THE GHOST AND THE BEES

Welde’s series mystery tells a tale of two orphan detectives investigating a neighbor’s missing beehive and seemingly haunted house.

In West Covina, California, teenage foster brothers James Pope and Daniel Parker have their Saturday morning interrupted by the scream of their next-door neighbor and classmate, Kathleen Sullivan. One of her beehives has gone missing, she says, and it’s the third to be stolen off her property in the past three weeks. However, this is only the beginning of a greater mystery that the young detectives will spend the rest of the novel untangling. At the center of the puzzle is the strange old manor where Kathleen and her recently widowed father live; she thinks that something isn’t quite right about the house, but Mr. Sullivan isn’t as forthcoming as he could be. James has a sixth sense for detecting lies, and the older man’s shady behavior pings his radar. When James sees what appears to be a ghostly woman in the Sullivans’ upstairs window, asking for help, he wonders if there might be a paranormal explanation. When the teen sleuth discovers that he also has the power to see ghosts, he realizes that it could help him figure out what’s going on—and also put him in danger. Meanwhile, he and Daniel are settling in with their new family, made up of a former group home leader, Abe Drake, and James’ Aunt Cheryl. Welde’s novel focuses far too much on describing the characters’ emotions, motivations, and backstories instead of delving headlong into the mystery. James is so proficient as a detective that it leaves little for Daniel to do aside from flattering Kathleen, on whom he has a crush. That said, the two mysteries—regarding the beehive thefts and the ghostly woman—are balanced well, and the scenes that focus on the story’s spookier aspects are sufficiently unsettling (and a few are properly scary). However, although the ending leaves room for a sequel, there’s little intrigue to entice readers back.

A sometimes-frightening but ultimately middling addition to the paranormal mystery genre.