All things cozy come together with a bow in this well-done series “bee-ginning.”
When a Colorado beekeeper's honey causes the death of her small town's mayor, her mystery-writing granddaughter tries to clean up the mess.
As Bailey Briggs speeds toward her Granny Bee’s mountain home and beekeeping ranch in Humble Hills, she knows she’s in big trouble. Not only has she not visited Honeybuzz Mountain, her childhood home, in more than two years, but now she’s late to high tea. Trying to cut corners by passing the world’s slowest tractor on the way only leads to trouble: She and her 12-year-old daughter, Daisy, wind up stuck in a ditch, leaving the tractor’s driver to rescue and shuttle them the rest of the way. Oh, and that driver is Sawyer Dunn, whom Bailey hasn’t seen since the two of them joy-rode a tractor into trouble years ago. Things get even more embarrassing when Daisy announces that she’s heard her mom talk about Sawyer, their young love, and how cute he was. Bailey’s relieved for a change of subject when she finally arrives at Granny Bee’s just in time to see her grandmother chasing mayor and local lothario Werner Humble off her property after an unwelcome advance. Granny’s threats to Werner’s health and well-being seem figurative and entirely warranted until the next morning, when Bailey discovers that Werner’s had a fatal allergic reaction to Granny Bee’s hot spiced honey (recipe included). When Bailey calls the police for help, she learns that Sawyer is the man in charge on the force. Can she use her skills as a mystery writer to rescue Granny Bee from suspicion in this sticky mess?
All things cozy come together with a bow in this well-done series “bee-ginning.”Pub Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 9781639103072
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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