Nonetheless, this challenge will go on and today's focus is on Devil's Food Cake Murder, which is the fourteenth entry in Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen culinary cozy mystery series. I'm still trying to catch up to my mom(who has read nearly every one of these books!) but at this point, I think that I'm gaining ground here.
This time around, Hannah is looking into the death of substitute minister Matthew Walters, who is covering for regular reverend Bob Knudson as he and his new bride Clare finally get to take their honeymoon(this romance has been a long running subplot and it's nice to see that story piece fit neatly into the overall puzzle).
Matthew is an old friend from childhood, who once staid with Bob's grandmother during his teens, along with his troublesome cousin Paul. Grandma Knudson is happy to host Matthew again but gets concerned when he reveals that his chocolate allergy from back in the day is long gone. That makes her wonder if this is the real Matthew as cousin Paul bears a striking resemble to him(very Patty Duke Show there!).
Hannah does check Matthew out and he appears to be legit(also you can outgrow/overcome chocolate allergies) which relieves both ladies greatly. However, it's not long before Hannah finds him dead at his desk, with a mynah bird overhead squawking "the wages of sin are death!"
Yes, the bird happens to also be a guest of Grandma Knudson's and that feathered friend provides a pivotal clue in the case. It's not long before Hannah gets her crew into gear to solve the murder mystery with assignments to her sisters Andrea and Michelle as well as Norman(who drops a major bombshell later on in the story), plus her Cookie Jar partner Lisa is gathering details to make her dramatic retelling of Hannah's latest deadly discovery a must-attend event.
At this point, it is becoming a regular feature of Lake Eden; Hannah Finds Another Body(and/or her family does!)and much like a certain vampire slayer, she has her own Scooby Gang ready to take action on her behalf:
While Hannah does her best to figure out who the killer is, complications do rise up such as her fastidious mother Delores insisting on going undercover at a local dive bar(complete with rented costume!) and the "real" Matthew showing up, claiming that it must have been his ex-con cousin Paul who was done in.
Quite a stir occurs with that last bit, as the legitimacy of local religious services(weddings, baptisms, etc) is under question, not to mention who exactly is after Paul. A big help is all of this comes from a rather unexpected source-Grandma Knudson, who also has a small Scooby Gang of her own.
Not only does Grandma Knudson figure out a few clues, she comes to Hannah's rescue when the true killer is discovered(no unmasking, alas) and even figures out what the murderer was searching for in Matthew's office that lead to his untimely demise. I swear, Grandma Knudson could be the next Miss Marple and maybe even give Hannah a run for her money in the small town detective game there:
What stunned me completely in this book was Norman's big revelation regarding Doctor Beverly, the former love of his life who has joined his dentistry clinic.
Ever since she came on the scene, Norman has been secretive with Hannah and clearly miserable about something. By the time the case has been resolved, Norman talks to Hannah alone, asking her to help him find his beloved cat Cuddles a new home.
Hannah wonders why and it's because Beverly claims to be allergic to cats. When questioned as to why that matters, Norman tells her that after he and Beverly broke up, she discovered that she was carrying his child(a girl named Diana) and never bothered to tell him about it. Now, after all these years, she's only willing to let Diana see him if Norman marries her!
What the what?!? Wow, that's so...what gets me is that Beverly has been openly dating Hannah's other beau, police detective Mike during this return to town and yet she's determined to set her hooks into Norman?! I am so getting Gilmore Girls Season Six flashbacks from this plot twist....:
Fortunately, Hannah can take Cuddles in as her beloved cat Moishe gets along great with Norman's kitty but the other news has her reeling back in shock to say the least.
With such a major emotional hit like that at the end, it's good that my current Series-ous Reading selection is Cinnamon Roll Murder, the very next Hannah Swensen book to follow! So far, our leading lady is dealing with the death of a keyboard player from a jazz band called Cinnamon Roll Six and Norman's plight hasn't been a big part of that yet.
However, I'm sure that something will happen on that front as even romantic rival Mike is concerned about what's going on there. For now, just thinking about the sweetness of cinnamon rolls is soothing enough for me:
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