Gus disappeared from Lake Eden over thirty years ago without a word and has not been heard from until he shows up, inexplicably, at the reunion.  When Gus doesn’t show up for the family picture, Hannah sets out to find him in a lakeside cabin.  She finds him beside a hunk of her carrot cake, impaled on an ice pick.  Someone is less than pleased that Gus has returned and decides to see that he never comes back to Lake Eden.  In an effort to occupy her mind with things other than worrying about her suddenly neurotic cat Moishe and trying to decide between policeman Mike and dentist Norman, Hannah begins to dig into Gus’s past and finds that there is no shortage of people willing to stick an ice pick into Gus.

  Hannah is a dependable character, but she is becoming too complacent about some things, especially the Mike/Norman dilemma. Playing hard to get for so long, both men are beginning to take Hannah, and her cookies, for granted, though Hannah somehow manages to have one more waiting in the wings (literally).  As usual, Hannah’s crazy mother and sisters add to the plot.  Hannah’s mother makes an almost unbelievable announcement at end of the book, perhaps setting up Hannah’s next mystery.  Moishe’s neurosis also adds another dimension to the craziness.  

There are a lot of worthy suspects of the murder of Uncle Gus, but the true murderer is obvious and readers will find themselves wondering what is taking Hannah and the Lake Eden police so long to find the person.  There are over twenty new recipes for cookies and some savory recipes for large gatherings.  Culinary mystery fans will be satisfied with this latest entry.                                                                          

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry