
      Here we are again with another Hannah Swensen mystery. It has a similar formula to the first book and others in the cozy mystery genre but honestly I can't get enough of this small town and it's lovable cast of characters. While it's not a piece of ground breaking literature I still keep coming back to the series for a much needed escape from reality.
    • 4/5
      A Shortbread Mystery

      Strawberry Shortcake Murder is a hard to put down mystery that leaves the reader guessing until the very end. Hannah Swensen comes alive in this story as a baker whom stumbles upon murders and won’t stop until the killer is stopped. Full of a humorous storyline injected with recipes that Hannah makes in the story this is a true guessing game.
    • 5/5
      Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne FlukeThis story starts out with Hannah and she's one of the judges along with Roy, a coach at the school.Hours later he's murdered and his wife is the one to call Hannah for help. Like how you don't have to know the characters, you are brought up to date from previous books but not the full whole story.Story goes back in time also for Hannah and her aversion to dating married men, not that she knew at the time...Her sister and mother help with clues also among others who don't even know that the information they gave them was useful.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 3/5
      This is the second book in the series. Hannah is involved in a tv “bake off” when one of the judges is murdered. Since the judge was abusive toward his wife, Hannah’s friend, it appears that the wife did it, but Hannah wants to prove that her friend is innocent. I listened to the audio, and overall, I’d say it was ok. To be honest, nothing was super-appealing about this one, and I think I’ll probably stop the series here. Nothing was really wrong with it, either, but just not appealing enough for me to keep going.
    • 4/5
      Another entertaining visit to Lake Eden and its residents. Yes, Hannah is expanding her baking repertoire to include more than just cookies (but cookies are still the staple food item on offer, and yes, recipes continue to be included in the story). While the mystery is not too much of a head scratcher, Fluke still manages to include a couple of twists and some suspenseful moments as amateur sleuth Hannah works her way through the clues. As for the setting, I really enjoy the small town vibe where everyone knows everyone. Of course, this makes it easier for Hannah to makes use of her mother to keep her ear to the gossip mill while Hannah and her sister Andrea search far and wide (and make a few blunders in the process) in their hunt for clues. Even Hannah’s love life is on the upside, adding to the overall charm of the story. Of course, I am starting to notice the ever growing body count and cannot help but ponder that this would make Lake Eden an alarming crime statistic if this were real life. That and the fact that Hannah is starting to exhibit nine lives like her cat, given her uncanny knack for exposing herself to dangerous situations, time and time again. Overall, another delightful bit of escapism mystery reading that makes for easy audio listening.
    • 4/5
      Hanna Swenson does it again...discovers a body. This time it is the coach from the local high school, Boyd Watson.There is no shortage of possible suspects, due to the coach's personal life. That is just the trouble with solving this. That and the fact that Harland Flour has picked Lake Eden, Minnesota to be the home of their new annual Dessert Bake-Off and that Hannah and the Coach were selected to be judges. Could it have been something the Coach said when he critiqued the first round?Hannah is warned to keep out of the investigation, but that is not possible. She has more curiosity than her one-eyed cat, Moishe. She also has a sister who is more of a people person, able to get information from people without stepping on toes. The pair make a good team.I am seeing a little more fleshing out of Hannah and the other characters in this book. Her assistant, Lisa, is showing more ability to run the business, which gives Hannah the time to investigate. Her sister, Andrea, and Hannah have closed the gap between themselves and are appreciating their differences. Hannah's mother is still pushing for Hannah to find a guy and settle down, but I think she is also realizing that Hannah is an independent person and will make her own choices. Meanwhile Norman and Mike seem to be competing with each other to win Hannah over.Another fun read...and I still have a number of books to go! Yes!
    • 3/5
      Loving this fun little murder mystery series. It's not all light and fluffy but it has a nice amount of fun and humour to make it more on the cozy side.
    • 4/5
      It’s not all sugar and sweetness for Hannah in this cozy mystery. Judging a Dessert Bake-Off sounds like fun, until one of the judges is found dead. But the dead man, a coach and abusive husband, had more than one enemy, and Hannah is determined to narrow down the suspects. Hannah enlists the help of her sister to do some sleuthing, but they find more than they bargained for. The only thing that will slow down your reading of this tale are the recipes that are sprinkled throughout the story. You just might want to stop reading long enough to bake some cookies to enjoy as you match wits with Hannah.
    • 4/5
      If you enjoy mysteries about food, you'll enjoy this book. The setting is rural Minnesota in early winter and since Minnesota is pretty close to Manitoba I could really relate to the details about the climate. Hannah copes with the cold, the lack of sunlight and other stressors in a way that I can relate to. She grabs a few cookies and a cup of coffee and digs in. If the cookies have chocolate in them, so much the better. The recipe for Chocolate Highlander Cookie Bars is just what I need to make something chocolate for my book club that meets on Valentine's Day.
    • 3/5
      When the president of Hartland Flour chooses Lake Eden, Minnesota as the host for their first annual Dessert Bake-Off, Hannah is overjoyed to be picked to serve as head judge. When a fellow judge has to drop out due to illness, Coach Boyd Watson is selected to replace him. During the first day's competition, Coach Boyd rudely criticizes the desserts of four of the contestants, annoying everyone. Later that evening Hannah gets an urgent call from her friend and Boyd's wife, Danielle. When she arrives she finds Boyd's body in the garage. It's not long before Danielle is being investigated for the murder. Hannah knows Danielle is not capable of doing such a thing so, despite strict instructions from the police to stay out of the investigation, decides to recruit her sister and prove Danielle innocent.

      The cozy small town atmosphere and nice people who live there are part of the charm of the series. The dialogue between the characters gets repetitive at times, because they are constantly repeating one another names, but overall, this is an engaging mystery series. Also included in these books are some delicious sounding recipes that reference something in the book.
    • 5/5
      I'm head over heels for Hannah Swensen Mysteries! This book did not disappoint as far as cozy mysteries go. I couldn't pin the murderer until 90% through the book - which I breezed right through.
    • 2/5
      Well, I loved the first one, but this one felt much too similar.
    • 4/5
      Undemanding, enjoyable fluff. The recipes are great, don't read while hungry.
    • 3/5
      Not quite as good as the first... I realized I was 90% finished with the book and didn't even have a favorite suspect -- the end was kind of a "HEY so THAT's who the murderer is!"

      But again, a quick enjoyable read, and some yummy sounding recipes. Apricot Bread Pudding, anyone?
    • 4/5
      another exceptionally exciting and fast paced Hanna Swenson mystery that I could not put down from the time I started to read. Well done!
    • 2/5
      This book was so forgettable that this review is serving more of a reminder to me about what it's roughly about. Hannah investigates against the wishes of his suitor Mike the cop, about the murder of the school coach Boyd. She and her sister Andrea, who collaborates quite extensively with her until a sudden final exit from the case, find out from Norman that Lucy the reporter is a blackmailer. I was wondering if Norman's sins for which he himself was being extorted were going to come out in the open but it didn't come out.There is one part right at the end where Hannah wished that Norman and Mike were combined to become the best groom or boyfriend. I know that many women wish that in their lives. But it just seemed wrong here because Mike is nearly the complete package. The author simply wanted us to believe that the two guys are neck to neck in their toe to toe contest for Hannah's favors. Anyway that riled me. Hannah shouldn't merely think of Norman as a comforting teddy bear, as he displayed more humor than Mike. But who cares. The only certainty about the series is that Hannah's cookies get more and more sought after and Hannah herself gets slightly more and more fatter.
    • 2/5
      Thus far all of Joanne Fluke's books have been entertaining. I do love the recipes. But I'm beginning to feel uncomfortable about the characterization of Hannah Swensen. Okay, she has two boyfriends. But is she supposed to be a thirty year old virgin? I have no interest in explicit sex in my culinary mysteries. But author, Diane Mott Davidson has created a much more well-rounded character in Goldie Bear. In comparison Hannah seems unbalanced and almost irritatingly immature in her relationships with men.
    • 4/5
      Well, I didn't love this one as much as the first, but it was still an enjoyable read. I like that Hannah has her sister Andrea with her this time. It is a pet peeve of mine when the main character in a second novel seems to either have learned nothing from their experience in the first, or it makes them a seasoned expert. This wasn't the case with Hannah. I like that she was jumpy, and appropriately scared in the beginning when she heard a crash, and thought there was someone in her apartment. With, that said, I’m not sure how believable her motivations were, jumping right back into a murder investigation, despite everyone telling her to stay out of it. The more I read, the girls started to come across as false. They felt gooey and dippy and overly sweet. It felt a little contrived and started to irritate me. No, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I hoped, but there was still a fun, light, easy to read feel, and enough twist, turns and characters to keep me reading (and finish). Well worth the time or a rainy afternoon, or a sick day.
    • 4/5
      I bought this book before I'd even finished Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, the first of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mysteries, and happily I wasn't disappointed! Fluke serves up another dose of dessert-related criminal mayhem, and it's just as delicious as ever!In this installment, our cookie-baking cafe-owner-turned-sleuth is delighted to have been chosen as the Head Judge for the Hartland Flour Dessert Bake-Off being held in Lake Eden. But when she finds fellow judge Boyd Watson dead in his garage in a heap of her famous strawberry shortcake, she soon realises that there's something more sinister going on in town than fruit pies and frosting...This series is seriously frothy and great fun to read. Hannah is a wonderful heroine, with a fiery personality tempered with just the right amount of sugar, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her friends and family even more as the series goes on. The mouthwatering recipes scattered throughout the book are a bonus too - seven this time, including Molasses Crackles, Chocolate Highlander Cookie Bars and, of course, Strawberry Shortcake Swensen, all of which appear in the novel - and I'm definitely considering buying some American measuring cups so I can try them out! I'll be eagerly looking forward to reading the next book, Blueberry Muffin Murder...
    • 3/5
      Ahhh...more fun with Hannah. Sweet, lovable Hannah and more recipes to think about trying. Of course, its better for my diet if I just THINK about them.These books always help me to just take a break.Thank you Joanne Fluke. Keep em coming.
    • 4/5
      I was fairly pleased with this second book in the Hannah Swensen series. I like Hannah, even if she does have a knack for finding dead bodies. In this book, some of Hannah’s friends are acting a bit mysterious after the murder of the high school basketball coach, and she’s having a hard time figuring out what’s going on while juggling judging duties at the baking contest and keeping things going at her cookie shop. Secrets are in the air, and one person’s attempt at blackmail has serious consequences. There are elements to this series that I enjoy besides Hannah’s snooping around — I like her burgeoning relationship with her sister, Andrea, and her kinda romances with Mike and Norman. It’s a little refreshing to have a female main character who isn’t rushing to be in a relationship with the first guy who shows her a little interest. Hannah knows she has options, and she’s considering them! I used to be pretty heavily in favor of Detective Mike, but Dentist Norman is starting to grow on me. The recipes scattered throughout the book are a nice bonus, and I can’t wait to try a few. I did have one problem with the plot (spoiler ahead). The crime ends up being rooted in steroid use on the basketball team, and that part of it wasn’t especially believable for me. Steroids aren’t generally a problem in basketball, because in basketball, while strength is good, bulk is bad. But that might just be me being picky.
    • 4/5
      This second book in the Hannah Swenson Mystery series, finds our cookie baker serving as head judge for the Desset Bake-off. When fellow judge and high school coach, Boyd Watson, is found dead face down in Hannah's straberry shortcake, Hannah begins to snoop. There are many suspects, including the coach's wife who had suffered at the hands of her husband. This return to "Eden, Minnesota" in winter was particularly appreciated while Minnesota was literally engulfed by a Christmas blizzard.
    • 3/5
      The second in the series of a "cozy mystery" that centers around an owner of a cookie bakery. Dead bodies somehow keep showing up in her small town and she steps in (without the local police knowing) and solves the crime. Usually she pieces together knowledge gathered from just talking with neighbors and other folks without the use of CSI types of forensic equipment.
    • 2/5
      I'm not, so far, very impressed with this series. The writing is simplistic, the plots almost laughable, and I'm sick to death of this grown woman carrying bags of cookies around with her all the time. Can't she bake anything else???? What came to mind as I'm plodding through this book is "prepubescent Nancy Drew". Ah, if only a coujple of cookies could make all-better for us; Hannah thinks so. I was planning to read through this series, in order, and *will* give books 3 & 4 a shot - but if those aren't any better than the first two I'm deep-sixing my plans. The only redeeming feature is that they were library books; if I'd shelled out money for them I'd be tempted to ask for my money back.
    • 4/5
      Another light mystery set in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and involving Hannah Swensen, proprietor of The Cookie Jar and amateur sleuth. Never deep or intropective, but interesting, with delicious sounding recipes. This one involves the murder of the local basketball coach and secret wife abuser.
    • 5/5
      This was a great book. I so had the murderer picked out about 2/3 of the way through but that didnt stop the books from being a page turner whenever i got an extra minute to read. A great cozy and the recipes sounded devine :)