A Matter of Hive and Death by Nancy CoCo

Available March 29, 2022

Wren is celebrating her second year at Let It Bee, a lovely honey-themed shop in Oceanview, Oregon. Lots of exciting and fun things are happening from an anniversary sale at the shop to a UFO parade in a neighboring town. Unfortunately in the midst of all the excitement Wren's friend Elias is bludgeoned to death while tending to his beehives. Who could have wanted to gentle beekeeper dead? Was his death related to the rash of hive vandalism that's swept across the coast of Oregon?

If you have a lot of things going on, save this book for later. Once you get started, you won't want to do anything else! This book starts off very quickly and keeps the action moving throughout. There's a lot going on with the mystery and also a lot going on with the characters. A few new characters get introduced and we see more of the beekeeping aspect of Wren's newfound career world.

I really like Wren's character and her Aunt Eloise is fun too, they make a great close-knit little family. Porshe is a great sidekick for Wren. I like that there is a bit of romance but Wren is approaching it cautiously and not just falling over herself for affection.

Probably the thing I liked the most about this book was the setting. There's not a lot of description but what description it does have is beautifully atmospheric. There's a scene where Wren is working on making product for the store and she props open the window and can hear the rain and smell the ocean. I had a mini-vacation fantasizing about being in her shoes at that moment, making candles and hand cream while listening to the rain dancing on the roof.

There were a few very minor continuity hiccups that were barely worth mentioning. Those things stuck out to me as I was reading but didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story in any way.

I highly recommend this series!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.