Read the Hannah Swensen Mysteries In Order Before the Next Installment in 2025

The first book in the series, Hannah Swensen and her bakery, The Cookie Jar, and introduced to us in Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder.

One day, Hannah Ron LaSalle, Hannah’s beloved and punctual delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy is found dead–and surrounded by Hannah’s cookies! Determined to track down the killer before her cookies get a bad rep, she goes after her number one suspect: the high school football coach, whose wife was sneaking around with Ron.

But the more she discovers, the more suspects begin to pile up. 

The president of Hartland Flour has chosen Lake Eden, Minnesota as the location for their first annual bake-off, and Hannah as the head judge!

But when a fellow judge is found face-down in Hannah’s strawberry shortcake, she’ll have to kiss her ticket to fame goodbye unless she can find out who did it.

Could the culprit have been on the receiving end of some of Coach Watson’s harsh criticism? 

Lake Eden’s preparations for the annual Winter Carnival are underway, which means Hannah has a whole lot of baking to do.

Connie Mac, a famous culinary influencer, has the honor of creating the official Winter Carnival cake—but Hannah has a feeling that her sweetness is only surface level.

Her bad temper and domineering nature are confirmed almost as soon as she steps out of her limo; but when Connie is found lying dead in Hannah’s pantry with one of Hannah’s famous blueberry muffins in her hand and her Winter Carnival cake burnt to a crisp, 

Hannah must spring into action to find the killer before her crime-scene kitchen is closed for so long that she can’t serve her customers. 

Hannah is shocked when she receives a phone call from her boyfriend Norman and he says that he’s bought a house from local drugstore clerk Rhonda Scharf to turn into their dream home!

And better yet, the house is currently full of antiques, and Hannah and her mother get first picks. But as they’re digging through the treasure, they find Rhonda’s body, and just a little bit of sleuthing leads to the discovery of a half-eaten meal for two and one of The Cookie Jar’s famous lemon meringue pies. 

Sheriff Grant has been the man in charge for some time now, but this year, Hannah’s brother-in-law Bill is giving him a run for his money in the election—and Grant isn’t taking it well, especially when it begins to sound like Bill is winning.

But then Hannah discovers his body in her dumpster when she takes the trash out after her cooking class, and Bill is the only suspect. In an attempt to get to the bottom of the real story, Hannah starts investigating; but lots of secrets, betrayals, and gossip come from years of being a detective, and she has to sift through the mess to discover what really went down…before the killer silences anyone else. 

The annual Christmas Buffet is a great way for Hannah to do a final test of all the recipes she’s curated for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook, and the baking extraordinaire is up to the challenge.

Of those to arrive at the buffet, the most notable are the recently divorced Martin Dubinski with his new decked-out Vegas showgirl wife…and his ex-wife. The group is only made more notable when Hannah’s mother’s missing antique cake knife is found…in the new Mrs. Dubinski’s chest.

While everyone is stranded at the community center by a blizzard, it’s up to Hannah to shovel out the clues. 

Hannah is usually the person solving crimes, not the prime suspect for them.

But then Shawna Lee and her bakery move into town, (and when she starts flirting with every man there, Hannah’s beloved Mike included) Hannah is introduced to some competition on all fronts.

So when Hannah walks into Shawna’s bakery one night and finds her dead, Hannah is immediately the prime suspect. Can Hannah find the killer and clear her name, despite all of the potential culprits from Shawna’s long list of enemies? 

Lake Eden’s Main Street is packed this week, as a director has chosen this spot to shoot a movie!

With The Cookie Jar busier than ever with all the snack demands from the cast and crew, Hannah hardly has time to think about the two marriage proposals she’s received from Mike and Norman…and that decision only becomes more complicated when Hannah’s attractive film friend Ross walks on the scene.

And as if the film couldn’t get more complicated, a prop gun ends up being a real gun, and now someone is dead. Thank goodness Hannah’s cherry cheesecake is so well-liked by the director, otherwise everything would be out of control. 

Hannah Swensen is busier than ever. She’s baking sweets for the chamber of commerce booth at the tri-county fair, judging the fair’s baking contest, acting as a magician’s assistant for her business partner’s husband, trying to get her cat to end his hunger strike, and juggling the demands of her mother and sisters.

Hannah doesn’t have time to solve a murder; but when she discovers Willa Sunquist’s body, a student teacher and fellow contest judge, alongside one of Hannah’s key lime pies, she knows she must solve the case. But who would want to kill Willa and why?

Hannah couldn’t be more excited for summer and all the things the season has in store–one of which being her business partner Lisa’s family reunion.

Everyone is buzzing when Lisa’s long-lost Uncle Gus makes a surprise appearance; but apparently, not everyone is as excited as she is, because Hannah finds Uncle Gus’s body with an ice pick sticking out of his chest the next morning. He didn’t even get to enjoy his carrot cake!

But the more she discovers about Gus’ past, the longer the line gets of people who would be happy to see him go.                              

In an attempt to fit into a dress, Hannah and her sister Andrea wake up early one morning to visit Lake Eden’s new health club, Heavenly Bodies.

But when they get there, they’re shocked to find bombshell Ronni Ward’s body floating in the jacuzzi–the scene of the crime garnished with The Cookie Jar’s cream puffs!

Unfortunately, when you’re pretty like Ronni was, there’s a long list of girls who wouldn’t mind it if you passed—Hannah will be very busy.     

The holiday orders at The Cookie Jar are piling up, and they’re not slowing down even upon the mysterious discovery of “Lunatic Larry” Jaeger’s body.

Being the owner of a local tree nursery and shop, you’d think he’d be good at spreading holiday cheer—but instead, his list of enemies is longer than Santa’s naughty list, and Hannah must enlist the help of her mother and friends to solve this murder case.       

Early summer is keeping The Cookie Jar busy–and then even busier, when the mayor’s wife places an order for 1,100 cookies for her charity event.

Hannah’s business partner, Lisa, suggests participating in the event with an apple turnover stand, which is almost Hannah’s last straw; but she puts her faith in Lisa’s plan and also agrees to be a magician’s assistant in the fundraiser’s talent show.

It’s a real drag that college professor Bradford Ramsey is the show’s host, as both Hannah and her sister had unfortunate romances with him, but it’s much more of a drag when Hannah finds Ramsey dead before the curtain goes up! And worse still, there’s a turnover in his hand.   

When Hannah’s friend Claire and her new husband, Reverend Bob Knudson, are looking for time to go on their honeymoon, it seems like divine intervention when Bob’s Matthew, a Lutheran minister, blows into town on sabbatical.

All is well until Hannah finds Matthew face down in a plate of Devil’s Food Cake with a bullet in his head! She’s determined to solve the case; but the more she finds out about Matthew, the more it seems like he wasn’t quite as saintly as he appeared to be.       

When Hannah hears that the Cinnamon Roll Six jazz band is coming to Lake Eden for the jazz festival, she knows she has to whip up dozens of cinnamon rolls to stay on theme.

But when the band’s tour bus overturns on its way into town, Buddy Neiman, the keyboard player, is among those injured. He was expected to make a full recovery, until a pair of surgical scissors found their way plunged into his chest… 

The newly refurbished Grand Albion Hotel’s grand opening is the last thing Hannah wants to attend on a warm summer night–but as her red velvet cupcakes are being served, she forces herself to attend.

And it was worth it; gossip erupts at the unexpected arrival of notorious two-timing cheater Doctor Bev on the arm of some wealthy investor. But the gossip doesn’t last long after the sheriff’s secretary, Barbara Donnelly, mysteriously flings from the hotel rooftop and ends up barely alive. 

Everyone is wondering whether she jumped or whether she was pushed–except for Bev, who is attempting to draw her old fiancé back in, Hannah’s beloved Norman. Just as Hannah has had about enough of Bev’s games, they find Bev’s body at the bottom of Miller’s Pond.

The only clue? A red velvet cupcake she ate right before she drowned–with tranquilizers baked into it. This summer night just got a whole lot hotter.    

Somehow, it’s been a whole four months since anyone from the Swensen family has found a dead body—but that’s probably a good thing, considering Hannah’s mother’s wedding is coming up; and Hannah is in charge of the preparations.

But then there’s a thunderstorm one night, and Hannah ends up hitting a stranger with her truck by accident! She is wracked with guilt and only feels worse when she’s arrested for murder.

But the autopsy reveals that the mysterious, blueberry-pie-stained man would’ve died anyway, and it’s up to Hannah to figure out his identity and clear her name so she can get to the church on time.   

Largely emphasizing both Hannah’s mother’s wedding and Hannah’s love life (a love triangle that’s turned into a love square), the murder in question is almost a side plot.

That being said, this book is a continuation of the previous one, in which Hannah goes to trial for the car accident that contributed to the death of a mysterious man.

But it only gets worse when the judge is found bludgeoned to death with his own gavel and Hannah is the number one suspect in another murder.      

Almost too good to be true, Hannah is finally getting married! Her college crush, Ross Barton, will be joining her in NYC for the Food Channel’s dessert chef contest before they tie the knot.

She wins the Hometown Challenge, and the entire crew comes back to Lake Eden with her to tape the remainder of the show. But before the infamously brutal celebrity chef Alain Duquesne can taste her Butterscotch Sugar Cookies, he’s found stabbed to death in the Lake Eden Inn’s walk-in cooler.

With so many potential enemies, can she find out whodunnit?    

Hannah and Lisa are baking all the baked goods for the town’s annual holiday production of A Christmas Carol, but spirits aren’t very high.

Lisa’s husband will be playing Mr. Claus to his ex-girlfriend Phyllis Bates’ Mrs. Claus; but before the show even begins, Phyllis is found face-down in the snow–wearing quite a naughty Mrs. Claus outfit.

While a blizzard rages outside, the suspects pile up and the clues become harder to dig up.          

Upon Hannah’s arrival back from her romantic, week-long honeymoon, she discovers her mother’s neighbor from the condo downstairs has been murdered.

Victoria Bascomb was once a renowned stage actress, with a growing number of enemies during her brief tenure with the community’s theater scene.

The police are claiming that the murderer was just a random intruder, but Hannah isn’t so sure…       

Trying to distract herself from the fact that her new husband has suddenly disappeared without a trace, Hannah focuses on the countless Thanksgiving orders coming into The Cookie Jar.

She’s introduced a Raspberry Danish to her menu, and the first to try it is P.K., her husband’s work assistant. But before he can try it, P.K., who’s been driving Ross’s car and using his desk at work, is murdered.

Was someone after P.K. all along or did Ross narrowly dodge a bullet?   

A prequel of sorts highlighting Hannah’s baking origin story, Christmas Cake Murder follows Hannah in the days before she owned The Cookie Jar, when all the bakery was an item on her Christmas wish list.

That year, Hannah agreed to help re-enact a Christmas Ball from long ago, in honor of elderly Essie Granger, who was in hospice care.

Hannah happens upon some of Essie’s old but brilliant crime fiction works, but as Essie’s works of fiction begin coming true, Hannah has to balance running a new bakery, moving out of her mom’s house, and a Yuletide murder!        

When The Cookie Jar becomes the setting for a new TV special about movies filmed in Minnesota, Hannah couldn’t be happier about the press capturing her bakery.

But then she has to contend with visits from someone she thought she loved, bodyguards watching her every move, and a body in her bedroom. Then the crime scene continues at her mother’s penthouse! Talk about TV special material.

Can Hannah team up with an old flame to find the culprit before they snuff her out for good?           

Hannah left snowy Minnesota for sunny California to help a friend on a movie set, but when her sister Michelle’s boyfriend Lonnie becomes the prime suspect for murder, she takes a plane right back to Minnesota.

But Lonnie only remembers parts of the night he’s a suspect for; driving a very impaired woman home after a night at the bar, helping her into her bedroom, and falling asleep on her couch. But when he woke up to check on her, she was murdered!

Hannah doesn’t know what to believe, but Lonnie’s finicky memory and the fact that anyone from the police station who would believe him has been taken off the case isn’t helping.       

Hannah’s lengthy holiday order list is not the only thing keeping her busy this season; her sister Andrea is looking to work at The Cookie Jar to beat the holiday blues, Michelle’s love life is going from “in a relationship” to “it’s complicated,” Lisa needs Hannah’s advice, and Hannah’s mother Delores is keeping a Christmas secret from her.

And top of it all, a confused John Doe was found clinging to life in an abandoned storefront only two doors down from Hannah; and the only thing he can remember about himself is that he’s eerily good at restoring antique furniture.

Can Hannah frost all the cookies, bring back the holiday cheer, and solve the mystery in time for Christmas? 

Easter eggs aren’t the only thing Hannah’s hunting for this Easter; when she gets a panicked call from her sister Andrea and finds out she’s the prime suspect for the murder of Mayor Bascomb, Hannah puts all the holiday and dinner party orders aside to help her.

 Though his reputation was never stellar, Mayor Bascomb had been unusually irritable in the days before his death, leading Hannah to wonder whether or not he knew he was being targeted.

But as he left a bad taste in many mouths, Hannah must spring into action to narrow down the potential culprits before another murder is committed! 

Hannah is delighted to switch up her typical routine at The Cookie Jar by baking pastries at the local inn for a fishing competition. The competition features big prizes and big names, including the pompous TV show host and seasoned fisherman Sonny Bowman.

But when Hannah spots Sonny’s runaway boat carrying Sonny’s lifeless body away from shore, she teams up with her sister Andrea to find the killer.

Did Sonny’s tragically overworked boss Joey finally do him in, or was it just a jealous contestant? 

It’s the Tri-County Summer Solstice Celebration and Hannah is drumming up lots of business with her pink lemonade desserts from all walks of life. But then a retired MLB player’s body is discovered, making the longest day of the year feel even longer.

The list of suspects is a mile long, but as Hannah’s mother Delores could be on that list from her public dislike of him due to his dunking her in a dunk tank at a previous county fair, Hannah needs to kick it into high gear to find his killer and exonerate her mother.

But on top of all the desserts she needs to bake, and a life-changing announcement at The Cookie Jar, will she be able to do it in time?