What’s in a name—particularly, the name Hannah being a prominent one in mystery novels?
A character named Hannah plays an important role in my ninth Deputy Donut Mystery, Blame the Beignets. I introduced Hannah’s much older sister, Olivia, in my sixth Deputy Donut Mystery, Deck the Donuts, but readers will get to know Hannah in Blame the Beignets. Like Olivia, Hannah is working at Deputy Donut, Emily’s popular café in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Olivia is unhappy because Hannah left college at the beginning of her sophomore year. Tension between the two sisters mounts when two young men come to Fallingbrook to continue their friendship with Hannah. Olivia likes one of the potential suitors, but not the other. All three of the young people deny having been nearby when a man is murdered, but Emily has doubts. However, for the sake of her assistant Olivia, Emily needs to clear Hannah’s name.
So, why is Hannah such a popular name for mystery characters—and authors? It’s a mystery!
I don’t have a guess about author last names, but I can tell you how I choose my characters’ names. I figure out the approximate year that the character was born, look up that year on the Social Security site of popular baby names, and choose a name that fits my character. It’s a fun deep-dive of a website (link here), so make sure you have an afternoon to comb through all the years and baby names!
The name Hannah was number four in 2003, about the year that my Hannah would have been born.
So . . . can we guess what some of the popular names might be in future mysteries? As I’ve said, I’ve used Olivia. And we’ll see at least one other Olivia soon—Daryl Wood Gerber has one in Essence of Foul Play, the first mystery in Aroma Wellness series, coming out in March 2025. And we can’t forget authors with the name, like Olivia Blacke and Olivia Matthews!
What other names might show up frequently in mysteries? In my tenth Deputy Donut Mystery, I’m introducing Isabella who goes by Izzy. And check out that fascinating list of baby names (did you look up your name yet?)—Isabella was number seven in 2023.
Going back to the 2003 list, here are the six most popular girls’ names: Emma, Emily, Madison, Hannah, Olivia, Abigail. The six most popular boys’ names were: Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Andrew, and Joseph. All names that we’ve likely already seen in some mysteries, and that I’m guessing we’ll be seeing more of.
Now, on to some other Hannahs in mysteries!
First, there’s Hannah Swensen, star of the long-running Hannah Swensen mysteries by New York Times bestselling author Joanne Fluke. The twenty-ninth installment is Pink Lemonade Cake Murder.
Hannah is the proprietor of the Cookie Jar bakery, and is serving pink-lemonade desserts at the Tri-County Summer Solstice Festival in her little town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. It should be a great time. Who doesn’t like the longest day of the year? And a festival with parades, entertainment, and food? However, someone spoils everyone’s fun by slaying a retired baseball player. And Hannah’s mother is one of the suspects . . . so guess who is going to have to save her!
Another Hannah appears in Jessa Maxwell’s mystery, The Golden Spoon. Six contestants vie for the prize in an annual bakeoff televised on the grounds of the gently going-to-seed manor of Betsy Martin, host of the Bake Week TV show. First, there’s mischief, and then there’s murder. The reader sees the mystery unfold through the eyes of the participants. And one of the contestants is named—guess what? Hannah. And if you’ve read the book, did you catch that this Hannah’s last name is Severson, and she’s from Eden Lake, Minnesota? A little homage to Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen of Lake Eden.
We also have mystery authors with the last name of Hannah.
Darci Hannah’s sixth Beacon Bakeshop Mystery, Murder at the Lemonberry Tea, recently released. On the shores of Lake Michigan, Lindsey Bakewell is hosting Vivi Lemonberry, a cookbook author visiting from the UK. Like The Golden Spoon, Murder at the Lemonberry Tea features a TV show about baking. Vivi quickly makes enemies—she not only banishes Lindsey’s lovable Newfoundland dog Wellington from the bakeshop, but she also flirts with Lindsey’s boyfriend. And then Vivi disappears, and Lindsey, who is unfortunate enough to discover the woman’s body, becomes a suspect. Luckily, Lindsey’s friends, family, and the boyfriend can help her figure out who the actual murderer is.
There’s also, of course, New York Times bestselling author Sophie Hannah, famous for her crime fiction and as the author of the new series of Hercule Poirot novels. Hannah’s latest is Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, and the great detective wants a holiday free from murder investigations, but alas . . . When a man is killed in a hospital ward, the wife of a patient scheduled to stay in that same hospital understandably becomes concerned, and Poirot and his sidekick are drawn in. But is Poirot the next intended victim?
What are some names that you’ve noticed have been used a lot in recent mystery novels?
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