Buzz Off - Hannah Reed

When beekeeper Story Fischer is on the case, you can run – but you can’t hive...

It’s September – National Honey Month – in Moraine, Wisconsin, and things are looking up for Story Fischer. Her messy divorce is final, the honey from her beekeeping business has been harvested, and the market she owns is thriving. Life seems pretty sweet...until Manny, her mentor in the honey business, is found stung to death in his apiary.

Story is still trying to explain to the panicked locals that her honeybees had nothing to do with Manny’s death, when another body is found floating in the Oconomowoc River. This time the evidence points to Story’s ex. Sure, he’s a womanizer and a buzzkill – but a murderer? Desperate to save her bees and her business (and, okay, her ex), it’s up to Story to find a way out of a very sticky situation. (from book cover)

Review:

Cozy mysteries really CAN be written about anything. I will admit, I laughed myself when I saw this (which is probably why I purchased it.) I must say, though, that I absolutely loved it lol. I was not sure at first, I was feeling pretty judgemental and was comparing it to other cozy mysteries that I’ve read and loved, but it very quickly won me over! I flew through it and wanted to start the next one right away. Sadly, I do not own it.

I had absolutely no idea who the murderer was and I love it when that happens. There is nothing worse than when you can figure out the “who, what, where, when, and why” of a murder before the author reveals it all to you. I had my suspicions, but I kept jumping from one person to another. I was not terribly surprised when all was revealed, but the author had started giving more and more hints by that point. So maybe I should be a private detective after all, eh? Haha.

I really enjoyed the character Story. Her love of bees and beekeeping is obvious from the start and it truly has beecome (hehe) a passion for her. When some of the people in Moraine feel that all of the bees should be killed because Manny was stung to death, she fights really hard to prove that something is not right and if Manny had truly been stung to death, why was the ground not littered with bee-bodies??? I also think it’s funny that Story speaks in bullet points. Yup, that’s right, bullet points. Not all the time, but when she’s trying to make a point and give her evidence of something.

Another character that I...enjoyed is not the right word because she was extremely annoying. Let’s say she was well written. Anyway, I am referring to Story’s sister, Holly. While I like this character and she is not annoying all the time, I think this character was trying to make the point that people should NOT talk the way they text. Holly does. “My sister has so much time on her hands, she’d memorized all one-thousand-plus text messaging acronyms known to humankind. I’ve noticed lately, the abbreviations are creeping into her spoken conversations. That’s what comes with too much money and too much spare time: useless habits. In Holly’s case, she has a text-speak habit. I try to keep up. “HT (translation for those more normal: hi there,” she said, making her way over to me and picking up a filled flute. “Cool. A party. HUD (how you doing)?” She’s really funny at times, too. Like when she locked Story, who was naked and just got sprayed by a skunk, out of the truck and drove off without her.

I found it easy to fall into this book. The town, the characters, the murders, the bees. I have the second book out from the library and I purchased the third one the other day. SO excited to read more! If you are a fan of cozy mysteries (Alex, I have you in mind specifically), then you should definitely read it! And if you’ve never read one and have been considering it, give it a shot! I give this book a 4.5/5.

Happy Reading!

Next Review: The Red House by Mark Haddon