Christmas Cupcake Murder

Book 26: Hannah Swensen Mystery

by Joanne Fluke

Genres: Cozy Mystery

Synopsis

As December turns Lake Eden into the North Pole, the heat is on in Hannah Swensen’s kitchen to honor
two Christmas promises: baking irresistible holiday cupcakes and preventing a person who attempted murder
from succeeding the second time around!
While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas
Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michele’s love life is becoming
complicated, Lisa needs Hannah’s advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she’s not willing to share. But nothing
dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned
storefront two doors down from Hannah’s bakery …
The befuddled John Doe can’t recall a thing about himself—except for his unusual knowledge of restoring antique
furniture. With a smattering of clues and barely enough time to frost Christmas cookies, Hannah must solve a deadly
puzzle that could leave her dashing through the snow for her life!
Features Over a Dozen Cookie and Dessert Recipes from The Cookie Jar!

Release date: September 29, 2020

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 370

Sample

Hannah Swensen was just taking a pan of German Chocolate Cupcakes out of her industrial oven at The Cookie Jar, when there was a knock on the back kitchen door. Hannah quickly slid the pan of cupcakes on a shelf in the bakers rack, and hurried to answer the door. A man was standing there and he stepped back a few feet from the door, a man Hannah had never seen before.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not open yet,” she said.

“I know that, ma’am. And thank you for answering the door. I saw the closed sign, but I was hoping that someone was here early and they might have some work for me to do. I don’t need money. That’s not it. But I’d be grateful for a couple of cookies to eat for breakfast.”

As the man spoke, Hannah noticed that he was shivering. His coat didn’t look very warm and it was cold this early in the morning. She felt a rush of compassion for his situation and she opened the door wider and motioned him closer. “Come in and we’ll talk about the work. I’m ready to take a coffee break right now. Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me?”

“Yes, I certainly would, ma’am!” he said immediately, a smile breaking out on his face. “A cup of coffee would be really good.”

“Just hang your coat on one of those hooks by the door,” she said, walking quickly to the kitchen coffeepot. She’d finished a cup of coffee only minutes before, but it was obvious that the man needed to come in out of the cold, and drink something warm. She was about to offer him cream and sugar, but one glance at his emaciated form when he hung up his coat prompted her to add two more packets of sugar and a generous amount of cream to his coffee.

Hannah carried his coffee to one of the stools by the stainless steel work station and pulled out a stool for him. “Would you like one of the cupcakes I just baked?” she asked. “It’s not frosted yet, but it should still be good without frosting.”

“Yes, thank you, ma’am!” the man said, giving her a grateful smile. And then he smiled even wider as she delivered the cupcake and he saw that it was chocolate. “I love chocolate. My mother used to say that it was God’s gift to mankind.”

“Your mother was a wise woman,” Hannah said with a smile. “These cupcakes are going to be German chocolate when they’re frosted.”

“I love German chocolate cake! My mother used to make a German chocolate cake every year for my birthday. It was our family’s official birthday cake and my mother was famous for her cake. She copied the recipe on a card and gave it away every time she baked a birthday cake for someone.”

Hannah could see that his eyes were wet with unshed tears at the memory. “You’ll have to come back here in an hour or so and I’ll give you a cupcake that’s frosted.”

“I’ll be back. Thank you, ma’am.” He took a bite of his cupcake and swallowed with obvious relish. “These are really good.”

“Thank you. Would you like another?”

“Oh, yes! Yes, I would, and thank you, ma’am!”

Hannah went back to the baker’s rack and picked up another cupcake. The man was polite and completely non-threatening. Mike Kingston, the chief detective at the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department, would chastise her for opening the door to a stranger, but if he were here and actually met her early-morning visitor, Hannah was sure he would agree with her assessment of the man’s character.

“Tell me more about your mother’s German chocolate cake,” she said, sitting down on a stool directly across from his. “Did you ever watch her make it?”

“Yes, ma’am. I surely did. And when I got old enough, I rode to the store with her to get all the things she needed to bake it.”

“Do you remember what they were?”

“I do. She bought German chocolate. She never kept it in the pantry because she said it might get old between birthdays and she wanted it fresh. And she bought coconut, pecans, and cake flour. She wanted those fresh, too. And then we went to the fruit section and she bought one orange.”

“An orange?” Hannah asked curiously. An orange wasn’t called for in any German chocolate cake recipe that she’d ever seen.

“The orange was for me. After she took off the peel, she cut it into little wheels on a plate. Then she picked out the seeds and gave it to me to eat. She told me that oranges were expensive and orange wheels were part of my birthday present.”

“Your birthday was in the winter?” Hannah gave an educated guess since the man was well over twenty years old, and fresh produce, especially fruit that had to be trucked in from warmer climates, was expensive in the winter.

“I don’t . . . yes! Yes, my birthday is in the winter. I can remember that Dad had to drive us to town through the snow to buy what she needed for my birthday cake.” The man looked sad again, and Hannah was almost sorry she’d asked for more information about his birthday. But after a moment, he began to smile again. “I know what I can do for you, ma’am! I can brush the snow off your car, and scrape the ice from your windshield.”

“That would be wonderful,” Hannah agreed quickly. It was obvious to her that the man wanted to repay her in some way for giving him coffee and the cupcakes. “And while you’re out there, you can unwind the cord from my front bumper and plug in my car. There’s a strip of outlets on the side of the building and I forgot to do it when I came to work this morning.”

“I’ll go do that right now,” the man said, standing up quickly. “It’s cold out there this morning.”

“No, don’t go yet,” Hannah told him quickly, motioning him back down to his stool. “Stay here and drink some more of your coffee so you’ll warm up first. Finish your coffee and your second cupcake, and then I’ll show you which car is mine.”

The man laughed. It was a nice laugh and Hannah was glad to hear it. From his appearance, she suspected that he hadn’t had much to laugh about in recent weeks. “You don’t have to tell me which one is yours, ma’am. There’s only one vehicle in the parking lot and I figure that red Chevy Suburban must be yours.”

“You figured right,” Hannah told him. “While you’re outside, I’m going to frost those cupcakes. Then you can have a couple of them when you’re done.”

After the man finished his coffee and cupcake, he went back outside and Hannah not only frosted the cupcakes, she also looked through her lost and found box. She’d been open for two years now and she’d been planning to take the contents of last year’s box to Helping Hands, the thrift store across the alley. If there was anything in the lost and found box that would fit, she’d take it out and give it to him. She also decided to pay him five dollars. It wasn’t much, but she wanted to give him something so he could buy a meal later in the day.

Twenty minutes later, dressed in the warm sweater and scarf she’d found, the man left, clutching the bag of frosted German Chocolate Cupcakes that she’d given him, along with a promise that he’d stop by the following morning to see if she had any additional work for him.

After he had gone, Hannah began baking again. She felt good as she mixed up the cupcake batter, put it in the cups, and waited for it to bake. She’d helped someone who truly needed help and, since her instincts had been correct and the man had been polite and grateful for her help, it had been the right thing for her to do.

There was another knock at the door, the moment after Hannah had slipped a pan of cupcakes on the revolving racks in her industrial oven. This time it was a knock she recognized and she hurried to the door.

“Hello, Mother,” she called out before she even opened the door. There was only one person in town who knocked three times in quick succession, paused for several seconds, and then repeated the pattern.

“Good morning, dear,” Delores greeted her. “Do you have time for a quick cup of coffee with me? I really need to discuss something important with you.”

Hannah’s instincts went on red alert. Her mother usually simply walked in and took a seat on a stool at Hannah’s work station without asking. Whatever Delores had to discuss with her must involve some kind of last-minute favor that would mean extra work for Hannah.

“Of course, if you’re terribly busy, I can always come back a bit later,” Delores offered, obviously noticing her eldest daughter’s hesitation.

“No. It’s fine, Mother. Just hang up your coat and take a seat. I’ll get your coffee, put the rest of my cupcakes in the oven, and be right with you.”

“Thank you, dear.” Delores took off her coat, hung it on one of the hooks near the back door, and headed for a stool at the stainless steel work station. “Do I smell chocolate?”

“You do.” Hannah delivered her mother’s coffee and hurried back to her industrial oven to set the timer. “I’m trying out a recipe for German Chocolate Cupcakes that Lisa found in her mother’s recipe box.”

“They smell divine, dear. I don’t suppose any of them are cool enough to . . . ?”

“They are,” Hannah said, anticipating the rest of her mother’s question. “I’ll bring you one just as soon as I’m through here.”

“Oh, good! Thank you, dear. That would be lovely. I was running late this morning and I simply didn’t have time for my yogurt and wheat toast.”

As she glanced over at her mother, a puzzled expression crossed Hannah’s face. Her always impeccably-dressed mother was wearing a bulky sweater that did nothing to enhance her flawless figure and an old pair of slacks that had seen better days. For a woman who had never appeared in public in an outfit that was less than designer perfect, this fashion lapse was highly unusual.

“Are you feeling all right this morning?” Hannah asked, setting an almost-cooled cupcake in front of her mother before she poured her own coffee and took a seat.

“I’m fine, dear.” It was Delores’s turn to look puzzled. “Why do you ask?”

“Because . . . well . . .” Hannah thought fast and managed to come up with an answer. “Because it’s early and you don’t usually come in this time of the morning.”

“I see. And of course it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I look as if I bought this outfit at Helping Hands.” Delores named the charity thrift store that was just across the alley from her daughter’s bakery and coffee shop.

Hannah knew she was about to tread on eggshells, but she had to be truthful. “Well . . . yes, it does. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you appear in public without a designer outfit and full makeup before.”

“Of course you haven’t.” Delores gave a little smile. “I’ve never appeared in public like this before. But I needed to get here early so that I could catch you while you were still baking.”

“I see,” Hannah said, even though she didn’t.

“I probably should have called, but I thought it was best to ask you in person.”

DefCon 4! DefCon 4! her mind alerted, and Hannah came close to groaning. Whatever her mother was about to ask had to be something big. She really didn’t want to know what it entailed, but she had to find out. “What do you want to ask me, Mother?”

“I know it’s an imposition, but I’m between a rock and a hard place. I need to ask you for a favor . . .” Delores paused and frowned slightly. “Actually, it entails two favors,” she corrected herself.

“Tell me what you need, Mother.” Hannah knew better than to promise to perform a favor for her mother without knowing what it was. She’d learned her lesson years ago when she’d said yes, and risked permanent ear damage by escorting her younger sister, Andrea, and two of her friends to a punk rock concert in Minneapolis.

“I need you to help me find the Christmas decorations I bought three years ago at an estate sale,” Delores explained.

“I’ll be glad to help you with that,” Hannah agreed readily. “Do you have any idea where they are?”

“Yes. They’re in the antique shed. I think they might be in back of the mahogany davenport I bought at a farm sale in Grey Eagle. As a matter of fact, I’m almost positive that’s where they are. The problem is moving the davenport to look. It’s heavy, and Carrie and I can’t do that by ourselves.”

Hannah nodded. “I can help you move it, Mother. When do you need the decorations?”

“That’s another problem. We need them today. We promised Doc we’d decorate the patient rooms and the lobby at the hospital this afternoon.”

Hannah turned to glance at the baker’s rack. She’d started baking early this morning and it was almost full of baked goods. “No problem, Mother. I finished the baking early and I can help you just as soon as Lisa gets here.”

“Oh, good! Thank you, dear. You have no idea how happy this makes me! I was afraid I’d have to call Doc and ask him to reschedule the Jordan High Chorale. They’re coming this afternoon to sing Christmas carols for the tree-lighting ceremony.”

“I’m glad I can help,” Hannah said. The first favor was easy. It just required a bit of heavy lifting. But her mother had said there were two favors and Hannah still didn’t know about the second one. “What’s the second favor, Mother?”

“It’s a bit more complicated.” Delores paused to take a sip of her coffee. Then she peeled the paper from the cupcake that Hannah had given her and took a bite. A rapturous expression crossed her face as she tasted it and she gave a little mewl of enjoyment. “Superb!” she pronounced. “These are the best cupcakes I’ve ever had, dear. They’re absolutely marvelous! And I see that you baked a lot of them this morning.”

“Yes, I did,” Hannah said, watching as Delores eyed the baker’s rack. Was her mother mentally calculating the number of cupcakes that Hannah had stored there?

“My, you’ve been busy this morning!” Delores remarked, turning to smile at her daughter. “Do you really think you’ll sell all those marvelous German Chocolate Cupcakes, dear?”

She wants your cupcakes, the suspicious part of Hannah’s brain announced.

Hannah began to smile as she realized that the suspicious part of her mind was correct. Her mother’s second favor definitely involved the German Chocolate Cupcakes. “How many do you need, Mother?” she asked.

“Oh, dear!” Delores looked properly embarrassed. “Was I that transparent?”

I told you she wanted your cupcakes! the suspicious part of Hannah’s brain congratulated itself.

“How did you know, dear?” Delores asked.

“It was just a guess,” Hannah said quickly. “You told me that you and Carrie are decorating for Doc today and I thought the patients and nurses might like a little sweet treat during the annual tree-lighting ceremony.”

“You’re absolutely right, dear. How clever of you to think of that! But of course if you don’t have time to bake more cupcakes . . .” Delores stopped speaking and gave a little sigh. “Everyone will be very disappointed, but we’ll all understand.”

Caught like a rat in a trap!! the rational part of Hannah’s brain announced. This analysis was quite needless since Hannah already realized it. Delores knew full-well that her daughter wouldn’t want to disappoint Doc’s hard-working nurses and hospital staff, and deprive the patients who weren’t well enough to be home for the holidays.

“I’ll find time to bake for you, Mother,” Hannah promised, “and now I understand why you’re dressed the way you are.”

Delores laughed. “You mean, like something the cat dragged in, don’t you, dear?”

“Uh . . .” Hannah began to frown as she found herself stuck for words, an unusual circumstance for her. She gave a little nod to acknowledge her mother’s question and then she sighed deeply. “I totally understand that you have to dress in old clothes to crawl around the big Christmas tree that Cliff always donates for the hospital lobby, not to mention climbing up ladders to hang ornaments and put on lights. You wouldn’t want to damage one of your beautiful outfits.”

Delores laughed. “That’s a good g. . .