Bestseller Fluke's padded 27th mystery featuring Lake Eden, Minn., baker Hannah Swensen (after 2020's Christmas Cupcake Murder), with its 31 meticulously detailed recipes, including one for the mega-calorific cheesecake of the title, amounts to a cookbook with a slim slice of crime on the side. After Hannah's sister, Andrea, has a shouting match with Richard Bascomb, the town's bullying, misogynist mayor, Andrea returns later in the day to the mayor's office with a peace offering, a large piece of triple chocolate cheesecake, only to find Bascomb's bloody body. Despite Andrea, wife of the Winnetka County sheriff, not being taken seriously as a suspect, Hannah decides to get to the bottom of the mayor's death. Her list of possible killers grows as she discovers that Bascomb has managed to offend almost everyone he has ever come in contact with, including his wife, city council members, and his various former lovers and their angry husbands. Hannah's internal dialogues between her rational and her suspicious minds occupy far more space than the sleuthing. This one's for established fans only. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Mar.)

Hannah Swensen, owner of the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and her crew (Andrea, Michelle, Lonnie, Mike, and Norman) swing into action when Hannah's sister, Andrea, finds bullying Mayor Richard Bascomb's body in his office the evening after she had a physical altercation with him over her husband's job. While Andrea is a suspect, there are numerous others in the mix, from Bascomb's long-suffering wife, who put up with his many infidelities, to his mistresses, to their significant others. Hannah interviews numerous people, going back to Bascomb's college days, some of whom seek her out because of her penchant for solving crimes in the community. Hannah, still living with Norman due to her reluctance (and her cat's refusal) to return to her condo after the devastating events that occurred there in Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (2019), even manages to begin to teach Andrea how to bake. Fans of the beloved long-running series will revel in another encounter with the familiar cast of characters, all the while relishing the baking frame and the delicious-sounding recipes that are interspersed throughout.

Family ties push baker Hannah Swensen to investigate the death of her town's mayor. Nobody messes with Andrea McCann's husband. As police chief of Lake Eden, Minnesota, Bill has to make all kinds of tough decisions, including locking up Mayor Bascomb's nephew, Bruce, upon his third drunken driving charge. Bascomb insists that Bill is in the wrong, but Andrea defends her hubby loudly, ending a tirade in the mayor's office with a smack in the snoot that can be heard all the way in the reception area. Unfortunately, their brawl is enough to make Andrea prime suspect when Hizzoner turns up dead the next day. Her sister, Hannah, can think of many alternatives and isn't shy about sharing them. Hannah teams up with her pal and protector, dentist Norman Rhodes; her younger sister, Michelle; Michelle's boyfriend, Lonnie; and even the mayor's widow, Stephanie, to find the real killer while Lake Edeners all the way from Grandma Knudsen to Rev. Bob cheer her on. In between rounds of sleuthing, Hannah turns out a dizzying array of dishes ranging from marshmallow peeps Easter cupcakes to a luncheon casserole that resembles the offspring of a Minnesota hot dish and a Reuben sandwich. But she's also processing the past, including the ugly incident that left her and her cat, Moishe, too scared to stay alone in her condo overnight. Generous Norman offers her a place to stay and a shoulder to cry on. But is that all she really wants or needs? Another sweet-tempered outing filled with tempting sweets. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.