Sugar Cookie Character Summaries

Sugar Cookie Murder: The holidays are the icing on the cake for bakery owner Hannah Swensen. Surrounded by her loved ones, she has all the ingredients for a perfect Christmas---until murder is added to the mix . . .

When it comes to the holidays, Minnesotans rise to the occasion--and the little town of Lake Eden is baking up a storm with Hannah leading the way. The annual Christmas Buffet is the final test of the recipes Hannah has collected for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook.

While Hannah is baking the day's goodies at The Cookie Jar, the evening's plans begin to jell. Start with the best Lake Eden culinary creations, add two of Hannah's "sometime" boyfriends, a pinch of her ready-to-pop pregnant sister, and a dash of her mother and a new significant other, an actual British lord, and what do you get? A recipe for disaster, but the juiciest ingredient is yet to come...

The recently divorced Martin Dubinski arrives at the buffet with his new Vegas showgirl wife--all wrapped up in glitter and fur. His ex-wife, however, seems as cool as chilled eggnog. And when Hannah's mother's antique Christmas cake knife disappears, its discovery in the dÐ"©colletage of the new--and now late--Mrs. Dubinski puts the festivities on ice.

With everyone stranded at the community center by a blizzard, Hannah puts her investigative skills to the test, using the ingredients at hand: half the town of Lake Eden--and a killer. Now, as the snowdrifts get higher, it's up to Hannah to dig out all the clues--and make sure that this white Christmas doesn't bring any more deadly tidings . . .

CHaracterizations!

Hannah Swensen: Hannah Swensen is quite an eccentric character. She is thirty-something years old, has flaming frizzy red hair, and is just a little bit overweight. She is the oldest of the three daughters---Hannah, Andrea, and Michelle---that her equally-eccentric mother, Delores Swensen, gave birth to. After her father died, Hannah left Macalester College---where she had gone with the hopes of becoming a literature teacher---to help take care of her mother. Hannah lives in a condo suite, and she has taken in a stray orange-and-white cat named Moishe as her pet. Hannah is rather trapped in a love triangle with two men, local dentist Norman Rhodes and detective Mike Kingston. Hannah is unsure of whom she loves more; Norman, or Mike? Hannah makes her living by owning and operating an independent bakery called The Cookie Jar, where she and her young assistant, Lisa Beeseman (formerly Herman, prior her marriage to Herb Beeseman) make everything by hand. All the residents of Lake Eden rave about Hannah's delicious treats. However, when Hannah is not baking or trying to keep away from the telephone so Delores cannot call her about how fast her biological clock is ticking, Hannah solves murder mysteries.

Andrea Todd: Andrea Todd is Hannah's younger sister, in a very happy marriage to Detective Bill Todd. Andrea is a a few years youger than her sister, and has a great body and shiny blonde hair. Andrea has two daughters, Tracey and Bethany. The complete opposite of Hannah, Andrea cares an enormous deal about fashion and the current "in" clothes. Andrea and Hannah's sisterly relationship had been a bit strained, but after they worked together to solve Ron LaSalle's murder the two become much closer. Whenever Hannah starts on solving a murder mystery, Andrea is always very eager to help in any way she can.

Norman Rhodes: Norman Rhodes is Lake Eden's kind, humorous, and fun to be around dentist at the Rhodes Dental Clinic, following in his father's own career footsteps. Norman is in his early forties, and probably not considered as attractive when compared to Detective Mike Kingston. Norman's mother is Carrie Rhodes, one of Hannah's mother Delores's closest friends, and together, Carrie and Delores rambunctiously play matchmaker for Norman and Hannah. But what Hannah loves about Norman is his comfortableness, and how approachable he is when Hannah needs to talk to him. Hannah thinks of him as a big cuddly teddy bear. Norman is also often very eager to help Hannah out in an investigation, and he is immensely protective over her. Norman's biggest hobby---which has sometimes proven quite useful in Hannah's murder sleuthing---is taking photographs, and developing the negatives in his own darkroom. When Norman proposed to Hannah, she turned him down.

Mike Kingston: Mike Kingston is a handsome detective from the Winnetka County Police, who recently moved to Lake Eden from Minneapolis after his pregnant wife, a nurse, was accidentally killed in a gun shooting. He is also Hannah's love interest, and, like Norman, he is very protective of Hannah. Because of his protectiveness Mike often attempts to advise Hannah to not investigate a new murder mystery, simply for her own safety. Although

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