Mystery Monday: Death Bee Comes Her by Nancy Coco

   Welcome to a brand new feature series here on Eastern Sunset Reads!

In the mess that was 2020, one exciting thing that came about is my discovery of Cozy Mysteries.  Yes, I knew they existed before but I never had a desire to pick one up but last year I ended up reading 17 of them! Clearly they have become a regular thing for me to pick up and it is such a vast genre that I can't wait to dive into more of them.  So Mystery Monday has become a thing and will be a (at least somewhat) regular thing here.  So stop by on Mondays to see my reviews of new books I have picked up, new releases, chat about sub-genres and lots more.

Read for: Recently Added/ Audio Book

Synopsis: "A BALMY WAY TO GO

With her Let It Bee honey boutique buzzing along nicely, life is as sweet as nectar for Wren Johnson—until she takes a morning walk along the Pacific beach with her Havana Brown cat, Everett, and stumbles upon the body of Agnes Snow, the cranky queen of the local craft fairs, stiff as driftwood. More unfortunate? Clutched in the victim’s fist is a label from Wren’s homemade beeswax-and-honey lip balm. Which makes Officer Jim Hampton focus his dreamy-blue Paul Newman eyes on Wren as suspect number one.

With fabulous feline support from Everett, Wren must comb the town for clues and clear her name before someone else gets stung."

My Review: I was really attracted to the cover and title of this book and being new to cozy mysteries, I was excited to find a series just starting out. I have to admit, I really struggled with this one. I am not a huge fan of the first person narration, for some reason that always throws me out of the story, maybe because a lot of the decisions made are not ones that I would make in those circumstances. I did really enjoy the small town feel of the story and the small business and the knowledge that is shared throughout the story about honeybees. As far as characters go, I definitely didn't connect much with Wren but, of course I loved Everett. I also enjoyed the quirky cast of characters. I loved Halloweentown theme throughout the book however I was expecting a bit more of a summer themed book based on the cover. I did end up loosing interest in the mystery part of the story, which should have been the main theme and focus of the story. I honestly can't even recall how they finally solved it. All in all it was an okay read for me, I might try the second book but this one isn't high up on the list of series I plan to follow.

My Rating: I have definitely been learning a lot about my own reading preferences while dabbling in this new genre. First and foremost, I think I need to test read a few pages at the store before buying books to make sure they aren't in first person. I think if this book had been in third person narration I would have enjoyed it a lot more.  So, I think I will give this one a rating of Two Paws and hope the second book might capture my attention a bit more.