Pie to Die For: A Hannah Swensen Mystery

Hannah is keeping busy at the Cookie Jar while helping Lisa plan a Herman family reunion, and the day already feels crowded with drama from the Murrayville Players. Delores, Hannah's theatrical mother, is feuding with Victoria Bascow, the troupe's reigning star, who seems to taunt her with a pie order and a spotlight-stealing attitude. The tension feels petty at first, but it becomes lethal when Hannah delivers the pies and finds Victoria dead, with a smoking pan suggesting the killer or victim was interrupted only minutes earlier. Sheriff Ealing takes the case and quickly looks at Delores, since her rivalry with Victoria was obvious. Hannah refuses to sit still and starts asking questions about Victoria's family, her nephew Roger, and the strange party she appears to have been preparing for before her death. The more Hannah learns, the more it seems Victoria had a secret social life beyond the theater, including dance and French classes, and possibly connections to people the cast barely knew. At the same time, Hannah is trying to live her own life. She goes on a date with Chad, who is steady, observant, and clearly fond of her, but even their evening is interrupted by the ongoing investigation and the pressure of keeping secrets from family and police. The danger escalates when an intruder breaks into Hannah's home, turns off the power, and attacks her; Chad and the sheriff arrive in time to save her, proving that someone is willing to silence her if she gets too close to the truth. Hannah keeps following the trail through Victoria's world. She and her family go undercover at the theater and in the dance, taekwondo, and French classes Victoria attended, and they discover that Victoria had more enemies and admirers than anyone realized. Roger seems increasingly suspect because he is obsessed with her inheritance, while Lisa's cousin Jennifer acts strangely and is eventually tied to Victoria's missing limited-edition Pierre Matisse purse. Hannah also learns that the dance instructor Eduardo had a special connection to Victoria, and that a missing hair comb may be the clue tying everything together. As the evidence builds, Hannah realizes Roger is not the only guilty party. He had hired a man to intimidate her after she saw Roger's sculpture outside Victoria's home, but the true murder case points toward Tonya Harmon, whose envy and resentment run much deeper than she admitted. Tonya reveals that Victoria had stolen the spotlight, complicated her connection to Eduardo, and left her feeling pushed aside, and Hannah turns Tonya's own theatrical instincts against her during the final confrontation. The sheriff moves in, Roger is taken into custody for his own crimes, Jennifer returns the purse, and the community begins to settle back down. By the end, the family reunion finally goes forward, Hannah's secrets are no longer derailing everyone around her, and Sheriff Ealing even asks Delores out to dinner. The mystery closes with the usual Hallmark-style warmth: the case is solved, the romantic thread with Chad remains steady, and Hannah has once again proven that her baking skills and her instincts make a powerful combination.