Another cozy mystery series. I mostly liked it. I did find it a little bit long and somewhat overly involved for a cozy mystery. I hated the bullet point lists - I understood the point but I felt like it disrupted the flow - it was like I was always jarred out of the story at that point. I liked the inclusion of the newsletter at the end. The romance was a little odd - kind of just appeared out of nowhere. I didn't entirely love Story but she grew on me as the story went on and as there was less of Clay. But I liked Holly and Grams. I hated Holly's text speech. It didn't make sense and it was annoying af. No one over the age of eighteen speaks like that. Ever.
I don't know, it didn't feel as light and connected if that makes sense - as normal cozy mysteries do. Felt like it lacked some sort of spark, warmth of characters. That being said the beekeeping was an interesting inclusion and the information about bees was fascinating. I'll continue the series for sure. ( )

Pretty good. Lots of explanatory stuff, but this is first in a series. Might read the rest of the series.

This was a really fun cozy mystery, and that's coming from someone who is petrified of bees.

The main character, Story Fischer, absolutely loves bees. She is an apprentice beekeeper, a very recent divorcee, and the owner of the local grocery store in her small town. Things seem to be looking up--until her beekeeper mentor is found dead and everyone in town begins to panic and blame his bees.

What I especially liked about this book was that the mystery stayed front and center. The beekeeping and honey-making aspects were definitely important and frequently referenced, but it was the mystery that was the focus.

What I didn't love about the book was the author's insistence on putting in character quirks that, to me at least, felt not only unnecessary, but off putting in some instances. Story has a thing for men's feet that comes up multiple times in the beginning, serves no purpose in the story, and is then never talked about again (thank goodness). Story's sister also talks in irritating internet slang abbreviations, which Reed then has to translate for the readers.These strange details are not necessary-the characters are more than strong enough to stand on their own. ( )

From the back cover - 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 – but a murderer? Desperate to save her bees and her business, it’s up to Story to find a way out of a very sticky situation.

My reactions
This has all the hallmarks of a successful cozy mystery: a likeable main character, a budding romance, an interesting backstory (beekeeping), and a plausible reason for our amateur detective to get involved. On the other hand, Reed uses several devices that completely irritated me. Story’s need to put everything into bullet-points made me think only that Reed couldn’t figure out a way to turn her outline into prose. The book includes the stereotypical incredibly wealthy sidekick (in this case Story’s younger sister, Holly), who speaks in text-speak. That little quirk was cute the first time Holly uttered a sentence, but quickly GA (got annoying). I had identified the killer early on, despite the many suspects Reed included.
I did like that the budding romance with K-9 handler Hunter Wallace is nice and slow, leaving lots of room for future plot developments.

While I liked the basic premise for this series, the irritations in the dialogue and style tipped the scales and I’m giving it only 2 stars.
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Really good quick read ( )