CARROT CAKE MURDER
by Joanne Fluke
A family reunion turns deadly when a long-lost brother suddenly returns to bucolic Lake Eden.
Even though it isn’t her family that’s gathering from across the county to sing, dance, swim and eat in rented cottages on the shores of Eden Lake, Hannah Swensen (Cherry Cheesecake Murder, 2006, etc.) is of course a key player in the Beesemans’ family frolic. Who else makes carrot cake worthy of topping off the opening night’s dinner? But the real topper is the appearance of Gus Klein, who hasn’t been heard from since he drove off one night 30 years ago with the money squirreled away in the family teapot. Marge is thrilled to see her brother, tricked out in a fancy suit and a Rolex, boasting about the string of clubs he owns in Atlantic City. Her twin Patsy is more reticent, and Patsy’s husband Mac, who remembers that Gus never repaid the money Patsy lent him, is downright hostile. Marge’s husband Jack is angrier still, although no one knows why; his Alzheimer’s has erased the cause of the grievance, but not the hurt. So when Gus is found stabbed to death in the lakeside pavilion, suspicion swirls around Jack, and Hannah relies on both her boyfriends—a sexy cop and a loyal dentist—to help her unmask the real killer.
Like the Swanville Funeral Committee’s famous hot dish (recipe included, along with 20 others), Fluke’s tenth uses only familiar ingredients and makes a really big serving.