by: Jennie Marts
Series: Bee Keeping Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: June 4, 2024
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Perfect for fans of Laura Childs and Amanda Flower, this second Bee Keeping mystery takes Bailey Briggs to the brink as murders threaten the future of her granny’s Bee Festival.
The small town of Humble Hills, Colorado, is abuzz with excitement over the upcoming annual Bee Festival, sponsored by Bailey’s Granny Bee and the Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch. The long weekend of festivities includes a beauty pageant, beekeeping demonstrations, a local restaurant bake-off, and a 3K Bear Run where all the participants are dressed as bears. The bake-off brings in a television crew from California to film, so it’s the most drama-filled part of the weekend, especially when the famous celebrity host winds up dead.
Because the celebrity was holding her bracelet and had been witnessed having an altercation with Bailey’s best friend Evie shortly before his death, everyone suspects Evie of the murder—and Bailey is quickly on the hunt for clues to clear Evie’s name, alongside Granny Bee and her bunch of geriatric misfit friends. Bailey’s potential new honey, Sheriff Sawyer Dunn, is none too pleased to have Bailey buzzing around the investigation, but Bailey’s determined to uncover the truth, rescue her grannie’s beloved Bee Festival, and save her bestie.
They say you get more flies with honey, but in this case, more honey may mean you end up dead. And a little competition never hurt anyone—unless it ends up killing you.
Vanilla Honey Cupcakes with Honey & Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
From the kitchen of: Spike Larson
Ingredients for the cupcakes:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Ingredients for frosting:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 Stick of salted butter, softened
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk
For cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or line muffin tin.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then mix in cream cheese, vanilla, buttermilk, and eggs on low until combined. Pour in the honey and mix on medium for 1 minute. Then add this mixture into the dry ingredients and carefully stir until combined.
Pour batter into muffin cups (about 2/3 full) then bake for 17-20 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).
Cool completely before frosting.
For frosting:
Using a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese then beat until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and honey and mix. Then slowly add in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding a bit of milk between each cup. Mix for about 1 minute until smooth and creamy then add cinnamon and mix until combined.
Frost cupcakes and enjoy!
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The Bee Keeping Mystery Series:
She is living her own happily ever after in the mountains of Colorado with her husband, two dogs, and a parakeet who loves to tweet to the oldies. She’s addicted to Diet Coke, adores Cheetos, has never missed an episode of Survivor, and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes, or friends.
Her books include the following small town romance series: Cowboys of Creedence, Creedence Horse Rescue Series, Lassiter Ranch, Hearts of Montana, the Bannister Brothers (hockey romcom), Cotton Creek , and two hilarious cozy mysteries series, The Page Turners and The Bee Keeping Mysteries.
Places to find Jennie Marts:
You can follow the Kill or Bee Killed Blog Tour here.
Love the recipe. Sounds good. This looks like a good mystery.
ReplyDeleteKILL OR BEE KILLED by Jennie Marts sounds like a sweet mystery book!
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
What a delicious recipe and fitting for the book.
ReplyDelete