**I received a copy of this book from Kensington Press via NetGalley in exchange for a fair, honest review**

When Abigail Mackenzie left her job as a police officer in Las Flores, CA, she bought a farmette and settled into a life of farming and beekeeping. She pads her income with private investigation services on the side. When her friend and local businessowner, Fiona Mary Ryan is murdered, Abby steps up to help investigate. Cult tie-ins, an ex-boyfriend and possible drug connctions soon have local law enforcement and Abby scrambling to discover who is the murderer in their midst.


I enjoyed this book! Every chapter starts with a note from The Henny Penny Farmette Almanac and ends with a recipe or tips about farming. Some of the tips are quite informative, like the proper way to clean freshly collected farm eggs (I never knew there was a proper way to wash them off -- I've been doing it wrong!) and how to make tea from fresh herbs.

When I first started reading the book, I did a bit of reading on Farmettes. Basically, a Farmette is a small, residential farm where the owner makes their main income off-farm. In my mind, I see it as somewhere between a hobby farm and a regular farm. Abby makes some money off honey and herbs, but her side-jobs doing investigations help pay the bills. Living in the South, I know a lot of women who do the same thing.....legal secretary, teacher or some-such by day and evening/weekend farmer, crafter, herbalist. This made Abby seem like a very believable and likable character for me.

The mystery portion of the plot was well-written with plenty of possible suspects, red-herrings, twists and turns. The side plots did not over-power the mystery, although one character was extremely annoying. I will not provide any spoilers ... but readers will know immediately which one I wanted to punch in the face. :) The character was written to incite that very emotion in readers, I believe....and it was extremely successful in my case. :) The engaging mystery...plus wanting to know what happened with the detestable character....kept my attention right up to the very end of this book!

I will definitely be reading more in this series! A fun, mysterious time down on the Farmette!

This is the 2nd book in Meera Lester's Henny Penny Farmette Mystery series. Murder of a Queen Bee has a release date of September 27th, 2016 from Kensington Press. Lester has also written several non-fiction books including 365 Ways to Live Happy, and Why Does Santa Wear Red and 100 Other Christmas Curiosities Unwrapped. Check out her website at: www.meeralester.com
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This is the second Henny Penny Farmette Mystery and I enjoyed it as much as the first one.. Abigail (Abby) Mackenzie left her former job as a police officer after an injuray and made a fresh start for herself as a beekeeper and farmer in Las Flores, California. As busy as Abby is running her business, she seems to get drawn into the investigations of crime in the town. It could be that best friend and former partner Kat gives her too much information, but whatever it is she is neck deep in the murder investigation of her friend Fiona. Hours after Fiona was a no show to the scheduled lunch with Abby and Kat, her body is found in a burned out car in what looks to have been a horrific accident. But what the medical examiner finds is a bit shocking, it was obvious that Fiona had already been dead before the fire, Abby is immediately drawn into the investigation out of loyalty to her friend. She also has a bit of guilt as Kat had called her rather anxious to talk about something bothering her, and Abby had scheduled the lunch instead of meeting with her right away.

The mystery was not hard to figure out, but the story was more about Abby, her life and what she was going through. Her old live-in boyfriend arrives back in town wanting to pick up the pieces, Fiona's brother Jack seems to have feelings for Abby that she reciprocates, the commune is becoming more cult-like, and Kat is looking for romance in Abby's neighbourhood. All that adds to the story to give the characters more substance. There is a little bit of a teaser about some commune members who disappeared so I do not know if that will be explored in the next book or not. Overall a satisfying read. My one complaint was the length of the sections at the end of each chapter. Some were rather long and broke up the story just a little too much, I actually stopped reading them. I enjoyed the recipes and the short bits from the Henny Penny Almanc that began the chapters though. If you are looking for a whodunit where the culprit is hard to figure out, this would not be the book for you, but if you are looking for a light mystery with some fun characters and a rather quaint setting, check this one out. The publisher provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

I am really enjoying this Book. This is a Library Book.

This is a funny cozy series with a retired policewoman as the main character who still gets caught up in police work while trying to keep her little farm running smoothly.
There are nice little tidbits about farm life and beekeeping especially that make this a light-hearted cozy mystery to sit back and enjoy. ( )

Abby and her friend Kat are waiting for a third friend to arrive for a luncheon date. And waiting some more. Irritation when Fiona is late turns to concern as more minutes pass. When Kat gets a call from the police station about a burning car with a body inside, they both know who it is. Abby may have given up her job on the force, but her investigative instincts are still sharp, and she doesn’t give up when it comes to her friends, even if that friend is dead. Author Meera Lester’s newest book in this series is a tightly written cozy with just enough romance and beekeeping tidbits for added interest without overpowering the murder mystery storyline. With honey-sweetened recipes included, this novel is entertaining and informative. ( )