The owner of a delightful Southern café tastes the sharp sting of suspicion in this delectable comfort food mystery . . . It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut … their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning.
As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation…
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Love all Gayle’s books!
Amy starts selling local wares in her café and has just started selling Landon’s Honey. Then, when Mr. Landon is murdered, Amy sets out to find out who would want to kill the man with the sweetest job in town. As it turns out, there are quite few suspects and I was kept guessing who the culprit was until the end, no mean feat, usually. The Winter’s Garden residents are their usual delightful selves and I enjoyed this trip to Virginia.
It’s so easy to feel protective of these characters because they feel like family. Amy is so good hearted and sometimes so naïve when she discusses everything with everybody, even strangers and you just want to stop her before she says too much! Each character is so unique and lovable. And I love Homer! It cracked me up when Amy was thinking about how somebody might be coming in through the back door to kill her and how Homer would be upset that she got hurt but he’d still want his biscuit. I had to crack up laughing as I noted that yes, he would. Too funny!
Cafe owner, Amy Flowers teams up with local beekeeper, Stu Landon to offer his delicious honey to her customers. Business is booming, but before Amy can replenish her supply of honey, Stu shows up dead. He seemed like such a sweet older man, kept to himself, and never caused any trouble. But did the people of Winter Garden really know him? When Walter Jackson, a man from Stu’s past shows up and starts asking questions, Amy is forced to face the fact that Stu might not have been so innocent. Complicating matters more is the sudden appearance of Madelyn. She claims to be Stu’s daughter, but no one’s ever heard of her before.
Pull up a chair, grab a slice of Amy’s butterscotch cake, and devour this deliciously sweet tale.
I really enjoyed this and I gave it a 4.5* rating.
Synopsis:
The owner of a delightful Southern café tastes the sharp sting of suspicion in this delectable comfort food mystery . . .
It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning.
As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation… (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well developed and well rounded. I enjoyed getting to spend time with Amy, Jackie, Aunt Bess and Amy’s mom. The woman all have unique personalities and they are all strong women in their own way. I liked getting to read about their interactions and conversations.
The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and pulled me right into the story from the beginning. The mystery was well plotted and had enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider, and it was not an easy one to solve.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I have read all of the books in this series and they are all good.