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