Christmas Caramel Murder

Joanne Fluke

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Books by Joanne Fluke

Hannah Swensen Mysteries

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
KEY LIME PIE MURDER
CANDY CANE MURDER
CARROT CAKE MURDER
CREAM PUFF MURDER
PLUM PUDDING MURDER
APPLE TURNOVER MURDER
DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE MURDER
GINGERBREAD COOKIE MURDER
CINNAMON ROLL MURDER
RED VELVET CUPCAKE MURDER
BLACKBERRY PIE MURDER
DOUBLE FUDGE BROWNIE MURDER
WEDDING CAKE MURDER
CHRISTMAS CARAMEL MURDER
JOANNE FLUKE’S LAKE EDEN COOKBOOK

Suspense Novels

VIDEO KILL
WINTER CHILL
DEAD GIVEAWAY
THE OTHER CHILD
COLD JUDGMENT
FATAL IDENTITY
FINAL APPEAL
VENGEANCE IS MINE
EYES
WICKED

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

Title Page

CHRISTMAS CARAMEL MURDER

JOANNE FLUKE

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

Copyright Page

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

Library of Congress Card Catalogue Number: 2016946393

ISBN: 978-1-6177-3228-7

ISBN-10: 1-61773-228-1

First Kensington Hardcover Edition: October 2016

ISBN-13: 978-1-61773-229-4

ISBN-10: 1-61773-229-X

First Kensington Electronic Edition: October 2016

VD1_1

Dedication

This book is for lovely Frida Giselle.

Acknowledgements:

Big hugs to the kids and the grandkids.

Thank you to my friends and neighbors: Mel & Kurt,
Lyn & Bill, Gina, Dee Appleton, Jay, Richard Jordan,
Laura Levine, the real Nancy and Heiti, Dr. Bob &
Sue, Dan, Mark & Mandy at Faux Library, Daryl and
her staff at Groves Accountancy, Gene and Ron at
SDSA, and everyone at Boston Private Bank.

Thanks to Brad, Stephanie, Eric, Amanda, Lorenzo,
Nancey, Meg, Bruce, Alison, Cameron, Gabriel,
Barbara, and everyone at the Hallmark Movies &
Mysteries Channel who gave us the Murder She
Baked Hannah Swensen movies. What fun to see
Hannah on TV!

Thank you to my Minnesota friends: Lois & Neal, Bev
& Jim, Lois & Jack, Val, Ruthann, Lowell, Dorothy &
Sue, Mary & Jim, Pat and Gary at their Once Upon a
Crime Bookstore, and Tim Hedges.

A grateful hug to my multi-talented friend and
Editor-in-Chief, John Scognamiglio.

Thanks to all the wonderful folks at Kensington
Publishing who keep Hannah sleuthing and baking
up a storm.

Thanks to Meg Ruley and the staff at the Jane
Rotrosen Agency for their constant support and their
wise advice.

Thanks to Hiro Kimura, my wonderful cover artist for
the incredibly delicious-looking caramels on this book
cover. My caramels don’t come close to looking this
delectable, but they do taste better!

Thank you to Lou Malcangi at Kensington Publishing,
for designing all of Hannah’s deliciously stunning
covers.

Thanks to John at Placed4Success.com for Hannah’s
movie and TV placements, his presence on all of
Hannah’s social media, the countless hours he puts in
on my behalf, and for always being there for me.

Thanks to Rudy for maintaining my website at
wwwJoanneFluke.com, his talent behind the camera,
and for giving support to Hannah’s social media.

Big thanks to Kathy Allen for the final testing of every
single one of Hannah’s recipes.

Hugs to Judy Q. for helping with Hannah’s e-mail at
[email protected] and searching for answers
to research questions.

Grateful hugs to my super friend, Trudi Nash, for
going on book tours with me, for keeping me on an
even keel, and for thinking of new and innovative
recipe ideas for us to try.

Thanks to food stylist and media guide extraordinaire
Lois Brown for her friendship and her talented
assistance.

Hugs to the Double D’s, Alicia, Fern, Leah, and
everyone on Team Swensen who helps to keep
Hannah’s Facebook presence alive and well.

Thank you to Dr. Rahhal, Dr. and Cathy Line,
Dr. Wallen. Dr. Koslowski, Drs. Ashley and Lee, and
Dr. Niemeyer (who reminds me of Doc Knight) for
putting up with my pesky Hannah-book-related
medical and dental questions. Norman and Doc Knight
would be lost without you!

Grateful thanks to all of the Hannah fans who share
their favorite family recipes with me, post on
Facebook, watch the Hannah movies, and
devour each and every book.
I hope you love reading Christmas Caramel Murder
just as much as I loved writing it.

Prologue

The dining room at the Lake Eden Inn was festive with corn shocks, hay bales, pumpkins, and giant beer steins made of papier-mâché. It was clear that the owners, Sally and Dick Laughlin, were getting ready for their Oktoberfest celebration over the weekend.

It was Thursday night, and Hannah Swensen smiled at Ross Barton as she finished the last delicious bite of her dinner. “That was wonderful. Thank you, Ross.”

Sally, who was waiting on them personally, must have had a version of dessert radar because she approached just as soon as Hannah placed her flatware on the plate.

“I’ve got a new dessert for you to try,” Sally announced, motioning to the nearest busboy to clear their plates. When there was room to display it, she placed a large silver dessert tray on the table.

“Something for Oktoberfest?” Hannah asked her.

“No, for Christmas. I decided to feature chocolate and caramel, the way you did in the children’s gift bags last year. That’s why I’m featuring chocolate flan with caramel whipped cream.”

“I’ve never heard of caramel whipped cream before,” Hannah told her.

“It’s easy to make. I couldn’t find a recipe, but I followed your advice. We were talking about recipes and you said, ‘If you can’t find a recipe, make one up.’ So that’s exactly what I did.”

“And it worked?”

“Not the first time, and not the second time, either. But I revised it again, and the third time was the charm. I tried it out on Dick first, and he said he loves it. The only problem is, Dick has a sweet tooth and he loves everything I bake. I’d really like to try it out on you if you’ll promise to tell me exactly what you think.”

“It looks wonderful!” Hannah said, watching as Sally cut two slices from the flan that was sitting in the center of the silver tray and placed them in crystal dessert dishes. She added several dollops of caramel whipped cream, and placed the dessert dishes in front of Hannah and Ross.

“Be honest,” she warned them. “And be critical, too. Tell me if I need to add something to make it better.”

Hannah and Ross picked up their dessert spoons and took bites almost simultaneously. Then both of them smiled.

“Delicious!” Hannah declared.

“Oh, yes!” Ross concurred, taking another bite. “The chocolate is really rich, and it’s perfect with the caramel whipped cream.”

“Thanks!” Sally said, looking relieved as she turned to Hannah. “I’m still trying to figure out how to decorate this flan to make it even more Christmassy.”

“It looks great just the way it is,” Hannah told her, “but it could be more festive for Christmas. I’ll let you know if I think of anything. And I’ll ask Lisa. She’s my decorating expert.”

“Just one more thing,” Sally said, picking up the platter. “What do you think I should call it?”

“Call it exactly what it is,” Hannah suggested. “Chocolate Flan with Caramel Whipped Cream. If you call it something else, your wait staff will have to answer questions about what it is.”

Sally nodded. “That’s a really good point. Thanks for the help and enjoy the rest of your dessert.”

When Sally had left their table, Ross turned to Hannah. “I’ve never tasted Lisa’s chocolate caramels. Are you making them for Christmas this year?”

“Only if you really want us to,” Hannah said, frowning slightly. “I know it’s silly to be superstitious, but . . . well . . . they were bad luck last year.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, last Christmas was . . . pretty strange in the giant scheme of things. You weren’t here, so you wouldn’t know, but something bad happened with the caramels.”

“Something bad?”

“Yes. I found some of them at a murder scene.”

“Tell me all about it.” Ross leaned forward and covered Hannah’s hand with his.

“Well . . .” Hannah drew a deep breath. “This is going to take a while. It’s a really long story.”

Ross glanced at his watch. “That’s okay. It’s only six-thirty. What time does Sally close the dining room?”

“She’s open until ten.” Hannah was silent for a moment, and then she looked amused. “It could take almost that long to tell you. Are you sure you want to listen to a long story now?”

“I’m positive. You’ve got me curious, Cookie. Tell me.”

“Okay.” Hannah gave a mock sigh. “Just remember, you asked for it. But first, we’ll need more coffee.”

Hannah waited until one of the waitresses had brought a fresh carafe of coffee, and then she began her story.

“It was the first Monday in December, and Lisa and I were in the coffee shop at The Cookie Jar. It was early, an hour before we were due to open, and we were decorating for Christmas. We were almost finished when everything started to happen. . . .”

CHOCOLATE FLAN WITH CARAMEL WHIPPED CREAM

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

For the Chocolate Flan:

1 and ¾ cup whole milk

1 cup (6-ounce by weight bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

4 large eggs

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

____________________

chocolate curls for a topping are optional (Make them by scraping them from a dark chocolate bar with the blade of a sharp knife.)

For the Caramel Whipped Cream:

1 cup whipping cream

5 Tablespoons caramel ice cream topping (I used Smucker’s)

Select a round glass casserole that’s approximately 10 inches in diameter.

Locate a baking pan with 4-inch or taller sides that is large enough to hold your glass casserole with at least an inch and a half of space on all sides.

Set the casserole you’ve chosen inside the baking pan. Eventually, this baking pan will hold hot water to “bathe” the outside of your flan casserole. This water bath, or bain marie, will keep your flan from baking too rapidly and becoming hard around the edges.

Spray the inside of the glass casserole with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.

Hannah’s 1st Note: Don’t use anything called “baking” spray on the inside of your casserole. It contains flour and you don’t want flour on the outside of your flan.

Put two potholders or oven mitts out on the counter where they will be handy.

Heat the cup and three-quarters of whole milk at MEDIUM heat on the stovetop in a medium-size saucepan until it almost comes to a boil. You’ll be able to tell this is going to happen when bubbles start to form around the edges of the saucepan and steam begins to escape from the milk.

Pull the saucepan with the milk over to a cold stovetop burner and stir in the cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Stir until the chips are melted and the mixture is a uniform color. If this doesn’t happen, your milk was too cold. Put it back on the burner and stir constantly for another minute to make sure the chips are melted. Then pull it off the heat and turn off the stovetop burner.

In a large bowl on the counter, whisk the 4 large eggs until they’re light-colored and fluffy.

Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can also do this in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Add the can of sweetened condensed milk, the vanilla extract, and the salt to the bowl with the eggs.

Whisk the contents until they’re well incorporated.

Carefully, feel the outside of the saucepan with the chocolate mixture. If it’s not so hot that it will cook the eggs, slowly, add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Whisk or beat until everything is well incorporated.

Pour the resulting mixture into your prepared casserole.

Set your casserole inside the larger baking pan.

Run water as hot as you can get from your tap, and fill a large measuring cup with a spout.

Pour hot water from the measuring cup inside the larger pan. Keep pouring until the water level reaches halfway up the sides of the casserole holding your flan.

Loosely cover your flan with foil and poke a few holes in the foil to let steam escape as it’s baking.

Carry both pans to the oven and put them inside to bake.

Bake your flan at 350 degrees F. for 50 to 70 minutes, or until the blade of a table knife inserted one inch from the center of the flan comes out clean.

Hannah’s 3rd Note: If your knife has liquid residue sticking to it when you remove it, your flan is not fully baked. Give it another 5 minutes in the oven, wash and dry your table knife in the meantime, and test it again.

When your table knife comes out clean, use oven potholders to take both pans out of the oven together and set them on a cold stovetop burner.

Use potholders or oven mitts to lift out the inner casserole with your flan and place it on a second cold burner or on a wire rack. Use potholders or oven mitts to dump out the water in the outer pan and set it aside to cool.

Set your timer for 20 minutes.

When your Chocolate Caramel Flan has cooled for 20 minutes, cover the top of the flan casserole with plastic wrap. Refrigerate your flan in the casserole for at least 4 hours, or until it’s time to serve dessert. Overnight is fine too, if you want to make it the day before you plan to serve it.

To serve, run a table knife around the inside rim of your flan to loosen it slightly. Turn it out in a flat bowl or onto a plate with a deep lip. Then make the Caramel Whipped Cream.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the cup of whipping cream and the 5 Tablespoons of caramel ice cream topping together.

Gradually, increase the speed of the mixer to MEDIUM-HIGH and beat until the resulting mixture will hold a soft peak. (Test for soft peaks by shutting off the mixer and dipping the flat blade of a rubber spatula into the whipped cream and pulling it up quickly. If it forms a peak, but the tip droops slightly, you have achieved soft peaks.)

“Frost” your flan with the Caramel Whipped Cream. People will ooh and ahh when you cut slices, place them in dessert dishes and serve it.

Hannah’s 4th Note: If you want to make your dessert really fancy, garnish the slices with chocolate curls and extra caramel whipped cream.

Yield: This Chocolate Flan with Caramel Whipped Cream serves 6 to 8 people unless you invite Andrea’s husband, Bill. Bill is absolutely crazy for this dessert. He boasted to me that he could eat a whole flan all by himself, and I believe him.

Chapter One

“I’d better steady the ladder for you,” Hannah warned as Lisa picked up the star ornament that fit on the very top of their Christmas tree and climbed up the first rung. “Are you sure you want to go do this? I really meant to get a new ladder after last year, but I forgot.”

“That’s understandable. The only time we use a ladder is at Christmas. But don’t worry, Hannah. I can do it. I’m not afraid of heights, at least not usually.”

“But you are right now?” Hannah asked, hearing the slight quaver in her young partner’s voice.

“I’m a little nervous, that’s all. It’s just that the top of our tree seems like a long ways up.”

“You’re right, Lisa It is way up there. We got a sixteen-foot tree this year.”

“I know, but it didn’t seem this tall at the Christmas tree lot.”

“That’s probably because it was flanked by two blue spruces that were taller.”

“How tall were those?”

“They were twenty-footers, and this one would have looked a lot shorter in comparison.”

“I’m glad we didn’t get a twenty-footer!” Lisa gave a little laugh. “I know it’s impossible, but this tree looks like it’s growing taller by the minute.”

Lisa climbed up another rung. Then she reached down to hand Hannah the star tree-topper. “Will you hold this until I get about halfway up? I want to hold on to this ladder with both hands.”

“No problem. Just let me know when you want the tree-topper and I’ll give it to you.”

Hannah held the ornament with one hand while she steadied the ladder with the other. The ladder wobbled, and she wished she’d remembered to shop for a new one.

Lisa climbed up the fourth rung and looked at the top of the tree again. “Let’s get a shorter tree next year.”

“We will. I promise.”

“And a new ladder.”

“That, too. I’ll call Cliff at the hardware store right after we’re through decorating the tree.”

“Sounds good.” Lisa climbed up another rung, and then she stopped. “I’m almost up high enough. Hand me the tree-topper, Hannah. I’ll bend down.”

“And I’ll stretch up.” Hannah reached up with her right hand, but she kept her left hand firmly on the ladder. “Here you go, Lisa.”

Lisa bent down even farther and grabbed the ornament. “Got it!” she said, straightening up again and reaching toward the top of the tree.

At that precise moment, the back door opened and a familiar voice shouted, “Girls! Come quick! It’s an emergency!”

The ladder wobbled as Hannah reacted to the panic in her mother’s voice. Lisa let out a little gasp of fright, but somehow she managed to attach the tree-topper and climb down two rungs before the ladder began to tip.

“I can’t hold it!” Hannah exclaimed as the ladder tipped even further. “Jump, Lisa!”

Lisa didn’t wait for a second invitation. She leaped down to the floor as the ladder collapsed with a clatter of old wood and stressed metal fasteners as it fell apart.

“Good heavens! What on earth happened?”

Hannah and Lisa turned to see Delores Swensen standing in the doorway, staring at them in shock. “And where did you get that decrepit old ladder?”

“It was Dad’s,” Hannah said, resisting the urge to rail at her mother for startling them at such a critical point in their decorating endeavor. She took a deep breath to calm down, and then she asked, “What’s the emergency, Mother?”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have used the word emergency to describe it,” Delores replied, sounding slightly contrite. And then, in typical Delores fashion, she changed the subject. “How did you get Dad’s ladder, Hannah?”

“I appropriated it from the basement of Dad’s hardware store. I figured I might need a ladder so I brought it here when we sold the hardware store.”

“You should have appropriated a new aluminum ladder, dear. This one was your Grandpa Swensen’s ladder, and I tried for years to get your father to replace it. He finally got a new ladder for the house, but he must have kept this old one for sentimental reasons.”

“I can understand that. That’s why I wanted to keep it. But I should have propped it up in a corner and bought a new one for us to use. That’s what I intended to do, but it slipped my mind.”

“I’ll remind you,” Lisa said quickly. “Don’t worry about that!”

“I won’t forget again. This is the year we’re getting a new one, and I’ll order a metal ladder that won’t rust. And I’ll get one that has actual steps instead of rungs. I’ll call to order it right after we hear about Mother’s emergency.”

“And after we have some coffee and cookies to calm down,” Lisa added, turning to Delores. “Let’s go to the kitchen. We just finished baking for the day and we made some of Andrea’s Red Velvet Whippersnapper Cookies.”

Delores smiled. “They sound good. . . . Of course everything you dear girls bake is good.” She turned to Hannah. “What are you going to do with that rickety old ladder?”

“I don’t know,” Hannah admitted as she followed her mother and Lisa into the kitchen. “I’ll throw it out, I guess. It’s too far gone for anyone to use.”

“Don’t do that!” Delores objected. “Are you getting your new ladder from Dad’s old store?”

“Of course I am. It’s the only hardware store in town, and I like Cliff Schumann and his dad.”

“Then why don’t you ask Cliff to deliver your new ladder and bring the old one to my house?”

“But it’s in pieces! Really, Mother . . . I don’t think anyone could fix it.”

“I won’t even try to have it fixed. I just want to keep it around for sentimental reasons.”

Hannah stared at her mother in confusion. Delores wasn’t usually this sentimental. But if Delores wanted the ladder, Hannah was perfectly willing to give it to her. “Okay. Whatever you want, Mother. I’ll call Cliff right now.”

“Thank you, dear.” Delores took her usual stool at the stainless-steel workstation while Lisa poured coffee and filled a platter with Red Velvet Whippersnapper Cookies from one of the two baker’s racks at the side of the kitchen.

Hannah headed for the wall phone in the kitchen, and less than a minute later, she’d ordered the new aluminum ladder for The Cookie Jar and given Cliff instructions to bag up the old wooden ladder and deliver it to her mother’s house.

“Okay,” she said, sitting down at the workstation and addressing her mother. “Now tell us about your emergency, or whatever it is.”

“Just because it may have been downgraded a bit doesn’t mean it’s not important,” Delores maintained.

“Agreed. Tell us, Mother.”

Delores sighed. “All right. The emergency, or situation, or whatever it is, is Ricky-Ticky.”

“Mayor Bascomb,” Lisa said, knowing that Hannah’s mother often used the nickname she’d given Mayor Bascomb when he was a small boy and she was his babysitter. “What else has he done?”

“What else?” Delores asked, and it was clear that she wasn’t sure what Lisa meant.

“Yes, what else has he done? Whatever it is, it couldn’t be worse than hiring Phyllis Bates and moving her here just because . . . well, you know why he did it. And then, when his wife, Stephanie, got wind of what was going on between the two of them, re-assigning Phyllis as Herb’s assistant in the town marshal’s office!”

Neither Hannah nor Delores knew quite what to say. They’d never seen Lisa quite so angry before. But there was no need to respond because Lisa didn’t bother to wait for a reply.

“At least Stephanie Bascomb got her revenge! I saw that diamond ring she made the mayor buy for her and it’s as big as a boulder!”

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