Peach Cobbler Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery) Mass Market Paperback – January 26, 2016

Book #7 in the Hannah Swenson Mystery series was a huge hit for me! This is easily my favorite thus far! One of my favorite things about this book was that all the characters were familiar! Which, in turn, made the deceased person a little bit harder to say goodbye to. However…..BYEEEEE! Ok, so maybe not that hard but any who! Hannah, Mike, and Norman continue their love triangle but there’s a whopper of a cliff hanger with this one! I’ll definitely be starting book 8 real quick in July! With that said, there’s drama, loose ends are tied up, the cat gets fed 4-5 times, pies are made, and, of course, someone ends up dead.

As I sit here watching "A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder" (it just came on the TV channel I have on for company), I'm writing a review of Peach Cobbler Murder, the book. I became interested in Joanne Fluke's books. I am enjoying reading them although the movies do not match up to the books, actually... but I'm not here to review the movie... just the books, so I'll move on with it!Peach Cobbler Mystery Murder once again delves into Hannah's complicated dating life, her baking and her quiet community of Eden Lake... quiet, that is, until there's a murder.Once again, although one of her boyfriends, Mike, warns her not to investigate and not to interfere, of course she does. This book is definitely worth the read (as are they all!). Just add Ms. Fluke's books to your wish list, watch for the combination sets of books, and start reading... you may thank me later!My purpose in reviewing this and other items is only to provide my honest opinion based on my experience with the item. Therefore, the opinions expressed herein are my own, based on my personal experience in reading this book and my enjoyment of it as well as its value for the cost.If you have any questions regarding my review, please do ask, and if my review is helpful to you, please consider letting me know by using the voting buttons at the end of the review. Have a blessed day!

I have not been disappointed in any of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson books. I am disappointed Hallmark has chosen to not follow the books as I think the books are much more interesting and would be better movies if they did. Along with a wonderful plot and very engaging characters, you get to meet and learn to like Hannah's family and her friends. Also, you get to enjoy the experience of just not only reading about yummy food but the author always includes recipes in every book. I got started on this series a few years ago and have not been disappointed. You will love this series.

Is it possible to enjoy every facet of a series, but absolutely loathe the main character?? The author tries very hard to make us believe that everybody, including the cat, hates Hannah’s mom. I actually find Delores to be mostly old-fashioned, a bit endearing, and generally pretentious old woman, but she is still a likable character. Delores is not the problem! Unfortunately, I find Hannah to be the most unlikable character in the series . She has a know-it-all attitude and I truly do not understand why two men would be fighting over her?? In the end, I hope they both get sick of her crap and they both dump her on her ear. I also think it’s very unrealistic that Hannah always, always has to be the one to find the body. This really can be a fun and cute series, but the author really needs to mix it up a bit! And PLEASE... make Hannah likeable!!!

I'm frustrated with Hannah. The love triangle with her/Norman/Mike that has been going on for a year and 7 books now is really irritating. The fact that Norman and Mike get along so well, while both dating the same girl just isn't believable. Not to mention that Hannah gets upset every time Norman or Mike even glance at other women, yet here she is dating two men at the same. Hypocrite?The mystery/murder in this case was predictable too. It started out really good with another bakery opening up across the street from Hannah's thus resulting in competition over customers. Then it went downhill with Hannah getting upset over all her customers betraying her to their bakery plus Mike "betraying" her with the new owner. Hypocrite???

This is my last Hannah Swensen novel I'm afraid. They are getting formulaic, more than a little ridiculous and there seems to be no resolution to several key plot devices, namely who will Hannah marry? Just how many bodies can be found in this little town - it's fast becoming the Murder Capital of the world! Yet no one seems to notice nor be disturbed by this. Hannah has now nearly been offed by several murderers she has foolishly confronted without any back up... yet once again Hannah blunders (I thought she was so smart?) into a confrontation with the murderer. And just how long will Norm and Mike put up with her fickle ways? Make up your mind Hannah! I think I'll have to let these rest until the author shows some interest in writing some new material instead of repackaging the last mystery with a new title, a few new recipes and the same old storyline. And that makes me sad... I like Hannah and would really like to see where her life goes next if it didn't seem stuck in a perpetual loop.

Fluke steps up the series with Peach Cobbler Murder by focusing on core characters, tying up some loose ends from previous books, showing the power of strong and close relationships and setting what is hopefully the final competition between Mike and Norman for Hannah's heart.The recipes sound delicious (but may be getting to be too strong of a theme in each book) and are integrating into the story more closely. Between these books and The Great British Baking Show, I am constantly surrounded by desserts lately!

First of all it is a decent feel-good read, much more like the first couple of books in the series than the last one which was disappointing, but now we have reached book 7 it feels like the series is reaching it's natural shelf life. The book focuses much more on the core characters than the actual murder mystery which seems almost incidental to the story, and the characters themselves are starting to grate as they seem to live in a perpetual groundhog day. Hannah the heroine once again tries to interfere in everyone else's life oblivious of the fact that she is stringing two men along at the same time, Moishe the cat is always hungry, Andrea asks questions, Lisa is sweet, Norman even sweeter, Mike upsets Hannah. The books, once seeming original and fresh, now just feel tired and even the recipes that the book is interspersed with are of the "take a packet of this and mix with a can of the other" variety. There is nothing wrong with the book as such but for me it is time to try another cozy brand before the stories become unpalatable.

I had started to become slightly disillusioned with this series. The past couple of books (The Fudge Cupcake Murder and The Lemon Merangue Pie Murder) were sweet and homely but much more 'baking' than 'murder'.The Peach Cobbler Murder is much more like the early books in the series, with the murder at the centre being enhanced by the relationships between the characters and homely atmosphere.Having discovered about 12 dead bodies by now, it was only a matter of time before Hannah would be considered a suspect! This time the unfortunate victim is Shawna Lee Quinn, who has set up a rival bakery across the street from The Cookie Jar.If you haven't read any of the other books in the series, expect a homely series that harks back to the novels of Agatha Christie (nothing too gory happens!!)Although you could easily read this book on it's own, I would recommend starting at the beginning with 'The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder'. Suspend all disbelief and enjoy!

I think I've maybe read too many Hannah Swenson murders in too short a space of time; they're beginning to blend into one another. Is it actually fair for me to recognise whole sentences from one book to the next? (the one about "....too early for a lunchtime cookie and too late for a breakfast cookie.")Having said that, the murders are all of people one doesn't really mind saying goodbye to, and Shawna Lee is no exception. It's also a neat twist that Hannah finallly becomes a suspect - it's about time Mike tested out how deep his feelings really are.As always, the story is well-crafted, well-written, but perhaps just a tiny bit too familiar territory?

This series is very variable in quality, but this one was particularly disappointing. It must be hard to balance ongoing character development against individual plot-lines in a series like this, but this book had more soap opera than sleuthing: the body didn't turn up until after 1/3 of the way through. I'll read on, because some of the earlier books have been good, but I might start looking for a replacement for this series as my source of light-and-fluffy reads.

A good series. Looking forward to the next one.