Coconut Layer Cake Murder

By: Joanne Fluke

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Bakery owner Hannah Swensen is leaving Lake Eden to help a friend in sunny California. But an unexpected phone call swiftly brings her back to a cold Minnesota winter...and murder....

When Hannah learns that her sister Michelle's boyfriend, Detective Lonnie Murphy, is the prime suspect in a murder case, she goes straight from a movie studio sound stage to the Los Angeles airport.

Back in frigid Minnesota, she discovers that proving Lonnie's innocence will be harder than figuring out what went wrong with a recipe. Lonnie remembers only parts of the night he went out to a local bar and ended up driving a very impaired woman home. He knows he helped her to her bedroom, but he doesn't recall anything else until he woke up on her couch the following morning. When he went to the bedroom to check on her, he was shocked to discover she was dead.

Hannah doesn't know what to believe - only that exonerating a suspect who can't remember is almost impossible, especially since Lonnie's brother, Detective Rick Murphy, and Lonnie's partner, Chief Detective Mike Kingston, have been taken off the case. Before everything comes crashing down on Lonnie like a heaping slice of coconut layer cake, it'll be up to Hannah to rack up enough clues to toast a flaky killer....

©2020 H.L. Swensen, Inc. (P)2020 Recorded Books

Hannah needs to grow up

I love these books. I’ll start there...but, it’s time Hannah grows up. She needs to have “romantic” feelings for someone, preferable Norman. Norman built her dream house, has a great job, is so kind and she obviously loves him. It’s getting silly. She married a near stranger and he left and Norman keeps coming back. His only issue is he named his cat “Cuddles”. No grown man does that. Hannah leads her life like a 16 year old girl. ALSO, her mother is always portrayed as a scatterbrained woman that needs a tribe to take care of her.
Hannah needs to marry Norman and grow up! It would be ok if she had a real “adult” relationship with a man and had a beer. PLUS, quit saying “the condo.” House, home, place...any go well with “Hannah’s....”
find another name for the HOME!

Delicious mystery

This is the second book I read from this author and I have enjoyed it very much. It has kept me sane through my daily routine.
Enjoy !

Captivating and scrumptious story that keeps me waiting… Another year?

I love the way this series keeps me captivated throughout Hannah‘s life while also wrapping me up in the media story of the mystery. But especially since I read these only has audiobooks now and finish them within a couple of days, sometimes I wish the mysteries were drawn out a little more like they were in the early books so they could last a little longer and I could see what happens with Hannah a little more. Nonetheless, As a bakery owner I feel a lot of kinship with her (especially with the careful narration of Suzanne Torren) and can’t wait to see what happens next! Please tell me there will be another one in 2020?

Coconut Layer Cake

I love Joanne Fluke mysteries because she marries the recipes into the stories which always makes me want to cook when I’m finished. I’ve tried quite a few of them and they were pretty good!

Could have been better...

There were too many recipes that i wish the author had just waited to put at the end of the book but the story itself was okay. The narretor’s voice was shrill for most voices, which made it hard to listen to at times.

Just put Hannah and Norman together already

Norm's obviously her OTP. He built her dream house, FFS.

Mike only ever shows up to eat and suck face.

Snooze fest

The woman doing the narration was good, and her voice was pleasant to listen to. However the story was slow, and there were far too many recipes! I started to just fast forward through them all. If it were just a few recipes, I wouldn't have mind, but there were almost as many recipes as there was story content. Seems to me this should have been advertised as a cookbook!

Umm 👀 I waited awhile for this one. Hannah needed more self care!

In this one the killer was a litter harder to figure out, but Hannah wasn't it. I can't believe what she said to Mike the bike. A few books back she lost all respect for him, and now this.... Norman loves Hannah, he proved that in words and deeds, why make him look like a sap? Because he's not tall, muscular, or attractive. I guess Hannah has to learn what's good for her life and not just look with her 👀eyes. She in her thirties and still a bit immature in the area of her life. Maybe that's how her character is meant to be. 🙍 It was a good book the issues I had with it was the recipes took up most of the chapters and they should have been placed at the end. Lastly, Hannah need to learn some type of self defense. If she going to investigate and catch killers she should be thinking her safety.

Great Book

Joanne Fluke is an amazing author. I have followed her for a long time. This book was entrancing, funny, romantic and a great mystery. Hannah Is a great detective. When Lonnie is suspected of murder, Hannah steps in to help find out who did it! Lonnie worked for the police department and his close friends Mike and Brian could not be involved. Hannah had to do most of the investigation. Her friends helped her figure it out. We still don’t know who will be her forever boyfriend, between Mike and Norman! I couldn’t believe the ending and who dunnit! Suzanne Toren is an exceptional Narrator. She can make you feel you have stepped right into the book! I would highly recommend this book!

Great Addition, But Missed Chance

I cannot believe that I have read 25 books in a series! This started out amazing and had the chance to really have something new and exciting, but it fell back into the comfortable old paces. As always I love this series, and this new addition is no exception. I love this narrator as she is like an old familiar friend. The book before left us on a great cliffhanger, and the book starts off letting us know how it resulted. I felt so many emotions all at one time. I recommend this book to anyone who loves cozy mysteries, but be sure to read a few, at least, of the older books to get some insight into what is happening. Five happy, cozy stars!