Take the Honey and Run is the first book in A Bee Keeping Mystery series by Jennie Marts. It follows mystery novel writer Bailey Briggs who is moving back to her hometown with her daughter and dog. She moves into her Grandmother's ranch in Colorado, where she raises bees and makes bee related products.
She's pulled into a mystery when she discovers a prominent town resident dead and her grandmother's honey may be the murder weapon. She uses her detecting skills from researching her novels to try and figure out who had it out for the victim. She finds many women in town are entangled with the man, including her own family members.
Bailey has help from her childhood best friend, a dashing writing source friend and her ex-boyfriend turned town sheriff. I found this book enjoyable and I would pick up book two in the series.

The first in a new cozy mystery series finds author Bailey returning to Colorado to be with her grandma. After her grandma is accused of murder, she must investigate to clear her name.

I think this was an ok debut for a cozy but it wasn’t my favorite. I think future entries could build on it and be better.

Bailey Briggs returns home to her grandmother, Granny Bee, to find her chasing the womanizing, town founder out the front door and threatening to kill him. Not exactly, the homecoming that Bailey and her daughter was expecting. The town founder turns up dead the next day and a jar of Granny Bee's honey is what caused his death. Bailey and her old flame Sawyer, who just happens to be the Sherriff now, must try to clear Granny Bee as a suspect.

I really enjoyed this book. I laughed out loud at several of the scenes. The characters were richly written and for a 1st book in the series, it did a good job of making me want to read more about them in future books. It appears that Humble Hills has more secrets to be revealed. I definitely want to read the next book.

This cozy mystery is quite humorous at times. I loved the cast of characters. The older women were funny. I was slightly surprised who the murderer turned out to be. It’s an easy read with clever dialogue. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

What a great cozy mystery!
Bailey brings her daughter, Daisy, home to her Grandmother's Bee farm for a visit. While there, the mayor is found dead in his house, and Granny Bee is the last person to have seen and threatened him. Bailey, her friends, and her Grandmother's "Book Club" the Hive, all pool together and try to figure out who could have killed him. There are lots of suspects, tons of motives, put no evidence to point in any direction.
This book had it all - mystery, humor, sprinkle of romance, and a great dog. Highly recommend. Cannot wait until the next book in the series.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love trying out new authors and I wasn't disappointed at all with this one!
I loved this novel! I couldn't put it down it was so good!
I loved in guessing who done it and this book had awesome characters. I really loved in getting to know them.
Bailey and her daughter Daisy were my favorite but then you have Granny Bee who is a hoot and my absolute favorite!
The small town atmosphere was great!
The only real thing about small towns that I don't like!
I loved the dog that was in the story too.
I thought this author kept me well entertained so I'm giving this book 5 stars for a job well done! I highly recommend!
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own!

I genuinely loved this story! It was the first time I read a book by this Author but most certainly won't be the last! This is a cozy romance crime novel set in a small town with some charming and delightful characters. The kind of place you'd like to visit where a group of matriarchs hold court and the gossip of the small community. This a who "dunnit" that you can enjoy the rest of the story line as the characters work towards discovering who the murderer is but whilst I suspected, it was a fun read that I devoured in one sitting. The ending of the novel lends itself to follow up stories and I certainly hope that is the case as one of the story-line arcs, whilst hinted at, isn't quite resolved by the end of the story.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read, review and give my honest opinion of complimentary digital Advance Reader Copy.

I really enjoyed reading about Bailey and her daughter Daisy and the women known as The Hive.. It's hard to pick which woman in the group was my favorite.

This book is well written with a great cast of characters. It will make you laugh and keep you engrossed in the pages until you reach the end. And it leaves you wanting for more. I enjoyed this book and think you will too.

Check it out you will be glad that you did.

Take the Honey and Run is the first book in a Bee Keeping Mystery series. This is the first book in the series, where all the women in the Briggs family are named after flowers. I enjoyed Granny Bee's two eccentric sisters, high tea, and how The Hive all came to Granny Bee's rescue leaving the sheriff exasperated. This is a fun, fast paced cozy mystery with some great characters. It is a fun plot and includes some yummy-looking recipes in the back of the book. I look forward to reading the second book. If you love a quick, fun read with a good mystery and a well developed cast of characters; this is for you!

#TaketheHoneyandRun #NetGalley

TAKE THE HONEY AND RUN (A Bee Keeping Mystery #1) by Jennie Marts will be released on July 18, 2023 by Crooked Lane Books.



Mystery writer Bailey Briggs, along with her daughter and dog, returns to her hometown in Colorado after a few years away. Upon arriving at her grandmother's ranch, she finds Granny Bee in a heated argument with the town's mayor. The next day, Bailey finds the mayor dead from an apparent allergic reaction to some of Granny Bee's honey. Everyone in the small town knew of the mayor's allergy, and there is no way he would have willingly ingested honey. The mayor was obviously murdered—and there is a long list of townspeople who had a reason for wanting him dead. Granny Bee finds herself at the top of the local sheriff's suspect list since her honey was the murder weapon. To clear Granny Bee's name, Bailey teams up with her daughter, her eccentric great aunts, her best friend, and the other members of Granny Bee's book club to find the killer.



TAKE THE HONEY AND RUN had an interesting premise—the murder weapon was unique and there were plenty of suspects with solid motive—but I just couldn't get into the story. Part of my problem was that I really didn't like any of the main characters—Bailey and her best friend came off as very immature and the rest seemed annoying. I also couldn't understand why the sheriff let Bailey traipse all over the crime scene or why he kept letting her take the lead in his investigation. She always seemed to be one step ahead of him and easily found out information that he couldn't. It made the sheriff look like he either had no idea what he was doing or was just really bad at his job. It stretched my imagination a little too much to find Bailey's crime solving abilities believable. Overall, it was an interesting story and will be great for anyone who is looking for a light cozy mystery.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

If you want a cosy mystery then this is a perfect read. I wasn’t griped by the story lines or characters. It’s interesting but I found myself putting it down more often than not. The writing is great I just thought it needed more to the plot.

A delightful light hearted Murder Mystery ,with family Secrets & Romance all thrown & into the mix, plus a wonderful Golden Retriever called Cooper .#NetGalley, #GoodReads,#FB, #Instagram,#Amazon.co.uk, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

I enjoyed this book. There were plenty of suspects and Bailey does a good job at trying to solve the crime. There was a bit too much romance for me for a mystery though. There is an effort at a love triangle with one suitor being slightly tortured. There's also a mini family mystery that is left hanging.

The secondary cast of characters have a lot of potential. Bailey's best friend, Evie, get the most development here and I hope in future books the rest become more individual.

Looking forward to book 2.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book has it all! A beautiful Colorado backdrop. A smart, successful single mom, a second chance romance, a sassy grandma and a fantastic group of senior ladies in a book club all trying to solve a murder mystery. I haven't laughed this much reading a cozy mystery for a long time, I was truly delighted. If you love a quick, fun read with a good mystery and a well developed cast of characters; this is for you! Thank you for my review copy Crooked Lane Books!!!

Great book, written with humorous captions which made it a very enjoyable read. Loved the twists and turns of the plot

new-series, first-in-series, cozy-mystery, Colorado, family, rural, relatives, relationships, verbal-humor, situational-humor, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, writers, murder, murder-investigation, pet-dog,*****

The mystery writer and her preteen daughter go back home to visit her Granny. THEN she finds out that her high school boyfriend has moved back and is the sheriff, AND that Granny has threatened her nemesis and he turns up dead the very next day. Good laughs in a fine new series with great characters and a fine bit of sleuthing.
I requested and received an EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Bailey Briggs and her daughter return home to Colorado and to her grandmother's Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch where Granny Bee keeps bees and makes a living from them. Baileys arrival has two surprises, her high school sweetheart is now back in town and her grandmother is threatening to kill the mayor. When the next day Bailey is returning the mayor's jacket, she finds him dead and the sheriff thinks that her grandmother is the killer. Bailey, with the help of her aunts and The Hive, grandma's book club friends, start to investigate into the mayor's life and come up with numerous suspects.
A quick and enjoyable cozy mystery with the main character being a mystery writer that now gets into the middle of her own murder mystery.
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this e-galley of "Take the Honey and Run".

Bailey Briggs and her daughter have come back to visit Grandma Bee. But they are contemplating a more permanent visit. All is going well, until the town's founder turns up dead. It turns out that he was quite the blackmailer and womanizer also. And Grandma Bee is the main suspect.

Bailey sets out to exonerate her Grandma and find the murderer. It's not an unpleasant task, as the local sheriff is her old boyfriend. She's also working hand in hand with her old childhood friend, Evie.

My only beef with this book was the constant references to Bailey's stomach, heart and other body parts, when she encounters Sawyer, the sheriff. Okay. We get it. The girls in love. Can we move on?

But other than that, this was a ripping good story. The characters are humorous and well developed. The rapport between Bailey, Edie and the aunts has almost a Janet Evanovich feel. I highly recommend this book.

Bailey Briggs is a successful mystery author who moves to Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch with her twelve year old daughter, Daisy, when her Granny Bee ‘Blossom Briggs’ breaks a foot. Bailey and Daisy fit right in with “The Hive”—Granny’s friends and book club members. Bailey is also reunited with Sawyer Dunn, her teenage crush. Arriving at the farm, they see Granny Bee running off Werner Humble for making a pass at her! The Hive is swarming around her and they’re all upset. Werner’s allergic to bees and they’re surprised he even set foot on the property because of all Granny’s beehives. Within hours, Bailey and Sawyer find Werner’s sticky corpse at his home and one of Granny Bee’s jars of honey nearby. I laughed so hard when the medical examiner arrived—he’s read all of Bailey’s books and he is FUNNY! Author Jennie Marts inserts a lot of comical moments into the plot line which I fully enjoyed! The Hive members are also a hoot! For a bunch of aging women, they have a lot of love troubles that will soon be revealed. LOL!

Bailey declares she’s going to solve the murder mystery using her writer skills to clear Granny’s name. Her best friend, Evie, helps her, and these two get into soooo much trouble that had me laughing out loud constantly. They soon find out Werner was a scumball. Everywhere Bailey and Evie go; Sawyer, who’s the Sheriff, is just steps behind them. Many clues are dropped throughout this excellent story and the author weaves some really great information in and out to throw you off the killer’s trail. I liked all the banter between the friends, and yessss—a hidden room livens up the mystery! There are many satisfying twists and turns to the story. Can you figure out the killer before the reveal? I found “Take the Honey and Run” very entertaining and I highly recommend! The author graciously provides delicious recipes for readers.

I honestly reviewed an unedited digital arc provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions are my own.

This is my second book from Jennie Marts and she has quickly made her way into my heart when it comes to authors that I love as far as style of writing. I think what I like the most is that the characters are always so incredibly likable and the stories are always so heartwarming.

In this book, Sawyer and Granny steal the show for me. I loved the quick wit from Granny and The Hive and Sawyer is definitely a guy any gal could fall for in a heartbeat.

Unlike the prior book I read from Ms. Marts, this book was not a straight up romance. This is a mystery and it had me engaged throughout the story. I love that it takes place on a bee keeping farm. It is so different to see a backdrop like that in a book and I have always been fascinated by the process.

I also love that there is a Golden Retriever in the story. Ms. Marts always finds a way to bring lovable animals into her stories and that is very near and dear to this reader's heart.

I can't wait to see the next installment in the series. In the meantime, I'll be catching up on the rest of this author's books.