Free Joanne Fluke Christmas Bundle: Sugar Cookie Murder, Candy Cane Murder, Plum Pudding Murder, & Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, Leslie Meier

Larry had been a wheeler dealer even back in high school.
    And now he was at it again. Larry’s Christmas tree lot was packed with customers and it certainly looked to be a successful business. The sign Mike had noticed bothered her a bit, but perhaps Mr. Medium, as Hannah had come to think of him, possessed a weird sense of humor.
    “I’m glad you’re here, Hannah,” Larry said in his medium-volume, medium-pitched voice. He hit the mute button, killing the sound, and turned to her. “I was planning on calling you in the morning. The girls at the cookie shop tell me we need to increase our order.”
    “That’s great,” Hannah said, giving him a smile. It seemed that Larry was on top of the cookie problem. “How many dozen extra would you like?”
    “Let’s see…we go through an average of six dozen an hour in the afternoons and it’ll probably be more in the evenings. Let’s say an extra thirty-six dozen. That ought to cover it.”
    It was a big order and Hannah was pleased. “We can do thirty-six dozen. Do you want any particular kind?”
    “Actually, I do. I noticed we don’t have anything with white chocolate.”
    Hannah thought fast. “I just tested a new recipe for White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams and they were excellent. They’re a soft cookie and they’re very moist. Would you like to try those?”
    “They sound fine. Could you deliver five dozen of those every day?” When Hannah nodded, he went on. “And we don’t have a ginger cookie. Do you have anything like that?”
    “I could give you five dozen Frosted Ginger Cookies.”
    “Sounds great. How about something with marshmallows? Kids love marshmallows.”
    “They certainly do,” Hannah agreed, her sole point of reference being her niece Tracey. Tracey adored marshmallows and the last time she had come down to The Cookie Jar to spend the afternoon, they’d come up with a brownie that Tracey loved. “How about five pans of Fudge-Mallow Cookie Bars? You can get two dozen brownies from each pan. That’ll be another ten dozen.”
    “Good!”
    Larry was silent for several moments and Hannah wondered if he’d added wrong. “That’s only twenty dozen extra,” she reminded him.
    “I know. I’m just considering something else. We get a big rush of customers right after the dinner hour. How about some kind of wonderful Christmas dessert, something so good it’ll make them leave their own dinner tables and come to the Crazy Elf for dessert?”
    “That’s a good idea,” Hannah said, and then she was silent. She wasn’t about to suggest something like mincemeat pie or fruitcake at this point, not until Larry had given her a clue to what he considered wonderful.
    “I’m thinking of something they wouldn’t make at home. And something that’s not available at local grocery stores. We might even need something that people around here haven’t tasted before.”
    Hannah thought of several desserts that fit Larry’s description, but she wasn’t about to name them. They were overworked as it was at The Cookie Jar and there was no way they were going to bake cranberry tarts or miniature chocolate meringue pies. She’d wait for him to come up with something and then see if they had time to do it.
    Larry thought for a moment and then he leaned forward in excitement. “How about plum pudding? They have it in England and I think it’s a traditional Christmas dessert.”
    “It may be traditional, but nobody’s going to order it twice,” Mike said, entering the conversation for the first time. “I had it at a fancy restaurant in Minneapolis. It tasted like fruitcake, but what really got to me was there wasn’t a single plum in it.”
    “No plums in plum pudding?” Larry asked, turning to Hannah for confirmation.
    “Mike’s right. The traditional recipe has citron and some other dried and candied fruit, but no plums.”
    “Then why do they call it plum pudding?”
    Hannah shrugged. “Maybe it’s because it’s wrapped up in cloth