Bailey Must Bee Careful After Getting Mixed up in Another Murder
I enjoyed meeting Bailey Briggs and her family and friends in the first Bee Keeping Mystery, so I was looking forward to joining them again in Kill or Bee Killed, the second. This book gives us more hijinks and a good mystery.
It’s time for the annual Bee Festival in Humble Hills, Colorado. Since Bailey’s Granny Bee is in charge, that means that Bailey will be busy with the week-long festival helping make sure that it runs smoothly. One of the events is a local-restaurant cooking contest, and morning show host Rex Rafferty is coming to town, with a film crew, to host the event. However, Rex is a horrible man, and it isn’t long before Bailey and her best friend, Evie, who is a contestant, are doing all they can to avoid him. Before the contest is over, he’s been murdered. The crew he brought with him seem like obvious suspects, but the evidence seems to point to the event’s contestants. Can Bailey free her friend?
The book got off to a bit of a slow start. I’m not necessarily complaining because the scene was so much fun, but it didn’t add much to the overall story. Still, it was hilarious.
At this point, we do start to learn about the bee festival and some of what is going to happen during the time. It is fairly obvious early on that Rex is going to be the murder victim. He’s just nasty. But that gives us plenty of suspects to keep us guessing once his body is found. I was kept guessing as Bailey followed a logical path to the solution. The ending was a bit abrupt, but all my questions were answered and the suspense kept me turning pages.
The laughs weren’t just in the opening couple of chapters. There were several other funny scenes as the book went along. The humor tends to be slapstick, which is hard to pull off on the page, so I really admire author Jennie Marts for pulling that off. But there are some character based laughs, too.
Speaking of the characters, there are a lot of them. As a result, some of the supporting players don’t get enough page time to really be developed. However, the main characters are good, and I really enjoyed getting to know them better. I truly care about seeing how their relationships turn out. The suspects were good, although some of them could have used a little more page time to be better developed.
Anyone who reads culinary cozies will not be surprised to find out that some of the dishes created during the context appear at the end of the book. I’ve got to admit, a couple of them made my mouth water.
If you are looking for a light cozy that will leave you smiling, you’ll want to pick up Kill or Bee Killed. This is quickly turning into a sweet, must-read series.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
I really like the sound of this series and am glad that the second book was a good one. I'm hoping to read the first book soon.
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