I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Mystery author Bailey Briggs is returning home. She and her daughter, Daisy, are heading back to Humble Hills, CO to see her grandmother and take a break from life. Bailey writes about murders; however, nothing prepares her for when her grandmother is accused of murdering the mayor of their little town.

The book is a cozy mystery that will definitely keep you on your toes until the end. Goodreads states this is the first book in the series. Looking forward to book #2.

There’s a dog in the cover, that’s why I chose this book to read and review on NetGalley. No, really. The cover head a dog and some be hives. There be hives make sense as the title has “honey” on it. But it’s the dog that made me want to read it. Now, will I read every book with a dog on it? Likely not. But I was in the mood for a story with a dog in it.

The dog in this story is Cooper. He’s a golden retriever and best friend of 12-year old Daisy, who is in Humble Hills with her mother, Bailey, the murder mystery writer. They’re staying at Grandma Bee’s Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch where Bee has a be farm and makes all sorts of foods with honey in it, there’s even recipes in the back of the book that I have yet to try!

Bailey goes to return a forgotten coat to the Hubble Hills Mayor was found dead in his kitchen with honey all over his face. He’s deathly allergic to honey and avoids it at all costs. So why would there be honey on his face? It doesn’t add up. Luckily, the town Sheriff is right behind Bailey, coming to check on the Mayor. He, however, struggles to get the mystery writer of the case.

Instead of fighting her, he asks her to share everything she learns with him. She interviews all three people who have been involved with the Mayor in any way shape or form. There’s suspicious behavior from quite a bit of people for various reasons. The Mayor head a lot of secrets, including three fact that he has cameras all over his houseand recorded everything in hope to blackmail people.

Tsk, tsk. He was quite the schemer! The problem though, is that it’s Bee’s honey that killed hun making her a suspect. It’s the main reason why Bailey had to solve this, her grandmother couldn’t be the suspect, or could she?

Fantastically written with realistic characters and good motives from all potential suspects. I give this book 5 out of 5 tiaras. Special thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for access to this work. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs to get away, take a trip to Humble Hills!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh. My. Gosh. I loved this book! Thank goodness for the time change tonight because I stayed up until the book was finished. I knew by chapter 2 that this was gonna be a good one. Bailey and her daughter Daisy are visiting where Bailey grew up. Lots of emotions in old friends and family. Add in a murder and some blackmail and you have yourself a mystery. Plus, everything takes place in Colorado and I am a sucker for Colorado cozies. I definitely recommend all cozy lovers try this one!!

I found this book to be delightful! I loved the sassy, fun-loving characters and how the community worked together to expose the killer. I also liked the humor that was sprinkled throughout the story. There were times when I laughed out loud while reading. Luckily I was alone so I didn't get any weird looks from others!

Bailey suffers from anxiety and panic disorder which added a bit of knowledge about what an attack looks and feels like and mindful activities that helped to calm her down. I also liked the second chance romance storyline with Sawyer Dunn. One of my favorite things about the book is that it includes several honey recipes. The one that interested me the most was Hot Spiced Honey. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this new cozy mystery. There's close family dynamics and three generations. The characters are great. You'll find yourself chuckling as you read along.

Thank you, NetGalley for my review copy for exchange for an honest review.

So sad to say... this is a cozy mystery that didn't work for me. I love this genre but this story didn't have the draw to make me want to keep reading or make me want to read further into the series with these characters.

Take the Honey and Run is the first book in a new cozy series by Jennie Marts. Released 18th July 2023 by Crooked Lane Books, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The author is an experienced and prolific writer with a number of series, and this is a promising start to a new one. It's firmly in the cozy subgenre, and includes an amateur sleuth (whose day job is writing mysteries) trying to keep an innocent family member from being unfairly jailed (her grandmother, no less), an eccentric collection of small town characters, a handsome sheriff with whom the MC has some history, some snark, and the requisite honey themed recipes at the back of the book as a bonus.

Although it's not at all derivative, fans of Nancy Coco and Amanda Flower will likely find a lot to like here. There's a lot of humor, small town atmosphere, a well constructed mystery, and sympathetic characters. The bonus recipes at the back of the book are offered as written by characters appearing in the book. They're not overly fussy or complicated, and all seem appetizing. They include recipes for cookies, cheesy puff pastry, cake, banana bread, ricotta cheese dip, and flavored honey.

Four stars. The denouement and resolution were a trifle outlandish, but not overly so for the subgenre. There is no currently publicly available information about a release date for the second book, but the author has several ongoing series, so it could be a while. Happily, this book doesn't end on a cliffhanger, so it works well as a standalone read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well plotted and entertaining cozy mystery. It kept me guessing, I liked the well developed characters and the setting.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I enjoyed this one. Bailey's a mystery writer who finds herself back home at her grandma's ranch and bee farm with her daughter Daisy. When her granny is accused of murder. Bailey is determined to clear her granny's name even when it means stepping on the toes of the Sheriff who just happens to be Sawyer Dunn Bailey's high school friend. I enjoyed the mystery and the characters in this one. As Bailey has a tough as nails granny and interesting great aunts. And for once I did not guess who done it. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series because I have to find out if we find out who Daisy's father is. That mystery is bugging me. As the author left no clue anywhere in the book.

This is such a fun start to a new cozy series! I love our protagonist and her friends and family. This book had me laughing out loud at some of their antics. They mystery was so fun. I cannot wait for the next one!

This is a fantastic start to a dynamic new cozy series. It's filled with small town characters and some extremely creative world building. I thought the plot was great and I really liked the way the author sprinkled in the clues here and there. I thought it was a dynamite read.

Take The Honey And Run
A Bee Keeping Mystery, Book #1
Jennie Marts
5 Stars

Synopsis:

The town is all abuzz when a murder occurs in Jennie Marts’ debut cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Amanda Flower.

As a successful mystery author, Bailey Briggs writes about murder, but nothing prepares her for actually discovering the dead body of the founder of her hometown of Humble Hills, Colorado. Bailey grew up at Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch and was raised by her beekeeping grandmother, Blossom Briggs, aka Granny Bee, and her two eccentric sisters, Aster and Marigold—which is why she drops everything to come home and help Granny Bee after a bad fall.

A broken foot doesn’t stop her grandmother from ruling The Hive, her granny’s book club, or continuing to prepare and package her bee-inspired products. But when Bailey's grandmother’s infamous "Honey I'm Home" hot spiced honey turns out to “bee” the murder weapon and her granny is now the prime suspect, Bailey has no choice but to use her fictional detective skills to help solve the murder and "smoke out" the real culprit.

With the help of Bailey’s witty bestie, a pair of meddling aunts, the feisty members of The Hive, and her computer-savvy daughter, this amateur sleuth is determined to solve the case. A malicious attack and an ominous threat reveal that someone wants Bailey to butt out of the investigation, but there’s no way she’s backing down. She must use her skills to uncover the truth and catch the clever culprit before her grandmother ends up bee-hind bars. (Amazon)

Review:

I really enjoyed getting to meet Bailey, her grandmother and more of her family and friends. When someone is found dead due to a bee incident, they will have to figure out the real killer before her grandmother is put away for life. After all, Bailey deals with death all the time in her books, how hard can it be?

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions allowed me to enjoy the book even more. The writing style flows smoothly and it defines the characters very clearly by their actions and words. The mystery was well plotted and not easily solved.

I would highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a well written cozy mystery. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and I cannot wait for the next one.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

I found this to be a cute first cozy in a new series. The main character is a mystery writer who needs to use their skills to solve a real murder. Can she solve the real life mystery? Cozy novels are like comfort food. I really enjoy their beautiful setting, the lovable pets, always the food and sometimes quirky characters. This cozy is no different and I will look for Jennie Marts in the future.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this copy.

Fun debut, and interesting start to the Bee Keeping Mystery series.

The characters were charming, the mystery was intriguing enough, and it took me a while to figure it out.

The granny and aunts had me laughing, but also wondering. Wondering who, wondering why, wondering if it was them.

Love the setting, the town, the secondary characters, and can't wait to return to the Ranch.

Best book I’ve read in a long time! Funny, serious, dramatic, mysterious, romantic, it had it all. I laughed out loud so many times! Bailey and the Hive had a beautiful relationship, and Sawyer, Mateo, and Griff were swoon worthy. The mayor (the murder victim) was a despicable man, one who made you be on the side of the murderer. Marts seemlessly wove the town of Humble Hills into the story, making it a place I want to visit. Can’t wait to read the next book and will definitely read some of her others in the meantime.

Bailey Briggs grew up in Humble Hills, Colorado. She lived at Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch and was raised by her beekeeping grandmother, Blossom Briggs, aka Granny Bee.

Bailey is now a successful mystery writer and lives with her daughter. She visits her grandmother occasionally, but hasn't been home in a while. She drops everything to come home when Granny Bee calls to say she has fallen and needs some help. When she gets home, she's shocked to find that her high school boyfriend has returned home, too.

After visiting with Granny Bee, Aunt Aster and Aunt Marigold, along with several members of Granny Bee's book club (The Hive), Bailey decides it's time to pay a visit to the founder of Humble Hills. Nobody is answering his door so she looks in the window only to see his dead body laying on the floor. Apparently the cause of death was an allergic reaction to eating honey.... and it happened to be the honey that Gramma Bee sells.

Unfortunately, Granny Bee is the prime suspect so Bailey uses her fictional detective skills to help solve the murder.

This was a delightful book with well-developed characters. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next in this series

#TaketheHoneyandRun

I enjoyed this story. There were a lot of characters to keep track of but I think the main ones, Granny Bee’s friends from the book club, should be recurring characters so they will be easier to keep straight in later books. The mystery was intriguing and while I was a little sad about who the guilty party was, it kept me guessing until the very end. There were a few things that I don’t like, the worst of which is the amateur sleuth breaking in to get clues, but other than that, I thought this was a good start to a new series. I will continue with the series.

After learning her beloved Granny Bee has broken her foot, Bailey Briggs and her 12-year old daughter, Daisy, return home. Granny Bee is a beekeeper and maker of various and sundry bee related products. When the town's mayor is found dead, it's quickly determined to be due to his bee allergy.As Granny Bee has threatened his life the previous day, she quickly rose to suspect Number 1. Bailey, a mystery author by profession rises to the challenge to save Granny Bee. The characters in this debut cozy offer plenty of potential for further stories, as well as they did in this well paced mystery.

I really enjoyed this Take the Honey and Run. I am new to Jennie Marts, and I am now a fan. I can't wait for book 2 in this series.

Unfortunately I didn't download this book to my kindle. I will be getting it from the library now. I hope to get thr next in the series also