I loved being back in the fabulous Honey Springs, Kentucky! Even with a snowstorm, it sounds almost perfect! It is written so well, I almost felt as if I were there. Southern charm and sayings make it a fun, down-home read. The most welcoming shop in town is Roxy’s Bean Hive, where one can get the best coffee, baked goods, and gossip. Why, you can even sit with a cat or dog, depending on the Pet Palace’s most adoptable pet for the week. It is easy to get to know the delightful regulars, and the mysteries that tend to happen around Roxy are complex and challenging.
Roxy is an attorney by training, and keeps her license current, but coffee is her passion. While she does help people out with legal advice, her primary focuses are her husband, Patrick, their dogs, family, and friends, and the Bean Hive. Today’s buzz is the casting of the new community theater play.
Roxy’s Aunt Maxi is given the lead by Loretta, the producer voted on by the Southern Women’s Club. Until some surprise visitors arrive at the Bean Hive. First is Mark, a New York Times theater reviewer. The producer, Alan, and an off-Broadway actress, Gretchen, with Sydney, her personal assistant, are most of the newcomers. Favors are big in the Big Apple, as Alan owes Loretta a favor, and Gretchen owes one to Alan. Mark and Alan hate each other; Alan wants him far away from him and the play.
More surprises await the cast. Maxi is replaced by Gretchen and given a much smaller part. The sweet romance Loretta wrote is out and in its place is a murder mystery. The only person happy about the changes is Roxy’s friend Crissy, as she now has the lead. Maxi tries to suck it up and act as a professional.
Roxy was hired to deliver fresh coffee and a special pastry from the Bees Knees Bakery to Gretchen every morning and goes to the theater. Stuff seems to happen around Roxy! She is there to hear Alan dress down the cast and crew, then to – barely – save Maxi from a sandbag tumbling from the catwalk overhead. They discover that Alan is dead, hit hard by a sandbag. She is the only one to hear someone overhead immediately afterwards. Spencer, of the sheriff’s department, invites Roxy for the very first time to listen in to hear what she can about the death as people come into the Bean Hive, even though Patrick would have a fit if she gets involved in another murder. The internet is down from the heavy snow so Spencer is very limited in what he can find out about the New York folks. Those New York folks are no match against Roxy!
This is one of my two favorite series of the author. The characters are delightful, down-to-earth, and sometimes over-the-top. Roxy is so calm much of the time, perhaps in part due to her training as an attorney. She does, in my opinion, tend to tell people a little too much about the investigation, including things Spencer wanted kept quiet. This whodunit is a real challenge, and the author did a fine job of ending the story well with no loose ends, leaving me looking forward to the next visit. I really enjoyed meeting Mocha and hope to see more kitties in the series! I highly recommend this to fans of the author, Southern cozy mysteries, stage drama, and coffee.
From a thankful heart: I received a complimentary copy of this novel, and this is my honest review.