Review by Kirkus Book Review
Murder threatens Colorado's annual Humble Hills Bee Festival. After her life in the big city ends on a sour note, mystery writer Bailey Briggs finds sweet respite at Honeybuzz Mountain, her grandmother's bee ranch. Living there with her daughter, Daisy, Bailey has time to indulge her two favorite pursuits, reading and writing, while helping Granny Bee at the well-stocked Honeybuzz gift shop. And she's close enough to visit Bee's sisters, Marigold and Aster, at nearby Lavender Manor, their huge Victorian home. Evie Delgado Espinoza, Bailey's best high school friend, is still in town and ready for fun. And Bailey also wonders if she'll reconnect with high school boyfriend Sawyer Dunn, who's now the sheriff. The answer, of course, is a resounding yes. Rex Rafferty, the star of the morning news show Wake Up With Rex and Rachel, is emceeing the festival's Bake-Off contest. Unfortunately, Rex is as handsy as he is handsome, and when he puts the moves on Evie, she publicly threatens to kill him if he touches her again. So when someone does kill him with a 20-pound KitchenAid mixer, Evie is Sawyer's prime suspect. After all, she's got both motive and opportunity. Sawyer's suspicions prompt Bailey to spring into action, using research for her next thriller as an excuse for cross-examining potential suspects. Marts has a curious way of burying the lede, so facts spill out of these interrogations in haphazard fashion. But the result is predictable, and justice is done. Cross-pollinating apiculture and mystery writing produces a new hybrid: the thriller bee cozy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
