Key Lime Pie Murder. Joanne Fluke

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      KEY LIME PIE MURDER

      Hannah rounded the corner and stopped short. Someone was sprawled out on the dirt. A woman. And she was perfectly motionless.

      Hannah’s need to help another person in trouble drew her forward. The woman was facedown and Hannah was about to reach for her wrist to feel for a pulse when she saw the back of her head. This caused her to step back without taking her pulse or touching her. No aid she could give would make any difference. This woman was quite dead.

      Hannah took one halting step closer and the key lime pie she was holding dropped from her nerveless fingers as she had an awful realization. She’d seen and admired the dress this woman was wearing no more than an hour ago.

      “Hannah?” Mike’s voice rang out loud and clear. “Where are you?”

      “Here,” Hannah answered, finding her voice at last.

      “You sound weird. What’s the matter?”

      “Dead,” she said.

      “Someone’s dead? Who?”

      “Willa,” Hannah said. “Willa Sunquist is dead.”

      Books by Joanne Fluke

      CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER

      STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MURDER

      BLUEBERRY MUFFIN MURDE

      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

      JOANNE FLUKE’S LAKE EDEN COOKBOOK

      CINNAMON ROLL MURDER

      RED VELVET CUPCAKE MURDER

      Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

      A HANNAH SWENSEN MYSTERY WITH RECIPES

      KEY LIME PIE MURDER

      JOANNE FLUKE

      KENSINGTON BOOKS

       KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected

      KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

      119 West 40th Street

      New York, NY 10018

      Copyright © 2007 by Joanne Fluke

      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.

      Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

      ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-7264-5

      ISBN-10: 0-7582-7264-2

      eISBN: 978-1-6177-3010-8

      First Hardcover Printing: March 2007

      This book is dedicated to Tooni,

       who truly knew how to love.

      Acknowledgments

      For Ruel, my in-house story editor and research team. And for the kids, who’ve learned not to count carbs out loud whenever I serve dessert.

      Thank you to our friends and neighbors: Mel & Kurt, Lyn & Bill, Gina & the kids, Adrienne, Jay, Bob, Amanda, Dale, John, Trudi, Dr. Bob & Sue, Laura & Mark, Richard & Krista, Barbara & Val, Lana from Baltimore, and Mark Baker, who always shows up, sometimes twice.

      Thank you to my editor-in-chief, John Scognamiglio.

       Without you, this wouldn’t be nearly as much fun and I’d probably fall flat on my face.

       The same goes for Walter, Steve, Laurie, Doug, David, Joan, Maureen, Magee, Meryl, Colleen, Jessica, Justin, Robin, Lydia, Lori, Mike, and Barbara.

      Thank you to Hiro Kimura, superb cover artist, for the yummy key lime pie.

       And thanks to Lou Malcanji for designing such a delectable dust jacket.

      Thanks also to all the other talented folks at Kensington who keep Hannah sleuthing and baking up a storm.

      Thanks to John for fixing all the computer tech stuff I don’t understand and can’t spell.

      Thank you to Dr. Rahhal and Trina for all that you do.

      Big hugs to Terry Sommers for trying out all the recipes in this book and never once bringing up the subject of calories.

      Thank you to Jamie Wallace for her superb work on my Web site MurderSheBaked.com

      And many, many thanks to everyone who e-mailed or snail-mailed. I’m baking key lime pie for dessert tonight.

       How about you?

      Contents

      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

      Index of Recipes

      Baking Conversion Chart