A Matter of Hive and Death (An Oregon Honeycomb Mystery #2)

Author:    Nancy Coco

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496735621 (B&N Edition: 9781496731784)

Kensington Publishing

320 Pages

$8.99; $6.99 Amazon

March 29, 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐

For the picturesque town of Oceanview on the Oregon coast, May brings blossoming fruit trees and the annual UFO festival in nearby McMinnville.  As Aunt Eloise tries out alien costumes on handsome Havana Brown cat Everett, Wren is off to meet with a bee wrangler, her go-to guy for local fruit tree honey.

But when she arrives, Elias Brentwood is lying on the ground amidst destroyed hives and a swarm of angry bees.  The bees didn't kill him, a blow to the head did.  As blue-eyed Officer Jim Hampton investigates and the area is invaded by its own swarm of conspiracy theorists and crackpots, Wren and Aunt Eloise decide the only way to catch the bee wrangler's killer is to set up a sting.

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Wren Johnson lives in Oceanview, Oregon and owns Let It Bee, a shop dedicated to all things made by bees and bee-oriented.  She even has her own hive for customers to see how bees work.  Her Aunt Eloise is excited to see the UFO festival in a nearby town, and is trying to convince Wren to go and bring her Havana Brown cat, Everett.  Wren has misgivings, but finally agrees.  But this day she needs to see her bee wrangler, Elias, who provides her with beeswax and other needed supplies.

When she arrives at Elias's home, no one appears to be there.  But she finds him in the backyard, wearing his bee suit, with bees from his hives everywhere.  The only way for anyone to get to him is to call another wrangler, and Wren does this, along with calling 911.  When Elias is finally removed, it turns out he's been murdered, and the suspect is the wrangler Wren called.  Knowing he's innocent, Wren and her employee Porche Allen are out to find a killer -- under the radar of Officer Jim Hampton, who wants her to stay out of it.

Confusing things is finding her old boyfriend Travis is in town, and he wants to buy a Havana Brown of his own, along with taking Wren out to dinner.  Will she succumb to Travis's charms again?  Will she be able to find a killer?  And last but not least, will she be able to figure it all out before a killer finds her?

This is the second book in the series, and I do think I enjoyed it more than the first.  The characters are getting some fleshing out, and we see that Wren can hold her own.  She does share what information she finds with the police -- although some it might be later than they want -- and she's not running scared, nor breaking into houses or doing other illegal things (things that irritate me in cozies).  Wren is a decent person, generous to her employees and her aunt, and smart enough to figure out when she needs to take care of her own.  She also has a great love for her cat, which I can empathize with, owning my own and loving it just as much, if not more.  I would never put my cats in danger (and they're only indoor cats, so there's that!)

When Wren starts trying to look at who wanted to kill Elias -- by all accounts a nice man who had no enemies and helped others -- she doesn't believe he was killed by another wrangler.  She can't believe anyone in the bee community would do such a thing, but who else is a suspect?  When it appears that the killer is watching her every move, she wonders if she's putting others in danger.  That's when she realizes that drastic measures must be taken, and Wren tries to formulate a plan to catch a murderer.

It's watching her put the clues together, and figure things out that is so interesting.  I never saw the killer coming, and the reasons for the murder seemed so insane; but you never can look into the mind nor eyes of a killer and tell what they are thinking.  It was all put together nicely, and the motive was indeed unique; and I truly enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the next in the series.

I was given an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Death-Oregon-Honeycomb-Mystery/dp/1496735625/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4521594026

More on Nancy Coco's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/nancy-coco/

Death Bee Comes Her (An Oregon Honeycomb Mystery #1)

Author:  Nancy Coco

Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:  9781496727022

Kensington Publishing

320 Pages

$8.99; $6.89 Amazon

January 26, 2021

⭐⭐⭐⭐

With her Let It Bee honey boutique buzzing along nicely, life is as sweet as nectar for Wren Johnson -- until she takes a morning walk along the Pacific beach with her Havana Brown cat, Everett, and stumbles upon the body of Agnes Snow, the cranky queen of the local craft fairs, stiff as driftwood.  More unfortunate?  Clutched in the victim's fist is a label from Wren's homemade beeswax-and-honey lip balm.  Which makes Officer Jim Hampton focus his dreamy-blue Paul Newman eyes on Wren as suspect number one.

With fabulous feline support from Everett, Wren must comb the town for clues and clear her name before someone else gets stung.

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Wren Johnson owns Let It Bee, a boutique shop that sells all things honey and beeswax - candles, skin care, etc.  She even makes honey candy for Halloween.  But one morning, while she's walking her Havana Brown cat, Everett, he stumbles across a dead body -- Agnes Snow, who also happened to be a rival of her Aunt Eloise, in all things crafty.  When one of Wren's labels is found with the body, she becomes the main (and only) suspect.  Now it's up to her and her friend/employee Porsche to try and figure out who's framing her -- and why they killed Agnes...

This is the first in a new series by Nancy Coco.  Since I've read her other series, I wanted to give this one a chance.  I always give the first in a series a bit of a pass, since the author is trying to figure out the characters and how everything "works."  Saying that, I found a few scenes unbelievable, and there's a big error at the last of the book.  

But I also wondered why an officer was investigating a murder.  Since it wasn't stated that Jim Hampton was a detective, wouldn't the case have been handed off to the homicide department?  A street officer wouldn't handle it.  So that was a big question for me.  There were a few other things that bothered me, but I'm not going to mention them here.

I understand that the characters are going through their development stage, and that's fine.  Wren can turn out to be interesting, but I'm not especially fond of her aunt.  I also wonder if we're going to have the dreaded "evil nemesis" show up in the next book (not needed to make a good book) or a love triangle.  I really didn't understand what a certain character was doing there; it was as if the author were trying out boyfriends for Wren and just couldn't make up her mind.

Yes, I know I'm going on a rant, but I like to read books that are smooth in their transition, even for first in a series.  This one, while it has an interesting plot, has a bit of a problem.  However, I do like the fact that Wren cares for the environment, that she's basically a small-scale beekeeper, and knows her subject well.  This bodes well for the continuation of the series.

I do like Everett, but I'm a cat lover at heart.  I have a Russian Blue, and he has a very definite personality also.  (For instance, Blues do not like change.  If they have their resting places in a certain area, you can't move things around.  They get upset.  He's also very vocal, like Havanas).  So I love books with cats, obviously.

In the end, I did like the plot quite a bit, so that's a plus in itself; and aside from the huge gaffe at the end (which one might forgive), it ended on a nice note and I look forward to the next in the series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Comes-Oregon-Honeycomb-Mystery/dp/1496727029/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3727554403

More on Nancy Coco's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/nancy-coco/

All You Need is Fudge (A Candy-Coated Mystery #4)

Author:  Nancy Coco
Genre:  Mystery

Paperback; Ebook
ISBN #:  9781496701626
Kensington Publishing
352 Pages
$7.99; $4.99 Amazon
July 26, 2016

Five Stars

The annual yacht race off the coast of Mackinac Island, Michigan, is a highlight of the summer season, and Allie is pulling out all the stops making chocolate centerpieces for the occasion.  Unfortunately, she and her Bichonpoo, Mal, also pull a dead body from the murky waters of the marina.  When Allie's boyfriend's sister becomes the prime suspect, Allie dives into investigating the murder herself.  Amid bitter feuds and hushed-up scandals, the courageous candymaker quickly gets in over her head.  Someone is trying to fudge the facts to keep a secret worth killing for...

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Allie McMurphy owns an historic hotel and fudge shop on Mackinac Island, Michigan that she inherited from her grandparents.  While taking her puppy Mal out for a walk on the coast one morning, she sees someone floating in the water, and pulls her to shore.  Realizing the girl is dead she calls 911 and soon discovers the dead girl is Carin Moore, a young woman about the same age as Allie.

It doesn't take long before she discovers that Carin wasn't well-liked by many people.  But did anyone dislike her enough to want her dead?  It seems someone did, and the police think that someone is her boyfriend Trent Jessop's sister, Paige.  It turns out they were seen arguing the day before the murder, and the police have enough evidence to arrest Paige on suspicion of murder.  When the Jessops close ranks against everyone in town, including Allie, she's determined to prove that Paige isn't a killer and find out the truth even if it means putting her own life in danger...

When Paige is arrested and charged with the murder of Carin, Trent withdraws from Allie and stops taking her phone calls or answering her texts.  Allie is naturally hurt and upset, and decides that she's going to show Trent she can be of help to his family by finding the real killer.  But it doesn't help that Trent's withdrawal is causing her to wonder if his feelings for her are as deep as hers for him.  

What she does find out is that everyone she talks to has a different version of the same story.  Ferreting out the truth isn't going to be easy and she needs to find out who's lying and why they want Paige to take the fall for something she didn't do.  It's not until Allie realizes that maybe it's not about Paige but Carin that she begins to put the pieces together.

This book was a delight to read, with (mostly) likable characters, transporting us to Mackinac Island and its inhabitants.  We learn more about those we've come to spend time with and meet some new residents along the way.  I especially liked the backstory of Mr. Devaney and his request of Allie's help in planning a memorable marriage proposal for Frances; it gave a needed cheerfulness to the story and a sweet touch of romance.

The tale flows well, and the characters are believable, keeping you engaged in the story.  There were quite a few twists, a lot of lies to sift through, and an ending that was something you had to really think about to discover the killer.  A thoroughly enjoyable read, and an easy one to get through in a day or two.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/All-Need-Fudge-Candy-coated-Mystery/dp/1496701623/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1758083607

More on Nancy Coco's books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/nancy-coco/