Book Review--Peach Cobbler Murder, by Joanne Fluke

I love books in a series that feature the same character/s. Once I've gotten to like a character, I want to read more about them. This book is Fluke's fifth Hannah Swenson mystery. Hannah owns a small bakery called the Cookie Jar and is an amateur sleuth.

I will admit, one does have to suspend disbelief with these amateur-sleuth-type mysteries. For one thing, amateur sleuths in these books tend to do things in the course of investigating that I would think a private citizen would have difficulty doing. Also, these books tend to take place in small towns, and if there is at least one murder per installment of the series--well, that would make the murder rate in a town of 5000 people or so alarmingly high.

It doesn't matter, though; I always really enjoy these types of books. In this book, Hannah faces a serious threat to her business when a new bakery opens up right across the street. The new bakery is operated by two sisters, one of whom, Shawna Lee, is after Mike, Hannah's sometime-boyfriend. Since Shawna Lee is a rival of Hannah's in both business and love, she is a prime suspect when Shawna is murdered. So let's just say Hannah has a strong incentive to solve this particular case.

I really like all the characters in this series, but my favorite is Hannah's cat. He is far more intelligent than I think a real-life cat could probably be (not that my own little darlings aren't brilliant :-), but he has the greatest personality (cat-ality?). This is a cat who doesn't like Hannah's mother and so will puff up like a porcupine and hisses when her mother calls, even before Hannah answers the telephone. He also refused to kill a mouse in Hannah's mother's house, as if he just couldn't stand doing her a favor. On the other hand, he loves Hannah's other sometime-boyfriend, Norman, and will do anything Norman asks, including allow Norman to put a harness on him. The cat has strong opinions about people.

Each installment also has lots of recipes to try, mostly desserts. I haven't tried any yet, but, well, they all look really good, so these are a bonus that you get with each book.