Buzz Off: Queen Bee Mysteries, Book 1

I received this free eBook through The Fussy Librarian in exchange for a fair review.This is one of the funniest and most entertaining books I have read this year so far. The beekeeper Story Fischer not only solves murder mysteries in her community as a hobby but also runs her grocery story with the help of her quirky family members in the small town where she lives. The murder mystery is suspenseful, and the story line is complex. Story’s attempts to manage her controlling mother, spoiled and rich sister, recovering addict cousin, and her maddening ex-husband, who is also her next door neighbor, are hilarious. I also enjoyed reading about the detailed descriptions of the countryside in Wisconsin in the spring, the vegetables she grows in her backyard, and her apiary in general.

This book was well-written and edited, and the small-town setting lent itself to the eccentricities of the many characters. Parts of the novel (such as the low-speed chases!) were entertaining without being laugh-out-loud hilarious, and I enjoyed the fact that the protagonist often jumped to very wrong conclusions in the process of teasing out the mystery. I did find myself wishing that this woman would, with regard to her mother, grow a spine; no one deserves to be continually criticized and slammed that way. I kept waiting for her to have had enough and put Mom in her place, but it never happened, and that was a disappointment. Also, although an inveterate list-maker myself, the author's habit of inserting long bulleted lists of information in the story--lists that could have been incorporated as narrative--irritated me so much that after the first few I just found myself skimming or skipping what was probably information useful to the story. Still, a very enjoyable book, nonetheless.

Story is serving champagne in her store, she is celebrating her divorce from her cheating husband. She looks out the front window of the store and sees her ex-husband and current girlfriend lip locked. The chief of police comes for Grace Chapman and Story and takes then to Manny’s place. Manny is dead and there are 2 bee houses turned over on him and he’s covered in bees, he’s dead. Story has been working with Manny she gets the bees off him so that the coroner can remove the body. The next morning her kayak is missing her friend Hunter goes with her to find it. They find the kayak and Faye’s dead body in it. The chief holds her for hours then questions her. Her ex-husband is arrested for Faye’s murder. Manny’s wife wants to get rid of all of his bees. Everyone thinks the bees killed Manny but Story doesn’t believe it and plans to prove it. It started slow but when the second murder happens it got better and I couldn’t reading until I finished the book.

Story runs a grocery store in a small town. Everyone seems to congregate there for gossip. One of her dear friends ends up dead and Story cannot believe how he died. There are a lot of twist and turns in this story, but too many bullet points. It has a very small home town feel and the characters are believable.

A great beginning to this cozy series. Story is newly divorced, owner and operator of a successful store in her small home town, learning about and loving bees and honey, trying to survive her mother's constant interference when her bee mentor is found dead of stings. Then her ex's current girlfriend is found dead in Story's kayak. What is happening?!?!?! Story tries to protect her bees and her reputation as the plot develops.Good, smooth writing and dialog, believable plot. I'll certainly be reading others in this series!!

Story Fischer opens a grocery store in Morain Wisconsin after her divorce from Clay Lane. She has an interest in beekeeping and her mentor Manny Chapman was found dead on his property with bees all over his body. It was said that he was killed by the bees, but Story kept saying he was murdered and decided to prove that he was. She gets into a lot of trouble trying to prove this. If you are interested in bees this book will tell you all about them. Story doesn't let up until she solves the murder, plus the murder of her ex husbands girlfriend!

Buzz Off is very well-written, with characters who are likeable, entertaining and real, because they're the cast of characters you'll find in every small town where everyone knows everyone else, or thinks they do. I enjoyed the humor, learned about honey bees, and was afraid for those who dared to take risks with a murderer on the loose. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

Interesting characters, some with quirky personalities. Set in a small town in Wisconsin. You'll learn slot about bees, bee keeping and honey production. And you'll be in suspense about the murderer until the very end of the book! A well written book and a different direction for author Deb Baker. I'm looking forward to the sequel .

I enjoyed reading this first book in the series and meeting the characters. This was a fun romp for the imagination and the recipes at the end look great!

Good read

This was such a lovely read. Full of interesting facts. I love the recipes at the back too. I will certainly read more from this author.

Good Read