Candy Cane Murder
Written by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine and Leslie Meier
Narrated by Suzanne Toren
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
“CANDY CANE MURDER” by JOANNE FLUKE
When a trail of candy canes leads to a corpse outfitted in a Santa suit on a snowy bank, Hannah Swensen sets out to discover who killed Kris Kringle …
“THE DANGERS OF CANDY CANES” by LAURA LEVINE
A wealthy suburbanite takes a lethal tumble off his roof while installing a giant candy cane. Now it’s up to Jaine Austen to sift through a long list of scheming neighbors with dirty secrets in their stockings to expose a murderer …
“CANDY CANES OF CHRISTMAS PAST” by LESLIE MEIER
Lucy Stone must learn the mystery of a glass candy cane that was found smashed to bits by a corpse’s body to unlock the doors of Christmas past—and find a killer who got away with murder.
Whether a gift for yourself or that special someone on your list, there’s no better way to spend the holidays than with these tantalizing mysteries of murder …
Includes over 10 scrumptious holiday recipes!
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.
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Titles in the series (31)
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Key Lime Pie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blueberry Muffin Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lemon Meringue Pie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strawberry Shortcake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carrot Cake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cherry Cheesecake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fudge Cupcake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peach Cobbler Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sugar Cookie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christmas Caramel Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Velvet Cupcake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Candy Cane Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cream Puff Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil's Food Cake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apple Turnover Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plum Pudding Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wedding Cake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Double Fudge Brownie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blackberry Pie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Banana Cream Pie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coconut Layer Cake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Raspberry Danish Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Caramel Pecan Roll Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chocolate Cream Pie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gingerbread Cookie Murder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Christmas Cake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christmas Cupcake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pink Lemonade Cake Murder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Candy Cane Murder
187 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/52.5*** Three short novels make up this anthology. Candy Cane Murder (Fluke), The Dangers of Candy Canes (Levine) and Candy Canes of Christmas Past (Meier).The first is a typical Hannah Swenson cozy. Her sisters and mother help her investigate the murder while her two boyfriends, dentist Norman and policeman Mike either help or warn her to stay out of the investigation. I have to wonder how this woman makes any money when she’s always giving cookies away. The story comes with some tasty recipes, though.Levine’s entry comes next, and it was the weakest of the trio. Freelance writer Jaine Austen is asked to check into an “accidental” death; seems a suburban neighborhood’s holiday decorating contest has turned deadly. I didn’t like the heroine, I didn’t like the plot. Candy Canes of Christmas Past revolves around Lucy Stone, her husband and son, who have left the high-stakes world of New York City finance to move to Tinker’s Cove, Maine. But things aren’t going well with the renovations of their farmhouse, and money’s tight. When she spots a sign for a yard sale, Lucy takes a chance and finds a unique artifact – a glass cane. Trying to find out more about it, she heads to the library and uncovers a family mystery. The story was pretty light on the mystery, but was a sweet and charming holiday tale.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Although 3 authors are listed, it wasn't apparent from the cover that this paperback contained three entirely different stories, 2 unrelated to the Hannah Swensen mystery series. All 3 whodunits involved a candy cane of some sort, so I guess that was the connection. I enjoyed the first and third stories more than the second, but all three seemed too short to really develop the characters. While I will continue to read more in Fluke's series, this book as a whole was a tad disappointing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Candy Can Murder should be titled Candy Cane Murders. It is a triple mystery book of three stories by three different female mystery writers. The stories are short and complete."Candy Cane Murder" by Joanne Fluke leads of the set. Set at the Lake Eden Inn, it is the yearly Christmas party, complete with Santa and gifts for the kids. It is a traditional Christmas setting, complete with mounds of snow on the ground. Hannah has been recruited to play one of Santa's elves complete with a costume that is a tad too tight. Tight is also a good discriptive for Wayne Bergstrom, who is playing Santa.After all the toys are given out and Santa is on his way out, Hannah asks if she could have the leftover candy canes for making cookies. True to form, Wayne says no and pockets them.A short time later, when Hannah looks outside, she sees a trail of candy canes leading away from the building. She finds Wayne at the end of the trail...dead. Merry Christmas...While the adult Christmas party is in full gear, Hannah has to quickly work her way through her list of suspects and find the killer before the party is over. This is the quickest solve she has done."The Dangers of Candy Canes" by Laura LevineJaine Austen is Laura Levine's sleuth. I hadn't read any of her books, so this was my intro.Los Angeles, California is Jaine Austen's home turf. She is a freelance PR writer and sleuth. She gets a call from one of her few clients to come find out why he is being sued for murder due to bad installation of a roofing job his company did.The neighbourhood the roof was done in takes Christmas decorating very seriously. There are some bad feelings between a few neighbours about who has won the top award for décor over the years. It seems that it has escalated to murder.Jaine makes some interesting finds of dirty secrets that are woven into the relationships between the neighbours.Written in a upbeat and West Coast style, Levine is a fast and fun read. I will keep my eye out for more of her work."Candy Canes of Christmas Past" by Leslie MeierTaking place in a small town in Maine, things move a little slower but none the less with twists and turns and underlying stories.It is Thanksgiving time and Lucy Stone finds herself remembering back to when her oldest was two and the family had just moved into the farm house on Red Top Road. The house was a fixer upper of the major type and winter was a hard one. Lucy had two year old Toby to care for and was pregnant with their second. At the same time, Bill was repairing and restoring the old house. Lack of good heat, a house in pieces and weather made for difficult times.Being new in a small town didn't make it easy for Lucy, as making friends in a tight knit community was time taking. When Lucy came across a glass candy cane at a yard sale, it gave her a start.Miss Tilley, the librarian, had befriended Lucy and Toby. Lucy gave Miss Tilley the glass candy cane as a Christmas gift and it opened up a mystery and brought the friendship closer. It seems a glass cane like this was found next to a dead body years ago, and the killer was never found.Lucy's searching for information and a solution has her finding many secrets about previous residents of Tinker's Cove, Lucy's new home town. Secrets that some knew, some did not and some had forgotten.I have one of the Lucy Stone books on my To Be Read shelf and I will probably read it fairly soon, just to see what a complete book by Meier is like.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm bereft of criticism regarding this curious book. There are three stories that make up the book, and all of them are pretty good. The best one is Laura Levine's. She has mastered her storytelling and she has mastered her heroine. This resulted in a perfectly frantic and well paced story. Whatever the assignment, Laura Levine can and does deliver. Joanne Fluke's Candy Cane story was quite clever, although the nature of the murder itself was improbable. Leslie Meier's tale was solid and slightly better than Fluke's. I felt spoiled with so much quality. Three of my most beloved authors coming together like this, it's utter bliss.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quick, easy reading that fits nicely between taking out trays of Christmas cookies. A holiday mystery with an amusing cast of characters who you sympathize with immediately. Perfect for the snow evenings, or even on the beach if christmas falls in your summer.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I was not aware when I got this book, that it was a collection of short stories so I am only reviewing the Joanne Fluke Candy Cane Murder, though I will say the other stories were entertaining. This Hannah Swensen mystery went a long the guidelines of the other HS mysteries. She finds the body and then gets involved investigating with her sisters and boyfriends. Her instincts lead her to the murderer but her realization of guilty party usually comes a bit late. What always amuses me is that Hannah ca never remember her cell phone!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This would be a great book for a Christmas present for those who love cozy mysteries. It's a collection of three short novellas by three well-known cozy writers and the stories are all about Christmas. I read this mostly because I absolutely love Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swenson mysteries, and this story called Candy Cane Murder is a good one. We have all our favourites here - Hannah and her sisters, Norman and Mike and of course, Hannah's mother. Like all her stories this one is a page-turner. The story is all about when a local guy dressed as Santa is found dead outside the inn with candy canes everywhere. Of course, Hannah needs to find the killer. The second story is called The Dangers of Candy Canes and is written by Laura Levine. I have not read Laura Levine before, and I don't think I'll make the attempt after reading this book. I found it silly and Jaine Austin (her heroine) is too ditzy for my liking. I did enjoy Ms. Leslie Meier's Candy Canes of Christmas Past though, and I think I will read more about her heroine Lucy Stone. In this book, set at Christmas in 1983, Lucy is trying to solve a decades old murder for a friend of hers in her new home of Tinker's Cove, Maine. I really liked this, and I will definitely add Ms. Meier's name to my to-be read-list.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book contains three short mystery novels by different authors -- a Hannah Swensen mystery by Joanne Fluke, a Jaine Austen mystery by Laura Levine, and a Lucy Stone mystery by Leslie Meier. I had read one or two other Hannah Swensen mysteries before, but this was my first introduction to Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. As the title of the collection suggests, candy canes play a role in all three mysteries.The other books I've read in the Hannah Swensen series aren't particularly memorable. I enjoyed them, but not enough to make an effort to seek out more books in the series. I'm really surprised that Hannah's friends and relations all seem to think so highly of her. As soon as she found out about the murder, not only did Hannah jump into full investigative mode, but she also enlisted the help of both of her sisters, her mother, and one or two friends. I would have thought that her policeman brother-in-law would be offended by Hannah's assumption that she and her relations would do a better job at investigating a crime than professionals would do, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'd give this mystery 3 stars.I didn't care for the Jaine Austen mystery at all. I didn't like Jaine's character, and I doubt I'll pick up another book in this series. I'd give this one 2 stars.I loved the Lucy Stone selection in this book. As her children gather at her Maine home for Christmas, Lucy reminisces about her young family's first Christmas in their home. Lucy's husband, Bill, had given up a prosperous New York career to renovate a run-down house in small town Maine. As Lucy adjusted to small town life and dealt with the homesickness that comes with being away from loved ones during the holidays, she made new friends among the town's residents. One of her new friends, town librarian Miss Tilley, shared some sad memories of the long-ago Christmas Eve when her mother died. Even though the death was ruled accidental, Miss Tilley had always had doubts about it. Lucy became interested in the story and helped her new friend figure out what really led to her mother's death. I liked Lucy's character and I enjoyed the small town setting. I will definitely look for more mysteries in this series. I'd give this one 4 stars.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is a collection of three short stories from some of today's most popular "cozy" mystery writers. Headlining "Candy Cane Murder" is Joanne Fluke, known for her Hannah Swenson murder mystery series. Hannah is the owner of a bakery called "The Cookie Jar" and here in the story "Candy Cane Murder" Hannah finds yet another dead body...this time he is a local businessman who is dressed up in a Santa costume. The trail of candy canes leads Hannah to his body. Hannah's story is exactly what Fluke fans should expect by now. Hannah and her friends and neighbors are fun to visit with again, but the murders are too easily resolved to be more than passing entertainment. Honestly, I am starting to get a little annoyed with the Hannah novels. The mysteries aren't very imaginitve anymore and I'm tired of the back and forth between whether Hannah is interested in stable Norman or super hunk Mike. Her sleuthing methods are beyond unbelievable and I'm quite good at suspending disbelief. People just spill their guts out to Hannah, and this just doesn't seem realistic. Not to mention doctors, lawyers, mortician's, etc apparently have never heard of privacy acts...I'd give "Candy Cane Murder" a 2 star review. I was delightfully suprised by Laura Levine's short story "The Danger of Candy Canes". I have never read this author before and I found her heroine Jaine Austin refreshingly spunky, snarky, and sarcastic. She was a hoot. I enjoyed her 'conversations' with her cat, and her diet that was anything but. This is certainly the most 'fleshed' out mystery of the bunch and had the best resolution of the three. Jaine seems to live on the same planet with Hannah in the fact that people just seem to welcome Jaine into their homes and then spill out their guts to her. However this character and the comical situations Jaine finds herself in are original and witty and I can't wait to read more by her. In fact, I've added her first Jaine Austin mystery to my wish list already. This was a strong 4 star story. Yeah! I was looking forward to reading Leslie Meier's entry "Candy Canes of Christmas Past" the most because I haven't read anything she has written previously, but I see her mysteries everywhere. I have been intrigued, but never bought one. This story is a prequel to the "Lucy Stone" mysteries. It takes place in 1983 as their very young family is just starting out in Tinker's Cove, Maine. This is the most heartwarming tale of the three and I feel that the characterizations in this story are its strongest asset. The story is mostly about the young family's house being a disaster, and they are down to their last few dollars in a new town. They have just started meeting people and feel a little out of place. Both Lucy and her husband are just overwhelmed by the new situations they have found themselves in. This story best represents what Christmas is all about as the new neighbors rally together to try to brighten the Stone's holiday. The mysery is almost an afterthought and it truly doesn't ring relevant. Its a fifty year old 'maybe' murder and the way the killer is revealed is super flimsy. Their is no reveal or big peak to the story arc. If all her "Lucy Stone" mysteries are like this, I don't think they will hold much appeal for me. However, I do like the characters and they are certainly not one dimensional as Hannah Swenson and crew have turned out to be. Maybe I need to pick up one or two of them and take a chance. I'd give this 3 stars, it would have been at least 4, if not for the horribly mystery reveal.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book comprised 3 mysteries by 3 different authors - Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. While I enjoyed the Fluke and Levine mysteries, the Meier mystery didn't really fit in with the others. Meier doesn't have the humorous, intimate, warm voice that Fluke and Levine have in common. I felt like Meier's mystery was discordant with the others and dragged down the book overall.