Candy Cane Murder (Hannah Swensen #9.5)(24)

Bake at 325 degrees F. for 10 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two and then remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Yield: 8 to 10 dozen great cookies. You can freeze any extras for up to 3 months in freezer bags.

Hannah’s Note: All the Murphy men are crazy about Christmas Date Cookies. Michelle said she baked a whole batch one day when Lonnie was visiting her at Macalister.

They ate about a dozen and then they ran out of milk.

Michelle dashed to the corner grocery to buy some and when she got back, every single cookie was gone!

! % { # 9

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Chapter


! Seven #

The shadows of the pine trees were beginning to lengthen and cant toward the east as Hannah and Norman turned in at the TriCounty Mall. It was two-thirty on a Saturday afternoon and it seemed that everyone who lived in the TriCounty area was out at the mall shopping.

“I’ve never seen it this crowded before,” Hannah said, eyeing the rows of cars in the parking structure.

“Only fifteen shopping days before Christmas.”

Hannah turned to him in surprise. “I didn’t know you counted things like that.”

“I don’t. There was a big sign at the entrance.”

“I didn’t notice.”

“I know. So now who’s the observant one?”

“Neither one of us. Or maybe both of us. Whatever.”

Hannah grinned and shrugged it off. “I think we’re going to have to park in the back forty and walk in.”

“The back forty?”

“It dates back to the days when there were large family farms. The back forty was the section of land farthest away from the farmhouse.”

“Oh. Like the toolies.”

“Right.”

Norman turned down another row and braked to a stop CANDY CANE MURDER

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when he encountered a driver parked in the middle of the garage, effectively blocking traffic from both directions.

“There’s one in every parking lot,” Hannah commented.

“She’s waiting for that couple to load all their packages in the trunk and she’s determined to get their space.”

“And she’s going to make everyone behind her wait until she does,” Norman added.

“Makes you wish for an accordion car.”

It took Norman a moment, but then he nodded. “One with collapsible sides?”

“You got it. Then we could skin right past her, idle in front of her and snag that parking spot before she could get it. But they don’t make accordion cars, so we’re stuck. Do you want a cookie while we wait?”

“Sure. Do you have anything in chocolate?”

Hannah laughed. “I’ve got four different kinds and three are chocolate. Do you want Angel Pillows, Devil’s Food Cookies, or Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies?”

“Hold on. I’ve never had a Chocolate Candy Cane Cookie.

What are those?”

“They’re rich dark chocolate cookies with a sugary candy cane topping.”

“Sounds great! I’d like to try one of those.”

Hannah turned around and reached into the backseat for the correct bag. “I brought another dozen of these in one of my signature bags for Cory.” She pulled out two cookies and handed one to Norman. “Here you go.”

The cookies were exactly as she’d described them, and the contrast of the sweet, dark chocolate with the tongue-tingling peppermint coating was deliciously startling.

“These are your best cookies,” Norman said, finishing his first cookie and dipping in the bag for a second.

“I thought the Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies were your favorites.”

“They were until I tasted these.”

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“Fickle,” Hannah teased him.

“If I am, it’s understandable. My favorite cookie is the cookie I’m eating at the moment.” Norman stepped on the gas as the driver ahead of them finally pulled into her parking spot and ceased being a roadblock. “I feel lucky. Let’s try that first row again.”

Norman’s lucky feeling turned out to be a premonition of good things to come. As they turned down the first row, a van parked right next to the entrance backed out. Norman quickly nabbed the spot and before you could say Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, Hannah and Norman were stepping through the double entrance doors and into the mall.

“Whoa,” Hannah said, stopping in her tracks.

“This way, Hannah.” Norman pulled her out of the mainstream of traffic and over to the side. “What’s wrong?”

It was a rare occasion for Hannah. She was completely at a loss for words. Strains of loud Christmas carols were assaulting her ears, the combined scents of popcorn and potpourri were overpowering, and the voices of hundreds of holiday shoppers created a roaring buzz in her head.

“Are you okay?” Noman asked her.

“I will be. It’s just too much to take in all at once.” Hannah eyed the milling crowds of people, the flashing colored lights, and the Christmas decorations. Combined as a class that she called holiday madness, they seemed to be occupying every available foot of wall and floor space. “All these people.

All these flashing lights and decorations. All this noise. Christmas is breaking out all over!”