Publisher: Kensington
Published: March 30, 2021-- A BARNES AND NOBLE EXCLUSIVE
ISBN: 978-1-4967-3178-4
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Print from Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address: Gina myreviewbooks@aol.com
FIVE HEARTS
Things have settled down since Wren Johnson, owner of Let It Bee honey boutique in her home town on the Oregon coast solved a series of murders in her town. Now she, her Aunt Eloise and friend/store manager Porsche are busy getting ready for their second anniversary sale. Added into the mix is a neighbouring town’s annual UFO festival which Aunt Eloise is quite excited to attend. Wren’s mind is more on the sale and getting her inventory ready for the sale. To do that she needs some supplies from local bee keeper, Elias. When she arrive at his place, however, she finds him lying on the ground near his hives and the bees agitatedly flying about. Knowing something is very wrong she contacts the police and some local bee wranglers for help. It doesn’t take long for them to find Elias has been killed. Wren is determined not to get involved but then her friend, Klaus, becomes a person of interest in not only Elias’s murder, but the attempted murder of their friend Paul. In the midst of the search for the real killer Wren’s old boyfriend, the one who sort of got away, Travis reappears in her life. Oddly though, Travis seems more interested in Aunt Eloise. Now why would that be? Or is it really Aunt Eloise he’s interested in?
A MATTER OF HIVE AND DEATH is the second book of Nancy Coco’s latest series, The Oregon Honeycomb series and even better than book one. There is some nice movement in the characters—they aren’t cookie cutter and have had some changes and developments in their lives. Wren, Aunt Eloise and Porsche are the kind of people you want to have as friends of their own. And I wouldn’t mind having a shop like Let It Bee in my town. Coco intersperses bee education as part of the story and I found myself looking forward to learning more as Wren either learns or explains what she knows to Jim, the local police officer who seems to be falling for her. There are also some simple yet enticing recipes between chapters and I have to say that honey cheesecake sure sounds good. Even as a non-baker I’m going to be trying it out.
The mystery in this one is really well done. I liked how Coco has Wren take a logical approach to finding each new clue and how practical she is when something seems a bit far out. She doesn’t run to Jim at every turn, but considers her options and discusses it with Aunt Eloise and Porsche. I also especially liked how Everett, Wren’s Havana Brown cat, takes part in solving the crimes. He’s really the star of the show for me.
Great characters, well developed mystery, over all fun read—this is one of my favorite series and I hope for the next entry soon.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.
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