History Literature / HannahSwensen

** [[spoiler:The victim of ''Blackberry Pie Murder'' is a pimp, and was killed while pursuing a prostitute who used to work for him and had left that line of work.]]

** [[spoiler:In ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'', Dr. Beverly Thorndike tries to blackmail her fiancé Roger Dalworth after witnessing him attempting to kill Barbara Donnelly. He kills her instead.]]

** [[spoiler:The first victim in ''Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder'' (and the second to have their body discovered) turns a particularly nasty loan shark.]]

** After Lawrence's murder, Hannah promises Mike she won't investigate on her own... but never says she won't ask ''others'' to help her investigate.

* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: In ''Key Lime Pie Murder'', Lisa mentions her sisters were grown by the time she was born.

* SuicideNotMurder: Subverted in ''Cinnamon Roll Murder'' and ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder''. Clayton Wallace, the bus driver for the band Cinnamon Roll Six, dies in the accident in the opening of the former book. When it turns out he overdosed on heart medication, there's some suspicion that someone tampered with his pills so he'd take too many, but by the time of ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'', the coroner has concluded it was suicide, thus denying Clayton's son the insurance money from his death. Luckily, after Hannah meets Clayton's nurse from the eye clinic he went to, said nurse is able to provide evidence that he had vision problems that would explain how he could misidentify the pills when filling his pill pockets, and thus it really was an accident on his part.

** Ross Barton is completely absent from the films; of the five, only ''Plum Pudding Murder'' is adapted from a book set after his introduction in the novel series, and it's one he didn't appear or even get mentioned in.

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Soon after returning to Lake Eden to help her mother deal with her grief over the death of Hannah's father, Hannah begins setting up to open "The Cookie Jar", her new bakery. Meanwhile, she's also solving a mystery from the past of elderly Essie Granger.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]It's Christmas time again in Lake Eden, and Hannah must solve the mystery of an amnesiac found near death in an abandoned store just down the road from The Cookie Jar, along with assorted issues in her friends' and family's personal lives.[[/labelnote]]

* #2: ''Strawberry Shortcake Murder'' (2002)[[note]]Adapted into the fifth and last film, "Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts" (March 2017)[[/note]]

* #11: ''Cream Puff Murder'' (March 2009) [[note: Later adapted into the sixth film "Sweet Revenge: A Hannah Swensen Mystery" (August 2021) [[/note]]

The Hannah Swensen Mysteries is a CozyMystery novel series written by Joanne Fluke (pen name of Joanne Fischmann). It was later adapted into a series of five films, which debuted on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel.

* #9.5: ''Candy Cane Murder'' (October 2007) (novella)[[note]]Collected in the anthology of the same name, along with ''Jaine Austen Mysteries'' #6.5: ''The Dangers of Candy Canes'' by Laura Levine and ''Lucy Stone Mysteries'' #13.5: ''Candy Canes of Christmas Past'' by Leslie Meier.[[/note]]

* #11: ''Cream Puff Murder'' (March 2009)

* SkinnyDipping: It’s implied that Hannah’s youngest sister Michelle was swimming naked with her boyfriend Lonnie in ''Carrot Cake Murder'' This becomes somewhat important due to her seeing the murderer entering the pavilion between 2 AM and staying until at least 2:30.

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Easter is approaching, but Hannah's not just busy with orders -- she's busy with trying to clear her sister's name, after Andrea becomes the prime suspect in the murder of Mayor Richard Bascomb.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Hannah's begun teaching a weekly "Potluck Cooking Class" at the community outreach center. But she's got something else on her mind too - the upcoming sheriff's election, which takes a turn for the suspicious when Lake Eden's sitting Sheriff Grant, who's bound and determined to win reelection, turns up dead outside the high school... and Hannah's brother-in-law Bill, who was running against him, is the prime suspect.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Hannah's serving as a judge at a baking contest at the Tri-County Fair, but when one of her fellow judges - home economics teacher Willa Sunquist - turns up dead, Hannah must figure out who's responsible.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]It's Christmas time again, and once again, Hannah must solve a murder - that of "Lunatic Larry" Jaeger, who's been running a kitschy carnival in the village green.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Hannah's providing refreshments for the Grand Opening of the refurbished Albion Hotel, and the event turns up a surprise guest: Doctor Bev, a Lake Eden legend who left town in shame after cheating on her fiance. But things take a dark turn when Barbara Donnelly, the sheriff's secretary, suffers a near-fatal fall, and soon afterward, Bev herself - who's been trying to get the attention of her old flame and Hannah's current boyfriend Norman - turns up dead in Miller's Pond after eating one of Hannah's cupcakes, tainted with tranquilizers. Now Hannah is the top suspect and must clear her name.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]While she's happy to take part in her mother's wedding, Hannah also nervous - the trial for her role in the death of the victim of book 17 is coming soon. Matters turn worse when the judge is found bludgeoned to death with his own gavel, leaving her once again the prime suspect and forced to clear her name.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]It's Thanksgiving, and Hannah's working hard to focus on anything other than her husband's disappearance. But when his assistant P.K. is murdered, Hannah must solve the case - was he the target, or did the missing Ross dodge a bullet?[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Hannah's discovered the truth about her "husband" - he was already married, and their wedding wasn't legal. Meanwhile, "The Cookie Jar" becomes the setting for a TV special about movies filmed in Minnesota... unfortunately, things once again turn ugly when yet another dead body turns up, along with the two-timing Ross.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Easter is approaching, but Hannah's not just busy with orders - she's busy with trying to clear her sister's name, after Andrea becomes the prime suspect in the murder of Mayor Richard Bascomb.[[/labelnote]]

** Mike Kingston's first wife died this way - she was on her way to work when she was caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs.

** Subverted in three novellas - "Candy For Christmas" is focused on a runaway teenager, "The Twelve Desserts of Christmas" is a romance, and the story in "Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook" is about a gathering of family and friends.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: In ''Apple Turnover Murder'', one of the charity events being held is "Donkey Baseball", a game of baseball in which the players don't walk or run on their own - they ride donkeys. This is an actual fad from the 1930s.

** In ''Cherry Cheesecake Murder'', Hannah finds people are betting on whose proposal she'll accept - Mike's or Norman's. Again, she gets angry, and responds by declining ''both'' proposals, informing them that ''she'll'' decide whom to ask to marry her when she's ready. (She also tells Mike to remind the people placing their bets that gambling is illegal in Minnesota, and to tell the man collecting the bets that he should donate the money to charity.)
* BettyAndVeronica: Hannah is chronically unable to choose between her two boyfriends, the average looking yet warm and supportive dentist Norman (Betty) and the strong, sexy, yet sometimes patronizing policeman Mike (Veronica). A mild example, since both are nice, reasonably Bettyish men - Mike is just slightly more of the Veronica. [[spoiler: Hannah eventually chooses [[ThirdOptionLoveInterest Ross]] as her husband, but it doesn't last.]]

** In ''Fudge Cupcake Murder'', Luanne Hanks admits that while pregnant, she was essentially blackmailed to keep quiet about the identity of her daughter's father - her mother has a cleaning service, and one of Mrs. Hanks' clients threatened to fire her if Luanne ever publicly admitted the truth. [[spoiler:This ceases to be a problem after the blackmailer dies during the events of the book.]]

* ByTheBookCop: Mike Kingston, who's a stickler for procedure when it comes to police work, which is part of why he tries to keep Hannah from getting involved in his cases (and also because he's justifiably protective of her, considering the number of murderers who targeted her when they figured out she was on their trail). He mentions in ''Fudge Cupcake Murder'' that he has to be very careful to avoid signs of favoritism when it comes to investigating, even if a suspect is a friend of his and he himself doesn't believe they're really guilty. Later, in ''Cherry Cheesecake Murder'', he admits that another reason he doesn't want Hannah investigating this time is due to a regulation - "No civilian shall be recruited into an official investigation without insurance, bonding, compensation commensurate with duties, and deputization." And since he's only ''acting'' sheriff at the moment, he doesn't want to overstep his authority by deputizing her. In ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'', he interrogates Hannah just as toughly as he would any other suspect [[spoiler: while investigating Beverly Thorndike's murder]], although he privately apologizes the next day. He eventually subverts this in ''Blackberry Pie Murder'', though, when he [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight refuses to arrest Hannah]] for vehicular manslaughter and is suspended for it.
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Freddy Sawyer in ''Lemon Meringue Pie Murder'' - the first time he ever has alcohol (a single can of beer), he gets plastered and starts mooning people.

* CatsAreMean: Moishe reserves this trope only for Delores Swensen in the books. He's shredded up several pairs of her pantyhose, he's able to detect her calls to Hannah's house (he practically ''glares'' at the phone whenever it's her on the other end of the line), and in ''Peach Cobbler Murder'', he refuses to hunt down a mouse for her. (He also declines to catch one for Norman's mother.) ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'' eventually reveals the origin of this - he took offense to her speaking baby talk to him and trying to pick him up the first time they met. He's since mellowed somewhat, and behaves himself as long as she brings treats.

** Later in the same book, there's a semi-subversion when Hannah is stuck in a production truck from a local TV station, reviewing footage from a broadcast a few nights ago, when she hears a noise outside and initially thinks it's the killer she's trying to find, coming after ''her''. It turns out to be a hungry female [[BearsAreBadNews bear]] instead - not the killer she was afraid of, but still dangerous.

** Hannah's the victim of a positive scam in ''Peach Cobbler Murder'', when local used car salesman and mechanic Cyril Murphy tells her there's a factory recall on a part from her truck, and he's already sent one of his mechanics to pick it up so they can replace the missing part. [[spoiler:It turns out there was no recall; Bill, Mike and Cyril were plotting to get her truck away from her so they could fix two ''other'' problems it had that Hannah hadn't had fixed, namely her heater and a leak right by the heating vent on the floor. Andrea was also in on it - she deliberately pulled into the Cyril's parking lot so he could tell Hannah about the "recall".]]

** In ''Lemon Meringue Pie Murder'', Hannah tries on a pair of light-weight slacks she'd bought with her sister a year before and discovers that she can't fit into them. Thinking she's gained weight and not having time to go on an exercise regimen, she puts herself on a diet immediately instead. [[spoiler:At the end of the book, while she and her family and friends are at a restaurant together, she discovers the truth - ''Andrea'' had bought a smaller but otherwise identical pair at the same time that Hannah got hers, and when they were going home, they'd accidentally switched bags so Andrea had the pants in Hannah's size and Hannah had the pair in Andrea's size. On realizing the mixup, Hannah promptly ends her diet and requests that the restaurant owner just bring her their entire dessert cart.]]

* DirectLineToTheAuthor: The 2008 reissue of ''Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder'' adds the new novella "Candy For Christmas" and a personal letter from Hannah to Joanne Fluke putting the books squarely in this trope - Hannah refers to them as her biography. She also thanks Fluke for finally telling Candy's story, and asks when she's coming back to visit her friends in Lake Eden (apparently, Hannah and Fluke used to have coffee together every morning at The Cookie Jar, before Fluke moved to southern California). Some of the recipes in later books also have Fluke adding notes of her own to them, as if she'd received the recipes directly from Hannah and was just adding her own thoughts.

** Boyd Watson has serious anger issues, which lead to him taking it out on his wife Danielle; however, unlike most examples, he acknowledges that he has a problem and is seeing a therapist for anger management. He also shows signs of control issues, having told his wife that her idea of opening a dance studio would never work. When he turns up dead in ''Strawberry Shortcake Murder'', people assume that it was her justifiably murdering her abusive spouse. [[spoiler:As Hannah believes from the beginning, Danielle is completely innocent.]] Three books later, in ''Fudge Cupcake Murder'', Danielle talks to Hannah about how he'd claimed her dance studio idea "would never go in a town the size of Lake Eden", and that he's since been proven wrong - business is booming and she's looking for an assistant so she can hold more classes.

** In ''Cinnamon Roll Murder'', Hannah thinks to herself at one point that Norman isn't good with singing either. [[spoiler:This is yet another hint that Beverly Thorndike is lying about his being her daughter's father - she told her mother the father was a good musician.]]

* EmbarrassingNickname: Mayor Richard Bascomb, as a child, got nicknamed "Ricky Ticky" by his babysitter - Delores Swensen. She still calls him that even when he's in his fourth term as mayor of Lake Eden, which he doesn't appreciate.
* EmotionSuppression: During ''Key Lime Pie Murder'', Hannah learns that Mike does this during murder investigations, depersonalizing things so he can "assess the crime scene analytically" and feeling that emotions get in the way of his ability to do so - he ''does'' feel bad about the person's death, but he can't let his empathy get in the way of solving the case. Once ''off'' the clock, he purposely stops suppressing his emotions and lets himself decompress. After she overhears this, Hannah is more understanding about his earlier callous behavior, referring to Willa only as "the victim" and treating her more as a body than a person.

** The topic is brought up again in ''Gingerbread Cookie Murder'', in which Norman expresses a distaste for fruitcake, noting that it's the citron in it that he doesn't like. Hannah promises that this recipe, which she got from Marge Beeseman (who in turn got it from someone else) doesn't have citron - it uses dried fruit.

* FatalAttractor: Tad Newburg in ''Cream Puff Murder'', whose uncle remarks on his having poor taste in women - he keeps trying to get the wrong ones, with no moral fiber, to go out with him.

* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: Doc Knight is a recurring character throughout the series. Late in ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'', when Hannah finds he's going to be her new stepfather, she asks Delores what they should call him, since they don't know his first name. Delores explains that his first name ''is'' "Doc" now - at some point in the past, he had it legally shortened from "Murdoch".

* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Late in ''Sugar Cookie Murder'', Andrea has to be hurried to the hospital to give birth. Norman and Hannah go with her, and she asks if Norman could help with the delivery if it happens before they get there; fortunately for them both, the baby waits until she's in the delivery room. Afterward, while waiting, Norman confesses to Hannah that he's glad - "I'm a dentist, not an obstetrician."

** Discussed as a motive for murder in ''Apple Turnover Murder'', but ultimately subverted. Bradford Ramsey had been married at least twice, and his first wife's parents were so impressed with him that they included him in their will, with his getting half of their money - several million dollars. They hadn't had the chance to write him back out after the divorce, and when they suddenly died in a car accident, their daughter would have had the perfect motivation to kill him and thus inherit everything. The subversion comes when it's revealed she was in the car with them and was in the hospital, being treated for a broken shoulder, when Bradford was subsequently murdered.

* InsaneTrollLogic: In ''Blueberry Muffin Murder'', main victim Connie Mac doesn't like her assistant Janie to be overweight, claiming that unless she loses twenty pounds, people will think Connie's recipes are fattening and thus reduce her sales. Norman privately tells Hannah that he thinks this is nonsense - Creator/JuliaChild wasn't thin either, and her cookbooks were bestsellers. Hannah agrees with him.

* IWantGrandkids: Or rather, "I want grandkids from my older daughter too". Delores tends to nag Hannah about finding a man and having children - while Hannah's happy babysitting for her niece, Delores insists that that's no substitute for having a baby of her own.
* KeyUnderTheDoormat: In ''Apple Turnover Murder'', Hannah and Mike get into a discussion on the subject. Mike doesn't approve of the obvious spots, like under a doormat, a flower pot or inside a fake rock (which is where Hannah happens to keep hers). On the other hand, he thinks Norman's hiding place for his spare key - inside the mouth of a concrete statue of a moose - is brilliant when he finds out.

* LongestPregnancyEver: On the low end of the scale, but Andrea's second pregnancy lasts from February to December - ten months. At the start of ''Sugar Cookie Murder'', she tells Hannah that according to the doctor, she should have delivered a week or two ago, and he's giving her only until the end of the week until he induces labor for her and the baby's safety.

** Suggested in ''Cherry Cheesecake Murder'', when Hannah wonders if Dean Lawrence was the intended target, or actor Burke Anson, who would have been shooting the scene where the "prop" gun was to be used. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted - Burke was the one who switched guns and then arranged for Dean to take his place.]]

* NoodleIncident: While reminiscing about Gus Klein in ''Carrot Cake Murder'', Rose [=McDermott=] mentions how he got in trouble for one of these - all she knows is that it involved the drama teacher and three dead frogs.

* NotInFrontOfTheParrot: In ''Devil's Food Cake Murder'', Pete Nunke's myna bird picks up a few surprise phrases while spending time with Reverend Matthew Walters. One phrase - "I know why you're here, and you're not going to find it!" - provides evidence about the man's killer.

* ParentalTitleCharacterization: Hannah and her two sisters always call their mother Delores "Mother". Since Delores is a ProperLady and MyBelovedSmother, in sharp contrast with her GirlNextDoor baker daughter, the formal title suits her much better than "Mom" would. [[spoiler:It eventually comes out that Delores hasn't been very happy about their doing so - in ''Chocolate Cream Pie Murder'', after seeing Ross's body, a shellshocked Hannah unwittingly calls Delores "Mommy", the first time she's done so since she was three. Delores thanks her for it, and says that "You have no idea how much that means to me."]]

** A variant in ''Blueberry Muffin Murder'' - Connie Mac is infuriated when she learns her husband's will only leaves her ''half'' his estate, and is determined to make him change it to make her his sole heir, rather than leaving the other half to a woman she thinks he's sleeping with. [[spoiler:The other heir turns out to be his daughter from a previous relationship, something he'd only recently found out about.]]

** Another variant in ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'' - [[spoiler: Warren Dalworth left a quarter of his estate to his illegitimate daughter, Barbara Donnelly. Her older half-brother Roger feels he deserves it all because he did all the work, whereas she wasn't involved in Dalworth Enterprises in any way, and he tries to murder her so he'll get everything. Presumably, ''she'' ends up with everything after Roger dies in the book's climax.]]

** In ''Apple Turnover Murder'', it's suggested this could be a motive for murder - Bradford Ramsey had published a research paper and taken full credit for the work, but it was his research assistant Tim Pearson who actually researched and wrote it in return for Bradford recommending him for a certain job. Then Bradford backstabbed him and recommended one of his girlfriends (who was utterly unqualified) instead. Luckily for Tim, one of the people on the hiring committee looked into matters more closely, and Tim got the job anyway.

* {{Portmanteau}}: In ''Sugar Cookie Murder'', Andrea uses one to name her second daughter at Hannah's suggestion - combining "Beth" (short for "Elizabeth", Delores Swensen's middle name) and "Annie" (a nickname for "Anatolia", Regina Todd's middle name) into Bethany, allowing her to fulfill the promises she'd made to her mother and mother-in-law (separately) to name her child, if it was a girl, after them.

* PostRobberyTrauma: A variant occurs in ''Strawberry Shortcake Murder''. [[spoiler:In the climax, Hannah wrestles the villain's gun away and manages to injure and restrain him. Later that evening, she asks Herb Beeseman to teach her how to handle a handgun. Not because she's planning to buy one herself, but so she knows how to use one if she ever finds herself in a similar situation again - she already knows how to safely handle a shotgun, since her father taught her, but not handguns.]]

** ''Christmas Caramel Murder'', the 20th main book published, was released after ''Wedding Cake Murder'', but takes place earlier - the prologue and epilogue of ''Christmas Caramel'' are set in September, while ''Wedding Cake'' is set in October.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: In ''Cream Puff Murder'', pretty much all the experienced deputies from the sheriff's department (and even the sheriff himself) have to take themselves off the case when Ronni Ward is murdered. Stella Parks, Mike's replacement in the Minneapolis detective division, is brought in to take over; when she meets Hannah, rather than ordering her to mind her own business, she actually asks her to keep doing what she always does to solve her murder investigations - listen and ask questions, and report any important information about the case to Stella.

** In ''Blackberry Pie Murder'', set in August, Hannah reads a news article saying it's been four months since a member of her family found a dead body. The previous book, in which Hannah found a dead body, was set in June - just ''two'' months before.

** Variant in ''Candy Cane Murder'', when it's revealed that Wayne Bergstrom died without ever getting to know his daughter - she was five or so when his ex-wife (whom he'd divorced when she was pregnant, though he didn't know that) returned to town to tell him, only for him to be murdered before they had a chance to talk.

* SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace: During ''Cinnamon Roll Murder'', Claire Knudson voices to Michelle (who later tells Hannah) that during Norman and Beverly Thorndike's wedding, she wants to be the one to do this, since she doesn't like Bev. [[spoiler:She doesn't get the chance - Norman calls off the wedding after figuring out Bev was lying to him about her daughter being his.]]
* SpringtimeForHitler: [[spoiler:Invoked for the events of ''Cherry Cheesecake Murder'', as revealed in ''Chocolate Cream Pie Murder''. As the killer explains, Ross's earlier movies had all lost money, so his main investors, fully expecting ''Crisis in Cherrywood'' would also fail, bought insurance on it and informed Ross of this, making him agree to ensure the production wouldn't make back its money. Ross then went behind their backs and sold the rights to someone else, therefore making enough money off it to prevent them from cashing in on the insurance - which would have been ''much'' more than they'd get from selling the rights. While he paid back the original investment money, they were furious at losing a chance at a bigger sum from the insurance, and one of them finally kills Ross in revenge.]]

* StealingFromTheTill: As revealed in ''Cream Puff Murder'', this got Ronni Ward fired from one of her previous jobs - she was a cocktail waitress at a bar, where she totaled her customers' bar tabs early, took their credit cards and rang them up. Then, when they'd order another round, she'd ask them to pay in cash and pocketed it. When the owner complained to the bartender about his coming up short, the bartender started keeping a closer eye on the cocktail waitresses and caught her in the act.
* StrugglingSingleMother: Luanne Hanks, who dropped out of high school in her senior year after becoming pregnant and spent the next few years supporting her baby and mother by working as a waitress and selling Pretty Girl cosmetics door-to-door - since she won't accept outright charity, Hannah and Andrea clandestinely support her via buying her cosmetics, even if they never use them. Later, when Delores Swensen and Carrie Rhodes open their antique shop "Granny's Attic" between the events of ''Blueberry Muffin Murder'' and ''Lemon Meringue Pie Murder'', they hire her to work for them, which helps her finances a great deal. [[spoiler:It later comes out that Suzie's father was Jamie Grant, and he'd died before ever finding out. Jamie's father didn't take too well to finding out he'd fathered a child out of wedlock and forbids her from ever admitting their relationship.]]

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: This is how Dr. Beverly Thorndike dies in ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'' - an overdose of tranquilizers are found in her stomach. While it's initially assumed they were in the Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes that Hannah gave her, it's eventually proven they were actually in the coffee she'd gotten elsewhere.

* TrailOfBreadCrumbs: In ''Candy Cane Murder'', after a trail of miniature candy canes leads to Wayne Bergstrom's body (and there was no hole in his pocket to suggest they might have fallen out that way), Hannah comes to believe that he suspected he was in danger and had left the trail on purpose. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a red herring clue - the killer left them to fool everyone into thinking that way.]]

* #8.5: ''The Twelve Desserts of Christmas'' (November 2006) (novella)[[note]]Collected in the anthology ''Sugar and Spice'', along with three standalone stories by Fern Michaels, Beverly Barton and Shirley Jump. Reissued in October 2019 in the anthology ''Christmas Sweets'', along with the ''Jaine Austen Mysteries'' story ''Nightmare on Elf Street'' by Laura Levine and the ''Lucy Stone Mysteries'' story ''The Christmas Thief'' by Leslie Meier.[[/note]]

* #9.5: ''Candy Cane Murder'' (October 2007) (novella)[[note]]Collected in the anthology of the same name, along with ''Jaine Austen Mysteries #6.5: The Dangers of Candy Canes'' by Laura Levine and ''Lucy Stone Mysteries #13.5: Candy Canes of Christmas Past'' by Leslie Meier.[[/note]]

* #13.5: ''Gingerbread Cookie Murder'' (October 2010) (novella)[[note]]Collected in the anthology of the same name, along with ''Jaine Austen Mysteries #9.5: The Dangers Of Gingerbread Cookies'' by Laura Levine and ''Lucy Stone Mysteries #16.5: Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots'' by Leslie Meier.[[/note]]

* #27: ''Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder'' (announced for February 2021)

* SuccessionCrisis: Minor one in ''Fudge Cupcake Murder''. After Sheriff Grant is killed while running for re-election, Mike Kingston (as highest-ranking deputy) is appointed Acting Sheriff until a new one is elected. His temporary secretary, Shawna Lee Quinn, briefly wonders what would happen if, despite his being dead, Sheriff Grant got re-elected anyway, since his name's still on the ballet. Hannah, who's not thrilled by her obvious interest in Mike, informs her that in that case, Mike would automatically remain Acting Sheriff until the Winnetka County Board of Supervisors can schedule another election. It turns out to be a moot point, since Bill gets elected after helping bring Grant's killer to justice.

** Boyd Watson has serious anger issues, which lead to him taking it out on his wife Danielle; however, unlike most examples, he acknowledges that he has a problem and is seeing a therapist for anger management. He also shows signs of control issues, having told his wife that her idea of opening a dance studio would never work. When he turns up dead in ''Strawberry Shortcake Murder'', people assume that it was her justifiably murdering her abusive spouse. [[spoiler:As Hannah believes from the beginning, Danielle is completely innocent.]]

** In ''Cream Puff Murder'', Hannah witnesses her mother and Carrie singing karaoke in a bar. They're both equally flat, and she spends the entire time wincing. (Though somehow, they managed to win a big prize from it that night.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Husband version, and retroactively so, in ''Fudge Cupcake Murder''. Danielle Watson has recently opened a dance studio in town, and tells Hannah that her late husband had pooh-poohed the idea when she'd talked about it to him, saying such a thing "would never go in a town the size of Lake Eden''. Contrary to his expectations, business is booming and she's looking for an assistant so she can hold more classes.

* BadDreams: Hannah periodically suffers from these as a result of finding dead bodies or encountering the killer.

** [[labelnote:Summary]]At long last, Hannah and Ross are getting married, and Ross is set to accompany her to New York City for the Food Channel’s dessert chef contest. And then, to top it off, the next phase of the show is announced to be taping in Lake Eden. Soon afterward, celebrity chef and contest judge Alain Duquesne turns up dead in the Lake Eden Inn's walk-in cooler, and Hannah must solve the case yet again.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]While Hannah and Ross are having dinner one night, Hannah tells him the story of what happened last winter, when Hannah had to solve the murder of Phyllis Bates, a high school girlfriend of Lisa's husband Herb Beeseman, who turned up dead during the town’s annual production of ''A Christmas Carol''.[[/labelnote]]

** [[labelnote:Summary]]Hannah's been visiting Los Angeles, but when a call comes in that her sister Michelle’s boyfriend, Detective Lonnie Murphy, is the prime suspect in a murder case, she returns to Lake Eden to find out what's happened and who's the culprit.[[/labelnote]]
* #26: ''Christmas Cupcake Murder'' (announced for September 2020)

** Hannah's the victim of a positive scam in ''Peach Cobbler Murder'', when local used car salesman and mechanic Cyril Murphy tells her there's a factory recall on a part from her truck, and he's already sent one of his mechanics to pick it up. [[spoiler:It turns out Bill, Mike and Cyril had it, borrowing her truck and fixing both the heater and a leak right by the heating vent on the floor. Andrea was also in on it - she deliberately pulled into the Cyril's parking lot so he could tell Hannah about the "recall".]]

* BackupBluff: A variant in ''Key Lime Pie Murder''. Norman, who's gone into a dive of a bar to help retrieve Michelle Swensen, pretends to be just another customer and tells the man currently dancing with her that there's sheriff's deputy looking for him (or one of his brothers) with a warrant, and that he thought the guy should know. The other man falls for it and leaves in a hurry.

* #25: ''Coconut Layer Cake Murder'' (announced for February 2020)

* ParentalTitleCharacterization: Hannah and her two sisters always call their mother Delores "Mother". Since Delores is a ProperLady and MyBelovedSmother, in sharp contrast with her GirlNextDoor baker daughter, the formal title suits her much better than "Mom" would. [[spoiler:In ''Chocolate Cream Pie Murder'', after seeing Ross's body, a shellshocked Hannah unwittingly calls Delores "Mommy", and gets a positive response from her for it.]]

* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: In ''Plum Pudding Murder'', Hannah gets into a talk with Lisa about how her brother-in-law's father has a yellow Labrador named Flopsy, who recently had puppies. And they're pretty sure the father is their neighbor's Jack Russel terrier. When Lisa asks how that's possible, given the height difference, Hannah replies that the vet suspects a staircase was involved. Lisa cracks up at the thought.

** [[labelnote:Summary]]At long last, Hannah and Ross are getting married, and Ross is set to accompany her to New York City for the Food Channel’s dessert chef contest. And then, to top it off, the next phase of the show is announced to be taping in Lake Eden. Soon afterward, celebrity chef and contest judge Alain Duquesne turns up dead in the Lake Eden Inn’s walk-in cooler, and Hannah must solve the case yet again.[[/labelnote]]

** ''Cherry Cheesecake Murder'' also adds another side to the triangle with the arrival of her old boyfriend Ross Barton, whom she eventually marries in ''Wedding Cake Murder''... only for him to mysteriously disappear during the events of ''Banana Cream Pie Murder'' (shortly after returning from their honeymoon). His whereabouts are revealed in the final chapter of ''Raspberry Danish Murder'', and elaborated on in ''Chocolate Cream Pie Murder'', which officially ends their relationship. [[spoiler:In the former, it's explained that he was already married to a woman in Wisconsin (meaning that his marriage to Hannah wasn't legal), whom he'd returned to. In the latter, he returns to Lake Eden to reclaim some money he'd previously given Hannah (and that she'd transferred into ''his'' checking account after she found out the truth, not wanting anything to do with it or him anymore), and threatens her when he can't get it right away (since the bank doesn't keep sums that large on hand). Late in the book, he's found dead at the hands of an unknown assailant, and it's still unsolved as of the last chapter.]]

* ParentalTitleCharacterization: Hannah and her two sisters always call their mother Delores "Mother". Since Delores is a ProperLady and MyBelovedSmother, in sharp contrast with her GirlNextDoor baker daughter, the formal title suits her much better than "Mom" would.

** [[spoiler:Having married Ross Barton in ''Wedding Cake Murder'', Hannah later finds out that he was actually still married to his first wife, meaning hers wasn't legitimate.]]

** Preemptive version in the opening of ''Chocolate Cream Pie Murder''. After Hannah informs the town of the truth about [[spoiler:Ross's betrayal]], Grandma Knudson tells her that if he "comes back and winds up dead, you're going to have a whole town full of suspects!" Sure enough, he's dead by the end of the book, with the culprit as yet unidentified.

* AccidentalMurder: Mike Kingston's first wife died this way - she was on her way to work when she was caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs.

* DidNotDieThatWay: An in-universe fictional example in ''Cherry Cheesecake Murder'', where the movie ''Crisis in Cherrywood'' is being filmed in Lake Eden. The film's protagonist learns that her father, whom she'd been told for years had committed suicide, was actually killed by her brother for being an abusive jerk.

* GrammarNazi: Hannah herself is always correcting her sister's grammar, to Andrea's annoyance.

* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: In ''Fudge Cupcake Murder'', Luanne Hanks finally admits to Hannah about the identity of her child's father. The child's paternal ''grandfather'', who found out while she was pregnant, invoked this trope when he accused her of lying about his son being the father and wouldn't have anything to do with her.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: In ''Fudge Cupcake Murder'', it's revealed that Sheriff Grant and his wife Nettie lost their son Jamie in a car accident three years before. Sheriff Grant apparently never got over it, refusing to let his wife clean out Jamie's room and spending a lot of time in there on his own.
* ParentalTitleCharacterization: Hannah and her two sisters always call their mother Delores "Mother." Since Delores is a ProperLady and MyBelovedSmother, in sharp contrast with her GirlNextDoor baker daughter, the formal title suits her much better than "Mom" would.

** Another variant in ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'' - [[spoiler: Warren Dalworth left a quarter of his estate to his illegitimate daughter, Barbara Donnelly. Her older half-brother Roger feels he deserves it all because he did all the work, whereas she wasn't involved in Dalworth Enterprises in any way, and he tries to murder her so he'll get everything.]]

* RichesToRags: In ''Blueberry Muffin Murder'', [[spoiler:Greg Canfield had a successful, thriving business. But then Connie Mac made the local mall terminate his lease so she could take over the spot, not wanting any competition (he ran an import business, including cookware, which her stores sold). He wound up losing everything, even his wife, who divorced him for his financial troubles. It drove him crazy to the point of killing Connie and her lawyer in revenge.]]

** Hannah adopted her cat, Moishe, from the streets. While he still tries his best to get extra food while she's away, she loves him regardless of his actions.

* BlackmailBackfire: In ''Strawberry Shortcake Murder'', Hannah discovers that reporter Lucy Richards has been finding out people's secrets and extorting money and favors from them in return for keeping quiet. When she tried to blackmail Boyd Watson's killer, she ended up his next victim.

* CatsAreMean: Moishe reserves this trope only for Delores Swensen in the books. He's shredded up several pairs of her pantyhose, he's able to detect her calls to Hannah's house (he practically ''glares'' at the phone whenever it's her on the other end of the line), and in ''Peach Cobbler Murder'', he refuses to hunt down a mouse for her. (He also declines to catch one for Norman's mother.)

* ClearMyName: Hannah herself is a major suspect in both ''Peach Cobbler Murder'' and ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder''. Then in ''Blackberry Pie Murder'' she technically ''does'' kill the victim by accidentally hitting him with her truck (though he was already dying anyway) and has to go to trial for it in ''Double Fudge Brownie Murder''... and becomes the prime suspect when the judge is murdered.

* DirectLineToTheAuthor: The 2008 reissue of ''Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder'' adds the new novella "Candy For Christmas" and a personal letter from Hannah to Joanne Fluke putting the books squarely in this trope - Hannah refers to them as her biography. She also thanks Fluke for finally telling Candy's story, and asks when she's coming back to visit her friends in Lake Eden (apparently, Hannah and Fluke used to have coffee together every morning at The Cookie Jar, before Fluke moved to southern California).

* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: [[spoiler:In ''Plum Pudding Murder'', Mike fatally shoots Larry Jaeger's killer when he catches up to her as she's trying to murder Hannah to cover up her earlier crime.]]

** A variation occurs in ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'', where Dr. Bev is killed because she realized [[spoiler:it was her fiancé Roger who tried to kill Barbara at the beginning.]]

** Another variant in ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder'' - [[spoiler: Barbara Donnelly's half-brother Roger tried to murder her because he felt entitled to his father's whole estate, even though Barbara's portion was much smaller than his.]]

* RaisedByGrandparents: In ''Cinnamon Roll Murder'', when Hannah and Andrea talk to Dr. Beverly Thorndike's mother, they find she's the one who really raises Bev's daughter Diana, since Bev is always more concerned with her own personal life. [[spoiler:She becomes Diana's only guardian after Bev dies in ''Red Velvet Cupcake Murder''.]]

* ScatterbrainedSenior: Jack Herman, Lisa's father, has this due to suffering from Alzheimer's. It's the main reason she gave up her college scholarship and came home to take care of him.