Mix in the mayonnaise and stir until the mixture is smooth. Nuke it in HIGH for 30 seconds, or until it begins to soften. Unwrap the cream cheese and put it in a microwave-safe bowl.

IngredientsĨ-ounce package cream cheese (the firm kind, not the whipped)Ī box of salted crackers (We used Ritz Crackers and they were great!) Hannah's Note: If you're not going to serve these right away, you can mix up the cream cheese part and refrigerate it until it's time to spread it on the crackers. The mystery is solid without being particularly tricky, though I did have an uncomfortable moment or two where I wondered if Mike might somehow be responsible for the murder.Īnd the recipes, of course, were wonderful! I had trouble narrowing down my options from the 14 included, but finally settled on this savory appetizer for the column: Cream Cheese Puffs If you can't decide between two guys, you probably don't really want either of them. This was another winning installment of the bestselling series, even if I, as a stalwart partisan for #TeamNorman, can clearly read the writing on the wall here. Hannah is determined to figure out the truth, despite the complicated romantic entanglements that begin to rear up and ensnare her and those she loves the most. And while Dean’s womanizing ways could have provided plenty of people with the motive to do him in, it's unclear whether he or the actor he was coaching was the real target. Since Mike himself had checked the gun before the scene started filming, it quickly becomes clear that this was not an accident. It comes as a horrific surprise then when Dean fires what's supposed to be an unloaded gun on-set while coaching an actor and blows his own brains out in front of dozens of onlookers. This earns him the goodwill of nearly the entire town, who are naturally excited to be part of the movie.

Ross, who's producing, is eager to cast as many locals as possible. Hannah is delighted to discover that her neighbors from college, Lynne and Ross, are part of the cast and crew, even if they’re no longer the couple they were back then.

Her decision, of course, is that she's not ready to be married, and any resulting tempest in a teapot that this might have provoked is soon quelled by more exciting news: Hollywood is coming to Lake Eden! Hannah's youngest sister, Michelle, has successfully pitched the town as the perfect setting for an upcoming independent movie directed by the hotshot auteur Dean Lawrence.

The pressure is getting to everyone in their small town of Lake Eden, so when Hannah finally makes a decision, it comes as a relief to the whole town. Since then, seven days have passed during which Hannah has agonized over which of them to accept-or whether to accept anyone at all. When we last left our intrepid heroine, Hannah Swensen had just been proposed to by both her suitors: dentist Norman Rhodes and police detective Mike Kingston.

Cherry cheesecake murder