Bubbling up with Helena

• Title: Pink Lemonade Cake Murder
• Author: Joanne Fluke
• Publisher: Forever
• Release Date: 7/25/23
• Genre: Murder Mystery
• Age Range: Adult
• Rating: ★★★
• Publisher’s Summary: In this irresistible mystery from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joanne Fluke, Hannah Swensen is at the center of a lively summer fest with fun for everyone in Lake Eden, Minnesota–including a cold-blooded murderer . . .The Tri-County Summer Solstice Celebration has come to town, and even among local artisans, athletes, and marching bands, Hannah attracts fans of her own while serving lip-smacking pink lemonade desserts. But the mood sours when a body turns up, leading revelers to wonder if the festivities mark both the longest day of the year and the deadliest . . .A retired professional MLB player has met a terrifying end–and, considering the rumors swirling about his past, the list of suspects could fill a small stadium. Among them could soon be Delores, Hannah’s mother, who publicly held a grunge against the victim after he infamously dunked her in the tank at a previous county fair . . .Now, with her mother’s innocence on the line, a life-changing announcement at The Cookie Jar, and a plethora of desserts to bake, Hannah can’t afford to strike out as she begins a dangerous investigation into the ruthless killer who’s truly in a league of their own . . .

I’ve been reading the Hannah Swensen series for a long time. Pink Lemonade Cake Murder is the 29th book in the series, and I have read every single one…some of them more than once. This series made me fall in love with cozy mysteries, a murder mystery where the detective is not a professional.

While Hannah and her fellow Lake Eden residents have come to feel like friends to me, the last few books don’t have the spark as the earlier books in the series.

There are a few moments, especially early in the book, where Hannah delivers very stilted dialogue in order to provide background information. Of course, I understand some exposition is necessary, but Fluke could have found a way to do it more seamlessly.

In many books in the series, Hannah’s brother in law, Sheriff Bill Todd and other members of the department, don’t condone her tendency to launch her own investigations into the murders in the town. It feels strange that in this book, they not only ask for her help, but they encourage her to be part of interviewing witnesses. Revisting my review of the last book, Caramel Pecan Roll Murder, it seems like this shift starts with that book. I am curious to see where Fluke is going with this.

In the past few books in the series, Andrea, the elder of Hannah’s two sisters, has become more of a focus. In Pink Lemonade Cake Murder, she works on perfecting her cake decorating skills and learns how to make stew. After years of reader about Andrea’s uselessness in the kitchen, it is nice that she’s getting more credit now.

A big throughline of the series is the love triangle between Hannah, Detective Mike Kingston and Norman Rhodes, a sweet local dentist. They’ve both proposed to Hannah throughout the series multiple times and been rejected. In this installment, Hannah says that she will never choose between them. I was surprised that she said that and wonder if Fluke is hinting that Hannah will, in fact, eventually make a choice.

I always love my yearly check in with the residents of Lake Eden, Minnesota. It is cozy and comforting. I look forward to reading about what Hannah gets up to next.