Джоанна Флюк: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder

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

BANANA CREAM PIE MURDER

RASPBERRY DANISH MURDER

CHRISTMAS CAKE MURDER

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE MURDER

CHRISTMAS SWEETS

COCONUT LAYER CAKE MURDER

CHRISTMAS CUPCAKE MURDER

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE 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

DEADLY MEMORIES

THE STEPCHILD

Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE MURDER

JOANNE FLUKE

www.kensingtonbooks.com

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

Table of Contents

Also by

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Baking Conversion Chart

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.

119 West 40th Street

New York, NY 10018

Copyright © 2021 by H.L. Swensen, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

The K logo is a trademark of Kensington Publishing Corp.

Library of Congress Card Catalogue Number: 2020945441

ISBN: 978-1-4967-1892-1

ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-1894-5 (e-book)

ISBN-10: 1-4967-1894-1 (e-book)

This book is for my friend, Lois Meister.

And for Kathy Allen, who bakes delicious and beautifully decorated cookies, cakes, and cupcakes.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to my extended family for putting up with me while I was writing this book.

Hugs to Trudi Nash and her husband, David, for being brave again and tasting recipes that I tried for the first time.

Thank you to my friends and neighbors: Mel and Kurt, Lyn, Gina and Jess, Dee Appleton, Jay Jacobson, Richard Jordan, Laura Levine, the real Nancy and Heiti, Dan, the real Sally in Wichita, Mark and Mandy at Faux Library, Daryl and her staff at Groves Accountancy, Gene and Ron at SDSA, and my friends at HomeStreet Bank.

Hugs to my Minnesota friends: Lois and her family, Bev and Jim, Val, Ruthann, Lowell, Dorothy and Sister Sue, and Mary and Jim.

So many thanks to John Scognamiglio, my patient and overworked editor.

A big thank-you to Steve Zacharius for his support and wisdom.

Hugs for Meg Ruley and the staff at the Jane Rotrosen Agency for their constant support and sage advice.

Thanks to all the wonderful folks at Kensington Publishing who keep Hannah sleuthing and baking yummy goodies.

Thanks to Robin and Joyce in Production, and Larissa in Publicity.

All three of you go above and beyond.

Thanks to Hiro Kimura for his incredible Triple Cheesecake on the cover.

I know it’s paper, but it’s so appealing, I’d like to eat it!

Thanks to Lou Malcangi for designing all of Hannah’s beautiful book covers and providing high-resolution graphics for us.

Thank you to John at Placed4Success for Hannah’s movie and TV placements, his presence on Hannah’s social media platforms, and for being my son.

A big hug to Kathy Allen for testing every single recipe in this book!

Thanks to Tami Chase for designing and managing my website at www.JoanneFluke.comand for giving support to Hannah’s social media.

Thanks to JQ for helping Hannah and me for so many years.

Kudos to Beth and her phalanx of sewing machines for her gorgeous embroidery on our hats, visors, aprons, and tote bags.

Thank you to food stylist, friend, and media guide Lois Brown for her expertise with the launch parties at Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ, and baking segments with the lovely and talented host of Arizona Midday on KPNX-TV in Phoenix.

Hugs to Debbie Risinger and everyone else on Team Swensen.

Thank you to Dr. Rahhal, Dr. Umali, Dr. and Cathy Line, Dr. Levy, Dr. Koslowski, and Drs. Ashley and Lee for answering my book-related medical and dental questions.

Hugs to all the Hannah fans who share their family recipes with me, post on my Facebook page, Joanne Fluke Author, and enjoy the photos of Sven, the spokes-bear for Hannah.

Chapter One

The chairs in Mayor Bascomb’s outer office were uncomfortable and Hannah Swensen shifted her position. She’d brought the mayor’s secretary, Terry Neilson, some sample cookies from The Cookie Jar, Hannah’s bakery and coffee shop, and Terry was reaching for her third Chocolate Chip Crunch cookie.

“These are great cookies, Hannah!” Terry told her, biting into the crunchy confection. “I’d better stop soon or Mayor Bascomb won’t get any of these.”

“Forget it, Andrea!” Mayor Bascomb’s voice was so loud they could hear it in the outer office. “Nothing you can say will change my mind. And if you keep it up, you’re going to make me even madder! You and I both know that Bill was wrong to make that arrest!”

“Uh-oh!” Terry reacted to the angry words that they could hear even though the mayor’s office door was closed. “He’s been in a horrid mood all week, and now he’s on a real rant. I really hope your sister’s got enough sense to leave before he says something really nasty.”

Hannah sighed and shook her head. “Andrea won’t leave. She’s never walked away from a fight in her life. She’s even more stubborn than Mayor Bascomb, especially when somebody insults her husband. And from what she told me, Bill was caught between a rock and a hard place. He had to arrest the mayor’s nephew. The state trooper was standing right there, and Bill couldn’t just let Bruce go the way he did the last two times.”