A Beeline to Murder

August 24, 2015
Farming tips and murder vie for the reader’s attention in Lester’s appealing, though flawed, debut cozy, set in the California wine country town of Las Flores. When cop-turned-farmer Abigail “Abby” Mackenzie tries to deliver a jar of honey to pastry chef Jean-Louis Bonheur, she finds him dead on his kitchen floor. Abby’s friend, police officer Katerina Petrovsky, welcomes her assistance in the ensuing investigation, but when the coroner rules that Jean-Louis killed himself, his distraught brother, Philippe, hires Abby to prove otherwise. Abby finds plenty of potential suspects and motives, but she is caught by surprise when the victim’s dog, Sugar, saves her from a brutal attack. Too many characters and Abby’s struggles to run a thriving farmette distract, but it’s the occasional plot hole, such as a highly questionable method of suicide, that truly makes this first novel less successful than it could have been. Recipes, including one for doggy treats, appear throughout. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott-Notch Literary Agency.

A former police officer can't turn down a chance to investigate a murder. Now that she's been forced out of the Las Flores Police Department by a misogynist chief and a hand injury, Abigail Mackenzie ekes out a living on her farm, selling honey, raising chickens, and growing veggies. Pastry chef Jean-Louis Bonheur is one of her best honey customers, and when she finds him dead, she's deeply concerned. She pitches in to help her friend Officer Katerina "Kat" Petrovsky at the crime scene, but the death is written off as a suicide. Abby takes in Sugar, the chef's dog, and when the dead man's handsome brother offers her $10,000 to prove his brother was murdered, she's on the case. Abby and Philippe Bonheur strike sparks, but Abby, who's still not recovered from being dumped by her former boyfriend, tries hard to keep their relationship professional. Jean-Louis was gay, and tracking down his lover is high on Abby's list. The chef's reputation was being trashed by a young man he was mentoring, and plenty of people, including his landlord, are not sad to see him gone. Abby has her hands full running her farm, adapting to her new pet, and holding off Philippe's advances while trying to solve the murder. A series debut with plenty of tips and recipes and a modest mystery that takes a back seat to the details of the heroine's private life. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2015

After an injury forced Abigail Mackenzie off the Las Flores, CA, police force, she had to reinvent herself. She now does private investigating on the side, but her passion is her farmette, raising bees and chickens and selling her lavender honey to the egocentric chef Jean-Louis Bonheur at Las Flores Patisserie. Early one morning, Abby stops by the shop to make her delivery and finds the pastry chef dead. The coroner rules the death a suicide, but the chef's handsome brother, Philippe, arrives from New York and hires Abby to do some probing. Suddenly, suspects are popping out of the woodwork. VERDICT Crammed full of homey farming advice, beekeeping tips, and recipes, this debut cozy will be popular with readers who love G.A. McKevett or Joanne Fluke. [See Kristi Chadwick's Mystery Spotlight feature, "Not Your Usual Suspects," LJ 4/15/15.--Ed.]

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