Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #16)

Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #16) by Joanne Fluke


This book is for the Hannah fans who love her almost as much as I do.

Acknowledgments:


Hugs to Ruel and the kids, my chief taste testers. Oodles of love to the grandkids, who think the four food groups are cookies, pies, cakes, and fudge.

Thank you to my friends and neighbors: Mel & Kurt, Lyn & Bill, Lu, Gina, Adrienne, Jay, Bob, Laura Levine & Mark, Danny, Judy Q., Dr. Bob & Sue, Richard & Krista, Mark B., Angelique, Daryl and her staff at Groves Accountancy, Mandy at Faux Library, and everyone at Boston Private Bank.

Thank you to my Minnesota friends: Lois & Neal, Bev & Jim, Lois & Jack, Val, Ruthann, Lowell, Lila & Curt, Dorothy & Sister Sue, Mary & Jim, Tim Hedges, and the waiter at Manny’s Steakhouse.

Special thanks to my great Editor-in-Chief and friend, John Scognamiglio.

Hugs all around to Steve, Laurie, Doug, David, Adam, Peter, Robin, Karen, Vida, Lesleigh, Darla, and all the other folks at Kensington Publishing who keep Hannah sleuthing and baking up a storm.

Thanks to Hiro Kimura, my superb cover artist, who’s outdone himself on this cover. Those cupcakes are definitely a work of art!

Thank you to Lou Malcangi at Kensington for designing Hannah’s gorgeous covers.

Thanks to John at Placed4Success.com for Hannah’s movie and TV spots, and for handling my social media.

Thanks to Kathy Allen for the final testing of Hannah’s recipes and taking a bite of banana for the Hannah team.

Hugs to my friend Trudi Nash for going with me on book tours and convincing me that she likes it.

Thank you to JoAnn Hecht for making Hannah’s recipes look beautiful and taste yummy at launch parties. Special thanks to Gail DeVri for taking me up to the Seattle Space Needle and pointing out their window-washing cage.

Hugs to Lois Brown, my wonderful food stylist in Phoenix, who bakes almost as much as Hannah does.

Thank you to Dr. Rahhal, Dr. and Cathy Line, Dr. Wallen and Dr. Niemeyer.

Thanks to Jamie Wallace for keeping my Web site,

MurderSheBaked.com

up to date and looking great!

Thank you to Leah and Fern for looking after Hannah on Facebook.

Thanks to the “Double D’s” for giving me at least one laugh a day.

Thank you to all the readers who sent family recipes for

Hannah to try.

Let’s hope she doesn’t run out of chocolate!

Chapter One


“You’re staring at me again!” Hannah Swensen emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, a towel wrapped around her unruly red curls. She grabbed her favorite robe, shrugged into it quickly, and turned to face the only other occupant of her bedroom. “It’s not polite to stare at me when I’m not wearing anything and you’re sitting there in your fur coat.”

When there was no response to her comment, Hannah sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up the package of panty hose she’d purchased on her way home from The Cookie Jar, her coffee shop and bakery. She wasn’t looking forward to putting on her best formal clothing on the hottest, muggiest evening ever recorded in Lake Eden, Minnesota’s history. Actually, if she was completely honest, she never enjoyed donning formal clothing, even when the weather cooperated. She was much more comfortable in jeans and a billboard T-shirt, or, as a concession to her family, a comfortable pantsuit. She wasn’t looking forward to tonight’s party either. She’d much rather spend the evening on her living room couch, sipping cold lemonade and watching a movie on television with one of her boyfriends, either Norman Rhodes or Mike Kingston. Unfortunately, her presence tonight was mandatory since The Cookie Jar was catering dessert.

“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” she told her roommate, who was watching her intently. “At least that’s what Great-Grandma Elsa always used to say. But she also used to say that nobody in Minnesota needed air-conditioning, that a fan blowing over a block of ice was enough.”

This comment was met with widened eyes and what she interpreted as an incredulous look.

“I know,” she reassured him. “Great-Grandma Elsa was wrong. Or maybe it was cooler back in her time. I’ll turn the air-conditioner on high just as soon as I’m through getting dressed.”

Even though the sun would be setting while she was gone, Hannah knew that air-conditioning would be necessary. In some areas of the country, the nights cooled off considerably, but not in central Minnesota. Perhaps the temperature would drop a few degrees as night approached, but that wouldn’t provide much relief. The outside walls of her condo had been baking in the sun all day and they would still be warm to the touch long after midnight.

It was hot in her bedroom. She’d opened the window to let in some outside air, but the curtains hung limp and lifeless. There was no breeze and the humidity was still sky high. Hannah could testify to that fact because even though she’d dried off thoroughly after her shower, her skin felt moist and hot again.

“It’s not even summer yet,” she told him, sighing a bit. “The Summer Solstice isn’t until June twentieth this year and today is only the ninth. Technically, it’s still spring and this afternoon it was hot enough to fry an egg outside.”

It was difficult to tell, but Hannah thought he looked impressed at this news. Earlier in the afternoon, when the mercury had reached its highest peak in the thermometer that hung outside the window in the coffee shop, her customers had decided that it was hot enough to cook an egg on the hood of a car. Hannah’s partner, Lisa Herman Beeseman, had volunteered her old black Ford for the test and the egg was duly cracked on the hood. After twelve minutes in the blazing sun, the yolk was still a bit runny, but the white was definitely cooked. Since no one wanted to stand around in the heat any longer to wait for the yolk to solidify, the dozen or so customers who’d trooped out to the parking lot to watch had declared the experiment a success.