A new series by Nancy Coco was something I was looking forward to as a I love the Fudge Shop mysteries. However, so much in this book did not work for me. The writing flows well and is easy to read. The story itself is just so implausible, from the various reasons she's a suspect to the way they investigate. The characters were OK but don't stand out for any reason. I loved the concept of the hive against the building for customers to see but it wasn't enough to keep my interest. There were so many inconsistencies - tubes for lotion and then two pages later, she uses only jars - and so much repetition of points that were made just the page before. I had a hard time sitting down to finish this one because of all these problems. I may read the next one but I won't reach for it as quickly as I would one of the Fudge Shop ones.

I received a copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#DeathBeeComesHer #NetGalley

This is a great beginning to this adorable new series. The author has quite a few successful series under her belt. This one will be as well with the lovely cast of characters and their sweet little town. Wren has it all until she finds a body. The suspense was killing me. I had to find out who the killer is. I was quite surprised. I really enjoyed this book

I fun first book in a new cozy series. Great honey facts to go along with solving the murder!
A body on the beach, cats and bees. Great combination for a new weekend read!

I love this author’s fudge shop books set on Mackinac Island, so I was excited to try her new series. The protagonist owns a shop selling honey items, and it was fun to read a mystery while also learning a bit about bees and bee keeping. The Oregon beach community setting was both unique and mysterious (so many rainy days!) and I enjoyed the small town feel as well. I will be adding this to my list of series to follow- highly recommended.

Death Bee Comes Her is a fantastic addition to your cozy mystery shelf. The story begins with Wren Johnson stumbling across a body at the beach and ramps up from there. It has great locations complete with Halloweentown references, a wonderful cast of characters, and the coolest cat named Everett. It really moves along at a good pace and I found myself flying through it to find out what happens next. I really loved the writing style and will be looking for more in this series.

Wren Johnson has it all, an adorable honey boutique near the beach in Oregon, an adorable cat named Everett who walks on a leash, and friends, family, and neighbors who support her. One morning while walking Everett on the beach, Wren discovers a dead body and before she knows it she's facing down accusations of murder and the demise of her business.

The first few chapters of this book were a little clunky and awkward. It took some patience to slog through the introductions to the characters and the setting, but once I got past those first few chapters this book was a roller coaster. Similar to CoCo's Candy-Coated series, once you get into the story it's filled with action and tough to put down. I liked all the characters (except the ones we're not supposed to like) and I'm anxious to hear what comes of two of the characters who made cameo appearances.

If you enjoyed Nancy CoCo's Candy-Coated series, you'll want to read this one as well.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC.

Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and Facebook. The review is also posted in my library for patrons.

Another sweet Kensington Cozy Mystery read. This one is first in a series about a honey store owner & her amazing cat who gets involved in solving crimes in her small oceanside town.

The author does a wonderful job of transporting you to this quaint oceanside village, you swear you can smell the tang of salt & feel the cool ocean mist. I like how NC brings in the danger facing honeybees because a World without honey would be plain sad!

This town would be a great place to live even with murder. I will just say this starts with a walk on the beach with an amazing talkative cat which leads to a dead body.......

A nice start to a new series featuring Wren, who owns a honey store in Oceanview, Oregon, a tourist town. In true cozy fashion, she becomes a suspect when a rival of her aunt Eloise (love Eloise) is found dead on the beach with a label from Wren's shop in her hand. Officer Jim (who is meant to be a love interest in the future, I'll bet) is the one who is supposed to solve the case but Wren, Eloise, and Porsche (a hoot) know that they'll be able to do it faster. No spoilers from me! This is a set up book so know that some of the characters might feel a little light (although not Everett the cat). There are some incongruities (who has a hat pin these days?) but all in all it's a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. AND there are some very interesting recipes!

This is a cute start to a new cozy series. I really loved the setting and found some of the comments on Oregon weather delightfully accurate. The book really get going quickly - it doesn't take very long for a body to be found. After that, everyone in the small town is a suspect, but mainly our central character Wren. As often happens in these types of novels, Wren bands together with her cat, aunt, and friend/coworker to clear her name. The mystery itself was fun and evolved pleasantly over the book. It went in some unexpected directions that I really appreciated. The attempts at giving Wren a romantic life were less successful, but fortunately didn't play a particularly prominent role in the story. Coco distributed honey related crafts/recipes throughout the book that look like a ton of fun to try - I'm definitely going to give the honey taffy a shot! I'm definitely looking forward to reading more about Wren, Everett, and the whole crew as the series goes on!

I am a fan of Nancy Coco so when I saw the opportunity to request a copy of an upcoming book of hers, I jumped! Prior to reading Death Bee Comes Her the first in her newest series, I just finished Have Yourself A Fudgy Little Christmas last week. I have read all of her books in the Candy Coated Mysteries which takes place on Mackinac Island.

This series takes places in Oregon, its her Oregon Honeycomb Mystery series. This first novel, introduces us to Wren the owner of Let It Bee, a boutique store near Main Street that sells lotions, lip balms, candles, and other goodies made with bees wax and honey. Think: Local Burts Bees! 😍 Wren works in the shop with her friend Porsche and her Aunt Eloise. Unfortunately for Wren, on her walk with her cat Everett, they find a body and so starts the mystery.

The book starts off quickly with characters interacting with such familiarity that I actually stopped to check if I somehow were given the second book in the series (there isn’t one yet). Once, I cleared that up, I dug into getting to know the characters and immediately felt invested in the how things turned out. Officer Jim Hampton is quickly on the scene and of course Wren is a suspect.

While I did enjoy the book, I must admit I had an issue with Officer Hampton who was developed as a potential crush for the main character, but I found him to be belittling, dismissive, and arrogant. As more crimes occur, he continues to dismiss them as pranks. At times, I felt the plot was circling and a bit redundant. I wanted to like more of the characters, but many seemed self-serving. The fact that I was unsure who Wren's true friends were is likely something that will be established in the subsequent novels.

If you are a reader of other Nancy Coco books, I should warn there are some noticeable similarities between the Mackinac series and this one. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery, read it. I loved learning all about bee keeping and the different health benefits of honey and beeswax.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This storyline just felt a little too incredible for me. The motive just didn't feel strong and the behaviour of the officer and the lead, Wren, repetitive and implausible. Because you create and sell a skin care product used in murder, you are the lead suspect throughout, hmmm!

I'm sure there are others who will enjoy. I really liked the cat, Everett, and did worry about him on a couple of occasions, But all was well.

Thank you to Kensington publishers, Netgalley and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nice cozy mystery with a bee themed store and hints of how amazing the Havana browns can be.
The development of the plot is a bit slow, but the characters are well developed.

Wren Johnson owns Let It Bee, a boutique shop that sells all things honey and beeswax - candles, skin care, etc. She even makes honey candy for Halloween. But one morning, while she's walking her Havana Brown cat, Everett, he stumbles across a dead body -- Agnes Snow, who also happened to be a rival of her Aunt Eloise, in all things crafty. When one of Wren's labels is found with the body, she becomes the main (and only) suspect. Now it's up to her and her friend/employee Porsche to try and figure out who's framing her -- and why they killed Agnes...

This is the first in a new series by Nancy Coco. Since I've read her other series, I wanted to give this one a chance. I always give the first in a series a bit of a pass, since the author is trying to figure out the characters and how everything "works." Saying that, I found a few scenes unbelievable, and there's a big error at the last of the book.

But I also wondered why an officer was investigating a murder. Since it wasn't stated that Jim Hampton was a detective, wouldn't the case have been handed off to the homicide department? A street officer wouldn't handle it. So that was a big question for me. There were a few other things that bothered me, but I'm not going to mention them here.

I understand that the characters are going through their development stage, and that's fine. Wren can turn out to be interesting, but I'm not especially fond of her aunt. I also wonder if we're going to have the dreaded "evil nemesis" show up in the next book (not needed to make a good book) or a love triangle. I really didn't understand what a certain character was doing there; it was as if the author were trying out boyfriends for Wren and just couldn't make up her mind.

Yes, I know I'm going on a rant, but I like to read books that are smooth in their transition, even for first in a series. This one, while it has an interesting plot, has a bit of a problem. However, I do like the fact that Wren cares for the environment, that she's basically a small-scale beekeeper, and knows her subject well. This bodes well for the continuation of the series.

I do like Everett, but I'm a cat lover at heart. I have a Russian Blue, and he has a very definite personality also. (For instance, Blues do not like change. If they have their resting places in a certain area, you can't move things around. They get upset. He's also very vocal, like Havanas). So I love books with cats, obviously.

In the end, I did like the plot quite a bit, so that's a plus in itself; and aside from the huge gaffe at the end (which one might forgive), it ended on a nice note and I look forward to the next in the series. Recommended.

Death Bee Comes Her is the debut of the An Oregon Honeycomb Mystery series set on the Oregon coast and featuring Wren Johnson, owner of a honey boutique named Let it Bee. Wren is an environmentalist whose main focus is drawing attention to the plight of honeybees, so all of her homemade creams, moisturizers and lip balms are made from locally sourced honey and she has built a working bee hive inside the walls of her store.

It's late October and the town is buzzing with excitement over the annual Halloweentown festival. The rivalry between Wren's Aunt Eloise and rival crafter Agnes Snow are also ramping up. An early morning walk along the beach with her prized Havana Brown cat, Everett leads Wren to discover Agnes' body lying dead in the sand. Agnes is clutching a tube of Wren's lip balm after the police determine that there was poison in the balm, Wren and her aunt become the prime suspects. Determined to clear their names, Wren sets out to hunt down a killer.

A big fan of the author's Candy-Coated mystery series I was looking forward to this new series. However, the plot and characters fell a little flat for me. Parts of the mystery seemed disjointed - characters were introduced that suddenly seemed to disappear, but perhaps will become relevant in future installments. It was extremely disappointing that the book ends with a glaring error that was obviously overlooked by both the author and editors - I actually had to go back and reread the last chapter as I thought I'd overlooked a crucial detail. Realizing that sometimes it takes a book or two to really get a series going, I won't give up on Wren and Everett just yet.

I received an advanced copy of Death Bee Comes Her from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this first one in a new series. Nancy Coco is a favorite author of mine. Wren Johnson runs a cute store in Oceanview, Oregon. She lives upstairs with her cat Everett. She is enjoying being close with her aunt and running her shop. That is until she comes across the body of her aunts nemesis.
Overall a good cozy.
#DeathBeeComesHer #NetGalley

I had high expectations for this series since it came from an established author with a successful series already in publication. I was however, disappointed. This book felt like the effort of a first time author. It was awkward at times and difficult to connect with. Most of the characters, especially the main one, were not the sharpest tool in the shed. This lead to numerous occasions of me shaking my head over their actions. It was slow at times and hard to keep going.. I questioned a lot of their motives and the policeman-I don't think he was a detective but referred to as Officer Holden- was wishy-washy and flat. Most of the procedures seemed a bit overblown and unrealistic.

1 star
Wow, this book is a mess. It is so unrealistic regarding the police, the crime and the main character. It is impossible to get past the sheer stupidity of .the premise.
For example, there is no way in less than a day the cops would know the woman was killed by lip balm.
It is beyond ridiculous.
I so dislike the tired troupe of incompetent cops who cannot find their way out of a paper bag but a total novice thinks she can figure it all out. This is all within the first 3 chapters.so I did not finish.

Great start to a new series, with cats, the pacific northwest, small business, and small towns. Cute and well written. Looking forward to seeing the characters develop.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books, in return for an honest review. This is the first book in a new series and an enjoyable start to this adventure. Wren and her amazing cat, Everett, own the ‘Let It Bee’ shop with Wren’s aunt. The shop contains all things honey or bee related. Wren even has a protected outdoor hive that people can visit to watch and learn about honeybees. When Wren and Everett do his daily constitutional, on his leash, they stumble over the body of Aunt Eloise’s arch-nemesis on the beach. Calling it in, Wren’s dismayed when the police find one of Wren’s product labels clutched in the dead woman’s hand. The not-impressive detective thinks Wren or Wren and Eloise killed the woman in a fit of antipathy. Aided by Eloise and Wren’s best friend, Porsche, Wren’s determined to clear both her name and her aunt’s while salvaging what’s left of the store’s merchandise after its confiscated by the police as a possible poison source. There are several viable candidates and Wren slowly uncovers each secret or secret holder to find out whodunit.
A good addition to the cozy genre and I look forward to the next in this series plus I loved learning facts about the, sadly, endangered honeybee population and all that it does for the environment.