CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER

Books by Joanne Fluke

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MURDER

BLUEBERRY MUFFIN MURDER

LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER

FUDGE CUPCAKE MURDER

SUGAR COOKIE MURDER

PEACH COBBLER MURDER

CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

A HANNAH SWENSEN MYSTERY WITH RECIPES

CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER

JOANNE FLUKE

KENSINGTON BOOKS

This book is dedicated to my best friend, Shiva.

It’s not the same without you, girl.

Acknowledgments

In Memory Of:

Ikuko, a lady I wish I had been fortunate enough to meet.

Bob Rogers, talented friend.

And Little Al and Betty.

For Ruel, who’s always there when I need him.

And for the kids, even when they ask, “Are we eating another experiment?

Or can we have a real dessert?”

Thank you to our friends and neighbors:

Mel & Kurt, Lyn & Bill, Gina & the kids, Adrienne, Jay, Bob M., Amanda, John B., Trudi, Dale C., Dr. Bob & Sue, Laura Levine & Mark, Richard & Krista, Nina, the princess of cheesecake, and Mark Baker, who’s been hoping for this title.

Thank you to my editor’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Scognamiglio.

Without you, John wouldn’t be here.

And without John, Hannah Swensen wouldn’t be here!

Thank you to Hiro Kimura, my cover artist, who truly out-did himself with those scrumptious cherries on the cover, and thanks to Lou Malcanji for putting it all together in such a delectable dust jacket.

Thanks also to all the other talented folks at Kensington who keep Hannah sleuthing and baking up a storm.

Thank you to Dr. Rahaal & Trina for all you do.

Many hugs to Terry Sommers for proving that you can bake every single cookie and dessert recipe in this book and go on to live a normal life.

The Mini Cherry Cheesecake recipe is from Jane at Mysteries To Die For in Thousand Oaks, CA—Thanks,

Jane!

Thanks to Marcy for suggesting the All-Nighter Cookies,

and to Betty for the Double Flake Cookies.

Thank you to Jamie Wallace for her superb work on my

Web site

MurderSheBaked.com

Thanks to Lois Hirt, who knows almost everything about dentists, and a hug for Kamary, who came all the way from Michigan to meet me.

A big thank you to everyone who e-mailed or snail-mailed. In a perfect world, The Cookie Jar would be just around the corner and we could all meet for coffee and cookies.

(I’ve got dibs on the Mock Turtles!)

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty