Review: Honey Bee Murder by Dahlia Donovan

Honey Bee Murder (Honey Bear Cosy Mysteries #2)
by Dahlia Donovan

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MM

Blurb:
George Bernard Sheth plans to spend July in the garden with his beloved pug, Bumble. He’s tending to his bees when a neighbour harasses him quite vocally. When the man winds up dead, all eyes are immediately on George and the many hives in his garden.

Murphy Baird knows without a doubt George wouldn’t harm a fly or a bee or an obnoxious rich businessman. He balances keeping his brewery going with trying to help solve the murder and preparing for the upcoming Highland Games. It’s not made any easier by the impending visit from his father.

As the mystery deepens, they find themselves not knowing quite who to trust.
Can they find the killer before George winds up arrested for murder?

My Review

I received a free copy through Gay Romance Reviews and voluntarily reviewed it.

I enjoyed the first book in this series and was excited to read this second book. There’s a new mystery as well as more about the characters Murphy and George. I liked seeing how the two are doing now and how their relationship has deepened. It was an easy read and I enjoyed the setting, theme and the characters.

The mystery in this one was the part I enjoyed least. It just didn’t grip me as much. It was a pretty straightforward mystery and while George is treated as the main suspect, it’s clear the police don’t think he did it. There also wasn’t as much investigating and I didn’t really feel like I learned enough about the suspects. The reveal who had done it didn’t really come as a surprise as there were only a few suspects and I didn’t like how the reveal happened.

Luckily everything besides the mystery was well done. I liked reading more about Murphy and George as well as the side characters. The fathers of both men arrive for a visit later in the book and it was fun to read about them. I also liked reading about Murphy’s mead and George’s bees and honey. The bee and mead theme is a fun one and I liked reading more about it. George being autistic is also well written and I liked how realistic his character felt.

To summarize: This was a good sequel. I enjoyed reading more about both Murphy and George, as well as seeing their romance deepen. There’s also more about both their businesses, Murphy making mead and George raising bees and making honey. I like the theme of the series and reading about the main characters as well as the side characters. The mystery didn’t really work for me though as it didn’t grip me. There weren’t many suspects, I didn’t really like how the reveal of the murder was done and there wasn’t as much investigating. Despite the mystery not working for me I did enjoy reading this one and look forward to the next book!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.