Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery) by Joanne Fluke

Opening paragraph in the book:  Hannah Swensen was startled awake at four forty-seven in the morning.  Two feral eyes were staring down at her.  She batted out at them and they vanished, leaving an accusatory yowl floating in their wake.

Taken from the book blurb:  The residents of Lake Eden, Minnesota, are planning to paint the town red, white and blue to celebrate the Fourth of July - but the fireworks are already going off at Hannah Swensen's bake shop, The Cookie Jar...

Hannah Swensen thought she'd finally discovered the recipe for a perfect life.  But her sometime beau Norman Rhodes tosses a surprise ingredient into the mix when he phones to tell her he's just bought a house from local drugstore clerk Rhonda Scharf - which he plans to tear down in order to build the dream home he and Hannah designed.  It seems the plan has been cooking for quite some time, and Hannah's shocked.  Especially since her ring finger is still very much bare...

The good news is that the soon-to-be-torn-down house is full of antiques - and Norman has given Hannah and her mother first dibs.  They uncover some gorgeous old furniture, a patchwork quilt...and Rhonda Scharf's dead body.  A little more sleuthing turns up the half-eaten remains of a very special dinner for two - and one of The Cookie Jar's famous lemon meringue pies.  Now it's up to Hannah to turn up the heat - and get busy tracking down clues.  Starting in her very own kitchen...

Includes nine original cookie and dessert recipes for you to try!

My take:  This is the fourth book in the series and for the first time ever, Hannah wasn't the one who stumbled upon a dead body in Lake Eden.  If not her, then who?  Oh yes, Hannah was quite determined not to get herself involved in another murder investigation but was her resolve not to meddle as strong as her resolve to shed the twenty pounds she'd gained over the winter?  Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!  Again, this series makes a great buffer between the serious crime-thrillers that I usually read.

Rating: 3/5