Joanne Fluke grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota where her neighbors were friendly, the winters were fierce, and the biggest scandal was the spotting of unidentified male undergarments on a young widow's clothesline. She has worked as; a teacher, a psychologist, a musician, a private detective's assistant, a corporate, legal, and pharmaceutical secretary, a short order cook at a truck stop, a computer consultant on a now-defunct operating system, a production assistant on a TV quiz show, and a mother, wife, and homemaker. She lives with her husband, her kids, his kids, their three dogs, one elderly tabby, and several noisy rats in the attic.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER is a classic mystery set in the ambiance of a small town Minnesota winter. "Twenty degrees below zero isn't an exaggeration," Joanne insists, "and that's without adding in the wind chill. If you want to know what it's like, stick your head in the freezer. That's fifty degrees warmer than the air outside during a cold snap in Minnesota." When Joanne was a child, her mother and her two aunts baked every day to warm up the house. They came up with hundreds of original recipes and Joanne's book contains seven of them. "The kitchen was my favorite spot," she says. "It was always warmer than the rest of house and nothing smells better than vanilla and chocolate. My amateur sleuth, Hannah Swenson, bakes cookies for a living and smells them in her shop, The Cookie Jar. If I didn't write, that's what I'd like to do."

Joanne Fluke has written ten thrillers under her own name and all of them use Minnesota settings. She also writes under several pen names. She's always loved to read mysteries and Book One in her Hannah Swenson series, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER, combines her love for her home state, her knowledge of the mystery genre, and her passion for baking. "What more could I want?" Joanne asks as she passes the Chocolate Chip Crunch cookies.

Joanne holds a degree in psychology and is an avid people watcher. She's a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Authors' Guild.