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A review by nitabee
Honey-Baked Homicide by Gayle Leeson
3.0
Honey-Baked Homicide is the third book in the Down South Cafe mystery series, featuring Amy Flowers, the proprietor of the cafe. This book starts out with Amy trying to make a bit more money by selling honey at her cafe from a local beekeeper, Stu Landon. It's a hit, of course, so she asks him to bring by more. Unfortunately, .
I enjoy the cast of characters in this series. Amy's mom is always there for her, and her Aunt Bess is funny and feisty. Amy's boyfriend, police officer Ryan, is very present, always stopping by the cafe for a meal, telling Amy some things about the case, not being too domineering or assertive. He invites her to his place for dinner, which is sweet since Amy's always the one feeding everyone else. Homer and Dilly, the elderly cafe regulars, turn up just enough and are amusing. Of course, there's also Amy's cousin/best friend, Jackie, who works at the Down South Cafe, and her boyfriend, Roger, who insists on installing security cameras at both the cafe and Amy's home after Amy finds evidence of someone lurking outside her house one night.
Spoiler
Stu turns up dead in his truck outside her cafe on the morning he's supposed to drop by. There's certainly no shortage of suspects in this one, as details from Stu's murky past come to light. Was it Stu's neighbor, Chad Thomas? They had a disagreement about Chad spraying his crops with someone that killed a lot of Stu's bees, and word around town is that Mr. Thomas has a horrible temper - in fact, Amy suspects him of abusing his wife, Fern. Or maybe it was Stu's former boss, Mr. Jackson, who Stu had helped imprison with his damning testimony? It also turns out Stu had two children, Madelyn and Brandon, and although Madelyn seems sweet at first, appearances can be deceiving. Brandon is definitely a jerk, and he's rude to Amy from the get-go. There's also their cousin, Joey Carver, who is cut from the same cloth as Brandon, and the two of them take pleasure in harassing AmyI enjoy the cast of characters in this series. Amy's mom is always there for her, and her Aunt Bess is funny and feisty. Amy's boyfriend, police officer Ryan, is very present, always stopping by the cafe for a meal, telling Amy some things about the case, not being too domineering or assertive. He invites her to his place for dinner, which is sweet since Amy's always the one feeding everyone else. Homer and Dilly, the elderly cafe regulars, turn up just enough and are amusing. Of course, there's also Amy's cousin/best friend, Jackie, who works at the Down South Cafe, and her boyfriend, Roger, who insists on installing security cameras at both the cafe and Amy's home after Amy finds evidence of someone lurking outside her house one night.