Joanne Fluke - Cream Puff Murder

T here was a loud crash as someone dropped a platter. A split second later, Hannah Swensen reached up to pick a piece of pepperoni out of her curly red hair. She examined it, identified it for what it was, and just barely managed to resist the urge to pop it into her mouth. Although one bite of the traditional pizza topping might not exceed her calorie count for lunch, it could pave the way to a self-indulgent feast from the menu at Bertanellis Pizza, a popular eatery in Lake Eden, Minnesota.

One glance down at the salad shed ordered and Hannah almost gave way to temptation. It was a perfectly good salad, crispy lettuce in three varieties, several slices of tomato, strips of yellow and red bell pepper for color, and a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side. Salads were good. Salads were healthful. Salads were much better than pizza when you had to lose at least ten pounds because everything you owned was too tight around the middle, including your very favorite pair of jeans.

Whats that? her sister Andrea asked, watching Hannah wrap the meaty missile in a napkin and set it aside.

Pepperoni. I heard a crash right before it hit. One of Ellies new waitresses must have dropped a pizza platter.

Without another word, both sisters picked up their winter parkas and slid over to the edge of the booth so they could peer out at the other diners. It was Saturday, and Bertanellis was packed with customers. It was also November in Minnesota, and that meant the coatrack by the door was also packed, and theyd had to stash their bulky outerwear in their booth. Andrea was sharing her side with her husband, Bill Todd, the Winnetka County sheriff. Hannahs lunch date was her sometimes boyfriend, Bills chief detective, Mike Kingston. This was obviously a working lunch because the men hadnt even noticed the porcine projectile that had landed on Hannahs head. They were too busy discussing a bungled bank robbery that had taken place in a neighboring town that morning.

The interior at Bertanellis was comfort itself, with carved wooden booths and tables, plastered walls with fake brick peeking through, and Italian scenes painted by the Jordan High senior art class. The candles on the tables were stuck in wine bottles that had been dripped with various candle colors, a tribute to the crafts movement of the fifties. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing place to have lunch, but not today.

Uh-oh, Andrea said, beginning to frown.

You said it, Hannah added, spotting Bridget Murphy, who had just righted herself after running smack-dab into the waitress whod been carrying the pizza that had provided Hannahs unexpected slice of sausage.

Both women watched as Bridget, who was known for her fiery Irish temper, veered off toward the big round booth in the corner where Ronni Ward was holding court. Ronni was flanked by four of Lake Edens most successful males. Mayor Bascomb and bank president Doug Greerson were seated on her left. Al Percy of Lake Eden Realty, and Bert Kuehn, co-owner of Bertanellis, were seated on her right.

Everyone had thought that Ronni was gone for good last winter when she got engaged and moved in with her fianc to help him run his fitness center in Elk River. But Ronni and the man shed promised to marry had broken it off, and, as Hannah and Andreas grandmother had been fond of saying, the bad penny had turned up in Lake Eden again. Bill, who was a soft touch for a sob story, had rehired Ronni as the fitness instructor at the sheriffs department, and the word on the Lake Eden gossip hotline was that Ronni was flirting heavily, or perhaps even more, with the deputies at the sheriffs station, regardless of their marital status.

Unable to live on the small salary the sheriffs department paid her, Ronni had found a part-time job at Heavenly Bodies, the new fitness spa at the Tri-County Mall. Her track record there appeared to be more of the same. Shed sold more memberships than anyone else on the staff, but the members shed signed were almost all male. Several local wives werent happy about their husbands resolve to get into shape by joining one of Ronnis exercise classes or hiring her as their personal fitness coach after hours.