Book 18, 2021

[chez_jae]

Death Bee Comes Her by Nancy CoCo

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Earlier this evening, I finished reading Death Bee Comes Her by Nancy CoCo. This is the first book in the "Oregon Honeycomb" mystery series, featuring Wren Johnson, owner of the Let It Bee honey boutique.

Wren's business is doing well, and she's excited for the upcoming Halloweentown festivities, which should bring in even more business. However, while walking along the beach with her cat, Everett, Wren discovers the body of Agnes Snow, local harridan and terror of the craft shows. Agnes is found with a label from one of Wren's lip balms clutched in her hand, and when it's determined she died due to poison in her lip balm, Wren becomes the prime suspect. Wren's Aunt Eloise insists that they do some investigating of their own, but their amateur sleuthing turns up another dead body. Now Wren is really in the hot seat. Will she be able to clear her name?

The story wasn't bad, but some things didn't sit well with me.

- What sort of person asks a grieving widower if he knows who may have wanted to murder his wife?
- The officer in charge of the investigation was a complete jerk to Wren, publicly humiliating her more than once, but hey, he had dreamy Paul Newman eyes...so call her maybe? OMGag. I am sick to death of the love interests in these cozy mysteries being someone involved in law enforcement, especially when said person is an asshole.
- Officer McAsshole is now asking Wren and Eloise to help with a sting operation? No.
- I wasn't on board with the motive for murder.
- When Everett turned up missing, Wren pretty much went about her life. Um, I'd have been tearing the town apart in search of my cat.

The main characters were portrayed well, but the sideline characters were rather flat. The plot progressed at a steady pace, although some of the plot points didn't seem plausible.

Favorite line: "I have no motive." // "Unless you killed him for rejecting your casserole."

The story was okaa-aay. It would have earned a solid three rating, but you know what? I'm knocking one star off for making the potential love interest be the investigating officer. Again. Yes, that's completely subjective on my part, but that tired old trope has been done to death, and I'm so over it. Two stars. And no, I don't believe (bee-lieve?) I'll be seeking out more in this series.