Enhance your Christmas celebrations with this new trilogy of Christmas short stories. Bestselling author Joanne Fluke leads this entertaining and heartwarming tribute to seasonal literature. Fifteen delicious recipes complement the story lines; Sure to add delight to any holiday party or the next Super Bowl party.

Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Christmas is a month away in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Hannah Swensen is anticipating the holidays. As the owner of The Cookie Jar, a local restaurant and cafe, she has already started her seasonal baking.

Hannah resides in the same condominium development as Ernie Kusack, a recently divorced father of two teenagers. Her ex-wife, Lorna, lives in the same complex.

Christmas music plays every day from Ernie’s condo, given all his free time. Ernie, a former driver for the Shamrock Limousine Company, won $8 million in the Super-Six-Lottery; and he quit his job.

Ernie agreed to Hannah’s request to lower the volume of the music while visiting his store. Hannah gave Ernie a dozen of her gingerbread cookies to seal the deal.

When the music volume becomes unbearable and Hannah’s attempts to communicate with Ernie fail, she enlists the help of police officer Mike Kingston. Hannah and Mike break into Ernie’s condo with a key provided by Ernie’s ex-wife Lorna. There, they find Ernie dead on the floor near an open refrigerator door; Hannah’s previous gift of gingerbread cookies is crumbled on the floor.

Who killed Ernie and why? Was it his ex-wife, Lorna, using the key to her condo? What does a cell phone number that matches Ernie’s winning lottery picks and a framed copy of the lucky ticket hanging in Ernie’s guest bathroom have to do with the crime?

Hannah Swensen is Fluke’s recurring character in her books, incorporating food into the plot and titles. Fluke weaves thirteen delicious recipes into the story, including “Gingerbread Cookies” and “Magic Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars,” “Baked Game Day Burgers,” and “Smokin’ Crunchy Crunchy Coleslaw.” ‘ Willie” that would complement any Super Bowl party.

The dangers of gingerbread cookies by Laura Levin

Jaine Austen and her cat Prozac visit her parents over Christmas break at their Tampa Vistas retirement community. Hank and Claire Austen are still madly in love after all these years despite their quirks. Claire repeatedly calls for Prozac Zoloft and pampers the feline with table scraps, much to Jaine’s pain.

Jaine writes a commercial in Los Angeles for a living; and her parents insist on presenting her daughter as a famous Hollywood writer: “She wrote” In a Rush to Flush? She Calls the Grooming Masters!”

Edna Lindstrom has written this year’s Tampa Vista Christmas play entitled, The gingerbread cookie that saved Christmas; and insists that Jaine criticizes the dress rehearsal. It is as Jaine describes it, “A shameless con of both A Christmas Carol Y Peter Panthe torturous plot involves a gingerbread man coming to life and helping a lonely old woman discover her many blessings.”

Preston McCay, a recently retired plastic surgeon from Cleveland, joins the association. A womanizer, he quickly seduces Edna into believing marriage is in her future and gets the lead in her play. Preston’s dialogue cannot be heard through the gingerbread man’s costumed head, so they wear face makeup instead; making it look like a “molting bear with a human head”.

After the painstakingly long dress rehearsal, Edna suggests that the leading lady, Laurette Kendall, director Gloria Di Nardo, Preston, and Jaine have something to eat. Preston refuses, claiming that he is too tired.

There, at the Chinese restaurant, the foursome discover Preston having dinner with the young, skinny aqua aerobics instructor from Tampa Vista.

Jaine watches in amazement, as ribs fly, and each lady claims that Preston had planned to get married. she.

The opening night of the play proves tragic, as Preston’s suspended pulley breaks during the finale; smashing it against the stage. He dies of a broken neck.

Who murdered Preston McCay? Was it one of his jilted romantic interests or some other Tampa Vistas resident? Levine keeps you laughing until the end of the mystery.

Laura Levine is a Hollywood comedy writer, touting major television credits to her name. She is currently writing the next Jane Austen mystery.

Gingerbread cookies and shots by Leslie Meier

Lucy Stone is a wife, mother, grandmother, and part-time reporter for Tinker Cove Maine’s. saver Newspaper.

While doing some Christmas shopping, she meets Nemo Anderson, a four-year-old with red hair, and his mother Ocean at the bakery counter. Nemo wants a gingerbread man cookie and his mother cries poverty. Nemo and Ocean live in the Aquarizoo, an abandoned and dilapidated aquarium that was once a tourist trap. With his shaved head and numerous facial piercings, Ocean is unconventional, to say the least.

Lucy meets Ocean and Nemo in the store parking lot after buying Nemo a cookie. There, Ocean’s boyfriend, Rick Juergens, picks them up in his Porsche. Rick also sports a shaved head, multiple rings and studs on his face, a gold tooth, and a barbed wire tattoo around his neck. The townspeople identify the couple as drug dealers.

Lucy wonders, “How can they afford a Porsche, but can’t afford a $1.49 cookie for their son?” Her journalistic experience reminds her that things are not always what they seem; and she suspends judgment.

The next day, while driving, Lucy hears an AMBER alert on her car radio announcing Nemo’s disappearance. Her abductor is described as “a large African-American woman wearing a maroon quilted coat.” She drives a gray Honda CR-V with Massachusetts plates.

What will be Nemo’s fate? Is he found, and if so, dead or alive? Why is Nemo’s last name Anderson and not Juergens like Rick’s? What accounts for Lucy discovering Rick’s body in her Porsche at Blueberry Pond, shot in the head, Nemo’s half-eaten gingerbread cookie she had given him near her, and no sign of Nemo? ?

Leslie Meier is the author of sixteen Lucy Stone mysteries and has written for Ellery Queen’s Mystery magazine. She is currently working on the next Lucy Stone mystery.

Gingerbread Cookie Murder makes for entertaining seasonal reading, whether at home or on your train or bus ride to work. All three stories are full of feel-good festive fanfare despite being murder mysteries. The authors show their writing skills simple and crisp, including well-hidden plotlines. Complement your holiday celebrations by reading this trilogy; and consider it an early gift for anyone on your list who enjoys literature.

To review select Joanne Fluke recipes, visit http://www.murdershebaked.com./recipe.htm.