HONEY-BAKED HOMICIDE is the third book in Gayle Leeson's Down South
Café cozy mystery
series. Although this is the third book in this series, this is the first
book in this series that I've
read. HONEY-BAKED HOMICIDE works well as a standalone novel,
and perfect for readers, like
me, who are new to the series. I enjoy mysteries set in small towns,
and this small-town setting
is at the very heart of this story. Stu Landon, the murder victim, has
lived in Winter Garden,
Virginia for about twenty years but is still an outsider in many ways.
Because nobody in town
knew very much about him, it makes finding a motive for his murder
very problematic.
Gayle Leeson very skillfully casts café owner Amy Flowers in the role
of amateur sleuth,
without making her seem obnoxious in her pursuit of the truth. After
Stu is found dead outside
her café, people come to Amy offering up clues and other helpful
information. The café is a
meeting spot and draws friends, foes, and curious characters of all
sorts. When Amy starts
getting hassled over the course of the investigation, it becomes a
community effort to think of
ways to get the harassment to stop, and to puzzle out what is behind
it all. Amy is a likable
character, and her common sense helps her figure out who the
murderer is. Gayle Leeson
does a great job of creating a feeling of unease at times and then
releasing the tension with a
little humor.
HONEY-BAKED HOMICIDE is a honey of a mystery, with a small-town
simmering with secrets. I
love the relationship, and brief romantic interludes, between Amy
and her boyfriend, Deputy
Ryan Hall. Locals and café regulars, Dilly Boyd and Homer Pickens,
are entertaining supporting
characters who help lighten the mood when things take a turn
toward the deadly. I look
forward to reading the next installment in Gayle Leeson's Down
South Café
series.
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...
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