A Matter of Hive and Death

 In this blog post, I reviewed Nancy Coco’s (aka Nancy Parra) A Matter of Hive and Death, the 2nd installment in the Oregon Honeycomb Mystery cozy mystery series. This caper will captivate you and educate you about beekeeping at the same time. Wren Johnson owners her own small business, Let it Bee, and makes her own products from freshmade honey. As a fellow beekeeper, she went out to get some supplies from fellow beekeeper, Elias Brentwood. But she discovers a shocking mystery: his dead body and vandalized bee hives. This is when she calls her a fellow beekeeper friend, Klaus, for assistance. But the police have their eyes on him for a prime suspect, but Wren doesn’t believe he did it. As she works on making sales at her store, a former flame enters her life and stirs things up, while there’s a small brewing chemistry between her and Oceanview Detective, Jim Hampton. As she digs deeper into Elias’s life and beekeeping business, things get complicated for her and her Aunt Eloise at the shop. Caught in the middle, it’s up to Wren to figure out the truth from the lies before it’s too late for her, when she least expected who was the true culprit.

This compelling crafty cozy mystery has a good plot and educates readers about how saving the bees are essential to our ecosystem.  I cared for Wren, and how she has a sharp eye for details and solving mysteries. The scenic settings for Oceanview were windswept and compelling for Oregon’s picturesque location. The theme of the story is about greed and not mixing water with vinegar for evil scientific experiments.

I rated this interesting crafty cozy mystery, four of five stars, for no reason. If you love crafty cozies with a twist, non-stop action, and plenty of dramatic suspense, A Matter of Hive and Death is a must-read to read next year. This book is recommended for fans of Laura Childs, Holly Quinn, Sally Goldenbaum, and other cozy mysteries.