Wedding Cake Murder Read online

  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

  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

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  WEDDING CAKE MURDER

  JOANNE FLUKE

  KENSINGTON BOOKS

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Books by Joanne Fluke

  Title 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

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Wedding Cake Murder Recipe Index

  Baking Conversion Chart

  EYES

  Teaser chapter

  Copyright Page

  This book is for Anne Elizabeth, my lovely and talented

  writer friend,

  who’s married to a SEAL (the Navy kind).

  Acknowledgments

  Big hugs to the kids and the grandkids.

  Having such a wonderful family is a real blessing.

  Thank you to my friends and neighbors: Mel & Kurt, Anne

  Elizabeth & Carl, Dee Appleton, Lyn & Bill, Lu, Gina and

  her family, Adrienne, Jay, Bob, R.T. Jordan, Laura Levine,

  Dr. Bob & Sue, Danny, Mark B., Angelique, 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, Nancey, Bruce, Alison,

  Cameron, Barbara, Gabriel, Lisa, Toby, 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 & Sister

  Sue, Mary & Jim, Pat and Gary at Once Upon a Crime

  Bookstore, and Tim Hedges.

  Hugs 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.

  Go Barracudas!

  Thanks to Hiro Kimura, my wonderful cover artist for the

  incredible wedding cake on this book cover! There are

  designs and decorations all over the book jacket, and I

  especially love his drawings of Moishe!

  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, and for always being there for me.

  Thanks to Rudy at Z’Kana Studios for editing and

  compiling snippets from my televised interviews and

  baking segments, for maintaining my website at

  www.JoanneFluke.com and for giving support

  to Hannah’s social media.

  Big thanks to Kathy Allen for the final testing

  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 comfy and

  cossetted, and for coming up with new and

  innovative recipes for us to try.

  If Trudi’s oven ever breaks, Hannah’s sunk!

  Thanks to the Honey Moon Sweets Bakery in

  Tempe, Arizona, for baking the fabulous wedding

  cake we’ll serve at the launch party for

  Wedding Cake Murder at the

  Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Phoenix.

  And thanks to food stylist and

  media guide extraordinaire Lois Brown

  for her friendship and her talented assistance.

  Special thanks to my publicist, Vida Engstrand,

  for all she does.

  Thank you to Nancy and Heiti for all sorts of wonderful

  recipes, and for giving me permission to use their names in

  Hannah’s books.

  Hugs to the Double Ds, 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 find Wedding Cake Murder

  particularly delicious!

  Chapter One

  “No, it’s not the wedding I dreamed of, but it is the wedding I want!” Hannah Swensen’s hands shook slightly as she replaced her cup of coffee in the bone china saucer. She’d been so startled by Grandma Knudson’s question that a few drops had sloshed out of her cup and landed in its matching saucer. The matriarch of Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church was known for being outspoken, but Hannah hadn’t expected to be grilled about her upcoming nuptials when Grandma Knudson had called her at The Cookie
Jar, Hannah’s coffee shop and bakery, and invited her to the parsonage for coffee.

  “Everyone’s talking, you know,” Grandma Knudson confided, leaning forward in her chair. “No one can understand why they haven’t been invited to the wedding. I told them you preferred a small, intimate family affair, but they feel left out. And almost everyone from my Bible study group asked me if there was something wrong.”

  “Wrong?” Hannah repeated, not certain what Grandma Knudson meant.

  “Yes. People always think that there’s something wrong when a wedding takes place behind closed doors. Weddings aren’t supposed to be private. They’re supposed to be joyous celebrations.”

  “I am joyous! I mean, joyful. And so is Ross. I just thought it might be easier for everyone if we didn’t have a big public display.”

  “Because of Norman and Mike?”

  “Well . . . yes. That’s part of the reason. This is rather sudden, and they haven’t had time to get used to the idea that Ross and I are getting married. I thought it would be . . .” Hannah paused, trying to think of another word, but only one came to mind. “I thought it would be easier for them this way,” she finished.

  Grandma Knudson was silent as she stared at Hannah, and that made Hannah want to explain. “You know . . .” she continued. “If I’d invited everyone to a huge wedding and reception, it would be almost like . . . like . . .”

  The older woman let her struggle for a moment, and then she gave a nod. “Like rubbing their noses in it?”

  “Yes! I mean, not exactly. But some people might think that that’s what I was doing.”

  “Perhaps,” Grandma Knudson conceded. “Tell me about Ross. Did he think that a small, private wedding was a good idea?”

  “I . . . actually . . .” Hannah paused and took a deep breath. “Ross and I didn’t really talk about that. He just told me that anything I wanted to do about the wedding would be fine with him.”

  “I see. Did you at least meet with Mike and Norman and talk to them about what you’d decided?”

  “No. I wanted to spare their feelings. I thought it might be too painful for them to discuss it.”

  “You mean you thought it might be too painful for you to discuss it, don’t you?” Grandma Knudson corrected her bluntly.

  Hannah sighed heavily. She had to be truthful. “Perhaps you’re right,” she admitted, and made a move to pick up her cup and saucer rather than meet the older woman’s eyes. “I guess I really wasn’t thinking clearly, and I certainly didn’t think that a small wedding would cause all this fuss. I just wanted to get married before I had to leave for the Food Channel Dessert Chef Competition. I thought that Ross could go with me and it would be our honeymoon.”

  “I see. And the competition is in three weeks?”

  “That’s right.” Hannah managed to take a sip of her coffee and then she put it back down on the table again. Why was Grandma Knudson asking all these questions? There must be a reason. As Hannah sat there, trying to think of why Grandma Knudson was giving her the third degree, the light dawned. “Mother!” Hannah said with a sigh.

  “What did you say?”

  “I said Mother. She put you up to this, didn’t she? She wanted me to have a big wedding and I refused. So Mother came running to you to see if you could convince me to change my mind! Isn’t Mother the reason you invited me here for coffee?”

  “She’s part of the reason. But the other part is that I wanted you to taste my lemon pie. It’s the easiest pie I’ve ever made. All you need is a lemon, sugar, butter, and eggs. You put everything in a blender, pour it into one of those fancy frozen piecrusts Florence carries down at the Red Owl, and bake it. But you haven’t even sampled it yet.”

  Hannah looked down at the dessert plate resting next to her cup and saucer. Grandma Knudson’s pie did look delicious. “Is that crème fraiche on the top?”

  “Yes. It’s your crème fraiche, the one you use on your strawberry shortcake. And if you don’t want to go to the bother of making that, you can use vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. Taste it, Hannah. I want your opinion.”

  Hannah picked up her fork and took a bite. And then she took another bite. “It’s delicious,” she said. “It has exactly the right amount of tartness to balance the sweetness.”

  “I’m glad you like it, but let’s get back to Mike and Norman. You’re not getting off the hot seat so easily. Your mother’s very upset, you know. People have been stopping her on the street and asking when your wedding invitations will arrive.”

  “Did she tell them that it was a small, private wedding?”

  Grandma Knudson shook her head. “No. She was too embarrassed. You know as well as I do what people think when you get married so fast in a small, private ceremony.”

  “They think I’m . . . ?” There was no way Hannah could finish her question. She was too shocked.

  “Of course they think that. It’s usually the case, especially with a first marriage like yours. There’s even a betting pool that Hal McDermott set up down at the café for the date the baby will be born.”

  Hannah’s mouth dropped open and she shut it quickly. And then she gave a rueful laugh. “What happens to the betting pool if there’s no baby? Because there isn’t!”

  “Good question. My guess is that Hal gets to keep the proceeds, and that’s not right. I think I’ll have Bob and Claire go down there and convince him to give all that money to the local charities. That would serve people right for betting on something like that!”

  “Do you think Hal will agree to give the money to charity?”

  “He’ll have to. Betting pools are illegal in Winnetka County, and Hal knows it. So is playing poker for money behind that curtain of his in the back room of the café. He’ll knuckle under. You don’t have to worry about that. And if he doesn’t, Bob will give a rousing sermon about gambling the next time Rose drags Hal to church.”

  Hannah couldn’t help it. She laughed. Grandma Knudson always got what she wanted, and this would be no exception.

  “That’s better,” Grandma Knudson commented. “It’s good to hear you laugh. Now what are you going to do about Mike and Norman?”

  “What do you think I should do? Invite them to be Ross’s groomsmen at a huge church wedding?”

  “I think that’s exactly what you should do! Give Mike and Norman a chance to step up to the plate. As it stands right now, everyone’s buzzing about the fact that their hearts are broken. If both of them are in the wedding party, it’ll put all those wagging tongues to rest. Believe you me, they’ll jump at the chance to do that!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive.” Grandma Knudson locked eyes with Hannah. “Neither one of those men enjoys being the butt of gossip, and both of them like Ross. Of course they’re disappointed that you didn’t choose one of them, but they’ll do the right thing if you ask them.”

  Hannah thought about that for a moment. Norman and Mike did like Ross. The three men were friends. And she knew that Ross liked Mike and Norman. If she’d said she wanted a big wedding and asked Ross to choose two men to be groomsmen, he would probably have chosen Mike and Norman.

  “Well?”

  Grandma Knudson was waiting for an answer, and Hannah hedged a little. “You may be right, but I’ll have to ask Ross what he thinks of the idea.”

  “I did that this morning. I called Ross at work and he said it was fine with him if that was what you wanted. And Mike and Norman are definitely on board. I double-checked with them right afterwards. And both of them told me that they’ll accept if you ask them.”

  “You called Mike and Norman, too?”

  “Of course I did. I wanted to make sure this would work.”

  Hannah gave a little groan. Railroaded. She’d been railroaded, but Grandma Knudson had a point she couldn’t ignore. If everyone in town was gossiping about her and Hal had even set up a betting pool, she had to do something to turn things around. And then she remembered what Grandma Knudson ha
d said. “You said you double-checked with Mike and Norman this morning?”

  “Yes.”

  “If you double-checked, that means you or someone else had checked with them before this morning. Was that someone you?”

  Grandma Knudson looked slightly flustered. “Actually . . . no.”

  With a burst of lightning clarity, Hannah saw the whole picture. Her eyes narrowed and she faced the matriarch of the church squarely. “Mother checked with them before you did. Is that right?”

  Grandma Knudson sighed. “Yes, but she didn’t want you to know that it was her idea.”

  “That figures,” Hannah said with a sigh.

  “Your mother is an expert when it comes to gossip,” Grandma Knudson attempted to explain, “but she was afraid you’d reject her plan out of hand if she was the one to suggest it. That’s why she asked me to talk to you about it. And I did. Your mother, Andrea, and Michelle are already working out the details of your wedding.”

  “They’re planning my wedding without me?”

  “Yes, but you know how long wedding plans take. Delores and the girls have everything organized, but nothing’s been firmed up yet. All they need is for you to give them the go-ahead.”

  Hannah was silent. She wasn’t quite ready to cave in yet.

  “Your mother said to tell you that she knows you’re busy at The Cookie Jar and you have to be in New York for the dessert competition very soon. She’s absolutely certain that everything will be ready so that you can get married, have a reception at the Lake Eden Inn, and leave for New York the next morning.”

  “Mother can pull off a big wedding in less than three weeks?”

  “Yes. And you don’t have to do any wedding planning. Your sisters and Delores are completely prepared to arrange everything.”