Death By A HoneyBee

Josiah Reynolds Mysteries #1

by Abigail Keam

Josiah Reynolds, a former art history professor, was once a celebrity with wealth, social position, and a famous husband. Now all of that is gone. The professor finds her circumstances drastically altered. Josiah is now a full time beekeeper trying to stay financially afloat by selling honey at the local farmers market.

She finds her world turned upside down when a man is found dead in her bee yard, only to discover the victim is her competitor and nemesis. The police suspect the brutal death is murder, and Josiah is their number one suspect.

She is determined to find out who is trying to frame her, along with her assistant, Matt, who is twenty years her junior and gay, and her lawyer, Shaneika, an African-American woman, rumored to be a descendant of a historically prominent Lexington family. Josiah's powerful but secretive daughter pops in and out of her mother s life, pulling strings to protect her mother from danger.

Set in the beautiful horse country of the Bluegrass, Josiah makes the rounds of quirky characters that can only be found in Kentucky. Fighting an unseen enemy in the glamorous world of Thoroughbreds, oak-cured bourbon, and antebellum plantation houses, Josiah struggles to uncover the truth in a city that keeps its secrets well.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Ebooks, Crime, Contemporary

298 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2010

About the author

Hello Gentle Reader,

I am Abigail Keam, the award-winning author of the Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series and the 1930s Mona Moon Mystery Series.

I am a professional beekeeper and have won 16 awards for my honey. I live in a metal house overlooking the Kentucky River. I have the great fortune to live near some of the most beautiful horse farms in the Bluegrass.

In addition to the Josiah Reynolds Mysteries, I also write the Princess Maura Tales (Epic Fantasy) and the Last Chance Motel Series (Sweet Romance).

I love animals, Kentucky bourbon, and chocolate. Now if they could combine bourbon and chocolate together, I would be in heaven.

I come from a family of storytellers, so it was only natural I would put my stories to paper. I do so hope my tales give you some pleasure and enjoyment. I would certainly love to hear from you. Signing off now to get back to writing. Yours truly,
Miss Abigail

AWARDS
2010 Gold Medal Award from Readers’ Favorite for Death By A HoneyBee: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery

2011 Gold Medal Award from Readers' Favorite for Death By Drowning: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery

2011 USA BOOK NEWS-Best Books List of 2011 as a Finalist for Death By Drowning: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery

2011 USA BOOK NEWS-Best Books List of 2011 as a Finalist for Death By A HoneyBee: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery

2017 Finalist from Readers’ Favorite for Death By Design: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery

2019 Honorable Mention from Readers’ Favorite for Death By Stalking: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery

2019 Murder Under A Blue Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Mystery voted top ten mystery reads by Kings River Life Magazine

2020 Finalist from Readers' Favorite for Murder Under A Blue Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Mystery

2020 Imadjinn Award for Best Mystery for Death By Stalking

2022 Finalist in Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Finalist for Best Historical Category - Murder Under A Full Moon

2022 Finalist the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical Category - Murder Under A New Moon

2022 Death By Chance: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Finalist for Best Cozy Mystery

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The opening chapters of this cozy mystery set on a Kentucky farm were promising. A lot of interesting information about beekeeping, inside look at local farmer's market, and Kentucky horse country atmosphere tossed into the mix. Unfortunately the story fell apart a third of the way in with convoluted plot twists and too many unlikely characters to keep track of. A disappointment.

[Cheryl (Collier) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast and fun read. I didn't get great literature when I got this book and hadn't expected to do so. What I got was an enjoyable story with interesting characters (and I do mean characters). This was exactly the kind of book to read in a stressful week. I will read the next in this cozy series when I need another "time out"

[Arielle Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! This is a fun, well-paced book, I didn't want to put it down! I am not a reader to pick things apart or analyze every word, just one hoping to enjoy a good story, and this was a great story.

The characters are quite enjoyable, interesting and believable. The plot is sound and the writing style is easy going. I think it has just the right amount of detail and humor, and more importantly it made me want to instantly start reading the next in the series. The latter due to it ending with a cliffhanger, which I normally don't run into with most books.

Not surprising, cliffhangers normally tick me off, as they do most people. I must really like this book, however, since I don't feel that way at all. The ending left me excited in a way, anticipating the next installment. So this is a thumbs up for me, I think I have found a wonderful new series to start!

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I debated whether or not to give it 3 stars. This was free Kindle book. Josiah Reynolds is a 50+ beekeeper who lives in a showcase contemporary home designed by her architect husband on 139 acres of the Kentucky Palisades. Her husband died under difficult circumstances and unknown to friends and neighbors, left Josiah with almost nothing. A rival beekeeper is found dead in one of her hives, and Josiah is the prime suspect. One difficulty I had with the book is that the plot was more unbelievable than most. If she was trying to create a new Stephanie Plum-type novel, she tried too hard. I did enjoy the characters. Josiah's assistant, a gorgeous younger man is assumed to be her boyfriend, when in reality, he's gay. He finds a new partner, Franklin, who also moves in, and he decides to make it his mission to improve Josiah's clothing style. Some of the suspected villains are also memorable. I also was disappointed in the rather melodramatic ending. Her daughter, never named in the novel, but referred to often, makes a dramatic appearance in the epilogue -- which unties all the strings that were supposedly tied. I might read the next book in the series, if I find it at my public library or as another free Kindle download.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.
Beautifully written, it was rich with detail yet moved swiftly forward through an engrossing story.
The main character, a woman named Josiah(!), was totally believable, not a superwoman, rather an ageing academic struggling with the things ordinary people struggle with. Until someone dumps the body of a rival bee-keeper inside one of her hives.
I was a trifle surprised to find the mystery solved at 80% into the book, and not being a fan of cliff hanger endings, was expecting to be annoyed when I finished the book, but was instead delighted to find the first chapter of the next one added on, and now I can't wait to read the rest of it!

[Sharon Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

This would have been a 4-star read for me except for the ending, which turned out to be an absolute classic 'cliff-hanger' which is one of my pet peeves. I picked up this book because of the KY setting, something I am interested in since I am not a KY native. Book has lots of good qualities, interesting plot, great characters and obviously knowledgeable view of the regional culture and geography.

Someone without my personal prejudice against this type of ending will probably enjoy the book. I do not plan to read another by this author unless it is specifically listed as a standalone.

[Nadishka Aloysius · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this because it is the set book in a cozy mystery book club I just joined, and I am not disappointed!
The writing was detailed (but not too much) and easy to read. I particularly loved the information about beekeeping and Kentucky. It added a good layer of believability to the story.
I also liked the cast of characters - Josiah is in her 50's and has an interesting past which is revealed bit by bit through the story; Matt and Franklin who are not too stereotypical in their portrayal as being gay; and of course Baby, the mastiff.
There are two endings actually which was a little confusing, but I kept reading and realised the book was leading up to a cliffhanger. I don't like cliffhangers because it forces you to buy the next book but luckily the kindle version I bought had the first three chapters of the next book so I didn't feel cheated.
Overall this is a good series and I may buy the next book if it is within my budget...

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was instantly hooked after the first chapter of this book. I live in Lexington, Kentucky where this book takes place and that is what initially drew me in to Death by a Honeybee. Reading about my real life surroundings in a fictional book was interesting and definitely kept me reading. The characters are interesting, I would have liked to know more background info on some of them but perhaps that comes later in the series. There were a few awkward transitions in this book and some parts that I deemed to be unnecessary to keep the plot going. But the storyline was good. Definitely had some twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Overall I enjoyed this book and I will definitely be reading the other three books that have been published so far in this series.

[Sharla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, this was really a pretty good mystery, interesting characters, lots of local color that really appealed to me. I could see every setting in the book so clearly. The butterfly house became like another character. I'd love to live there. The only problem was the ending. I do not enjoy an ending that leaves me hanging and wondering about the fates of important characters. I tend to throw books against the wall when that happens, thus letting off a bit of steam but couldn't this time since it was on my kindle. By the way, it was FREE on kindle, which in one way makes the weird ending easier to stomach but in another makes me even madder because now I want to buy the next one to see what happens. I'm not sure I will. Argh!

[Harvee Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the feisty protagonist of this book, the first in a series, which I hope to continue reading.

[Emmalynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sounded so good and was a let down.

[Grey853 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Josiah Reynolds is a beekeeper who lives in Lexington, Kentucky. She goes out one morning to find a dead man face first in her best beehive. She doesn't recognize him because of the distorted features after the bee stings. She's not overly upset about the man as much as the intrusion on her hives.

Later she comes under suspicion because the man was her arch rival beekeeper. The police seem absurdly interested in her and the treatment verges on harassment. Soon we find out why. The lead detective was one of her students when she was a professor. She'd caught him cheating and it cost him his scholarship. He gets removed from the case and things calm down a little bit, but Josiah is still suspicious. She still wants to know how he ended up face down in her best hive.

I would've given this book a three star rating, but I hated the ending. It's a cliff hanger. I'm just weird I guess in that I want every book of a series to be self-contained.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was set to give this book at least 3 stars until I got to the end - and there was no ending! I really hate it when a book just stops in the middle of the story in order to entice you to buy the next book in the series. I had the Kindle edition which provided a couple of chapters of the next book, but it still did not give any resolution to the story from the first book. I really feel cheated when I read a book, especially a mystery, and expect it to be wrapped up somehow at the end, and instead the book ends with a new crime, new characters on the scene, and makes it clear that you have to buy at least one more book if you want to know how it turns out. Unfortunately this took away a lot of my earlier enjoyment of the main characters, the information on beekeeping, and the setting in Kentucky. I understand that this is the beginning of a series and certain things will continue into future books, but ending like this just seems unfair to the reader.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this start to a new mystery series, with a retired art history prof heroine as the star, a crusty old gal that don't take b.s. but will take a chance and now makes a living as a beekeeper. One of her marketing rivals at the local farmer's market turns up dead, very dead, with his head inserted into one of her hives, and the bees are extremely irritated by this. This story moved along in an entertaining and engaging manner. However, I didn't like the next book starting with determination and abruptness, with a sharp turn in the closing pages of this one, so there is no sense of resolution of this one before we need to begin the next in the series. Don't try to con me in that way! Give me a chance to relax and enjoy the Kentucky bluegrass for a minute, and that wonderful compound the main character lives on, before I have to swat away some lazy honeybees and get on with the next book.

[Kath · Rating 5 out of 5]

The genius of this book is not only the delightfully twisting and turning mystery, but the characters. At first I didn't connect with Josiah, the main character. By the end of the book, she had me. She's original, and the kind of real person I'd like as a friend, if she were interested in a new friend.

I've lined up Death by Drowning to read tonight.

Sometimes setting is a character in a great book, and certainly this is the case with Death by a Honeybee. While I don't live in a magnificent house like Josiah, I too live on the Palisades of the Kentucky river, though on the Madison county side. I'd like to imagine that Josiah lives in what is known as Raven Run Nature Reserve, across the river from my home.

[Olivia Tuttle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked that Josiah is not perfect and that the characters are quirky . The house sounds like a dream house to me. I would love it.
Josiah does some things that I wouldn't have done but I like that because it shows how imperfect she can be instead of being portrayed as perfect as in some novels.
Matt is her best friend and is devoted to her even though she is sometimes "mean". He is gay and has a friend Franklyn who is quite likable is not afraid to speak his mind to Josiah.
Josiah gets a dog for protection and he is one of my favorite characters along with Josiah's lawyer.
I have read the second book in the series and I want to read the third.

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bravo! A good fast read! now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.

The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.

i would highly recommend this author and this book.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good. gritty for a cozy. could have done without the dog killing. will read the next one.

[Rainbowgardener · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out as a decently entertaining murder mystery. The victim is a beekeeper and "bee charmer" (sort of like a horse whisperer) who is found dead with his head in a rival beekeeper's hive, apparently stung to death by hundreds of angry bees. Quite an original premise. The rival beekeeper is Josiah, a female, who is the protagonist and mystery solver.

Josiah is fifty, overweight, prone to eating a whole carton of ice cream when she is stressed out, has arthritis and asthma. So not your typical swashbuckling detective, which also makes it interesting. The book is set in the Lexington horse country and has a good amount of local color and horse and beekeeping information.

But the plot and characters keep getting more and more convoluted and less believable as it goes along. And then after the murder is all solved and tidily wrapped up as is the way with mystery novels, she throws in an epilogue. The epilogue has all the violence and action the rest of the book doesn't, doesn't seem to fit at all, undoes everything else, and ends on a terrible cliffhanger. Will Josiah live or die (I can guess, since this is Josiah Reynolds Mysteries #1)? Who is the stranger who just made a dramatic entrance in a black helicopter? Did any of the resolution we had really happen? Etc. Seems like all designed to be sure you buy Josiah Reynolds Mystery #2, which I have no intention of doing.

And of the 209 pages, just 174 of them are the actual book. The rest are just teasers for a couple of her other books. So left me feeling cheated all the way around.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this cozy mystery. Hoping at some point the second installment will be offered as free/or very cheap. Set in Kentucky, an retired art history professor has taken up beekeeping. When one of her nearby fellow beekeepers winds up dead - head first in one of her hives, the police look to Josiah as their main suspect.

[Jenny Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea if this was going to be my kind of book when I started. Now I can't wait to get my hands on the next one!

Death By A Honeybee is a great mix of suspense and levity. Abigail Keam never lets things become too heavy, but keeps you wondering throughout the whole book as to the who and why of what is going on. Just when you think everything has been resolved and the book is over, she gives the reader more!

I really like Josiah and Matt. I like that Josiah has her own sense of what "fair justice" is but also knows her limits. I can't wait to find out what becomes of everyone as the end of this book left me with a lot of questions. Not the least of which is, who is Josiah's daughter? She's going to be a force to be reckoned with! I can't wait to read the second installment in this series!

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book by the location – Bluegrass, Kentucky. Sweeping countryside, race horses, old and new money; a grand place for a murder mystery series.
Josiah Reynolds – somewhat bizarrely named as she’s a woman – is a bee keeper. She was formerly a professor of art history, married to a professor of architecture who designed their extraordinary home, the Butterfly, which is almost a character in its own right.
Unfortunately for Josiah, said husband left her for a younger woman and promptly died, so now she is a widow, but the ‘other woman’ got most of his assets. Josiah is left with the house and her art collection, and a pile of bills she struggles to pay with the income from her honey production.
That all comes rather unstuck when Josiah discovers a body, head down into one of her hives, and he happens to be someone she recently had a very public row with at the farmers market where she sells her product.
It was fun learning about bee keeping, and the secondary characters all held their own, particularly Matt, the devastatingly handsome gay guy who lives on Josiah’s farm as her assistant and shares her penchant for quoting witty film dialogue.
For an arthritic, asthmatic middle aged woman with a somewhat cranky disposition, Josiah is surprisingly engaging to read about. The writing is smooth and blends into the background nicely; the plot construction is pleasing, with intertwining mysteries and a dollop of well spread information on a number of subjects.
The ending was both a surprise and a slight disappointment, as it was one of those pesky cliff hangers (quite literally, in this case), though I will admit that for once I wasn’t too annoyed. The actual murder is cleared up, but by then other plot lines have taken on lives of their own, and the story is set to continue. I already have the next book loaded up, so I’m away to see what happens next.
In summary, this is a hard one to classify – its neither cozy nor hardcore mystery, but it might appeal to readers of either. Provided you like your heroines somewhat less than conventional, definitely less than physically fit, and pretty sarcastic to boot.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josiah Reynolds is a bee keeper in Lexington, KY. She was married to a renowned architect who designed their unique home, The Butterfly, in his heyday 30 years ago. They had one child, a daughter who is now something important with the FBI-CIA-Speical Forces set. Josiah and her husband separated shortly before his death and he moved in with a much younger woman, while Josiah concentrated on maintaining the beautiful house and her huge art collection, caring for her bees and rescued animals of all ilks, and nurturing her own personal gay lawyer-cum-caretaker, Matt Garth. When a home-producing competitor is found face-down in a broken beehive on Josiah's property, the first thought is "how could this happen; he's a bee charmer?" The second was "it must have been murder, but who did it?" Josiah, of course, is a suspect, especially in the eyes of lead detective O'Nan. His partner, though, doesn't think it's likely. Then there are the dead man's wife, his whacko daughter and her girlfriend, and numerous other local people he's managed to irk. As Josiah gets deeper into trouble, Matt introduces her to a great defense attorney named Shaneika, who just happens to owe a debt to Josiah's daughter so her services are free. Great characters, interesting if convoluted plot, lots of subterfuge, and a dash of mindless conversation. Josiah is a kick, Matt is a sweetheart, his friend Franklin is too-too swish for words, and the other local eccentrics added a spot of additional color. Hair-raising ending that leads, one guesses, into the next book of the series.

[Cissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book a page-turner, and I've started in on the second in the series.

Keam evokes the bluegrass country vividly, both its ecosystems and its bucolic-over-undercurrents human society. Keam clearly knows her stuff about beekeeping (we also keep bees), and it was nice to see that relayed accurately for a change!

In the reviews I've seen, the main quibble seems to be about the "cliffhanger" ending. OK, technically it's a cliffhanger...but since this is Book 1 in a series of (at this writing) 9, I think it is fairly obvious that Josiah does not die; no need to read the next one for that data.

Josiah is an interesting woman. She seems to be an introvert in the way I am; not hostile to company, but even though we enjoy the people we like, socializing can be a strain. She's a great mix of smart and naive, and wise and petty, and learns from the past even as current events kick her around. I find some of Keam's choices to be fascinating- like putting Josiah into a very architechturally-conceptual house, that is now desperately needing repairs. And the hints given make me long to know more about her daughter!

This is not a cozy. The characters have edges, and events spin out in ways that are more noir than cozy. I liked that! Especially when the end didn't roll up more tightly than real life ever allows to happen. And it's not spoon-fed to the reader- we have to pay attention and figure things out. I like that, too!

[O. D. Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Description: This book is about a mysterious death on the property of a Beekeeper. The beekeeper, Josiah, quickly becomes the prime suspect and must do her own investigation to find out who the real killer is.

In Short: This is a great mystery novel that keeps you guessing until the end. This book is unique because it has elements of humor, some heart racing action, and even fun little tid-bits from history and interesting facts about bees. If you like mystery novels similar to the Murder She Wrote books you will love this book. This is also a very clean book (the language isn't too graphic and there is no sexual content). So if you prefer your mystery novels a little on the cleaner side you will appreciate this.

Pros: The main character is a very believable, real person. She is a middle-aged southern woman who is just trying to get by and not get framed for murder. The entire cast is well crafted. This book has a great, exciting ending and leaves you wanting to read the next book in the series. I enjoyed the conclusion with the killer and it even made me think about what I would have done in Josiah's shoes.

Cons: There are a few odd things in this book that didn't make a lot of sense. If you over think everything said in the book you can see the errors and get a bit annoyed. That being said I ignored these flaws and still thought it was a great book.

[VB · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I normally give 1 star to books I abandoned. I made it through this book.
I found this story to have bad pacing , one minute your in a scene were Josiah who is talking to herself about how to solve the murder , the next minute its about her colleague and best friend calling every day since the murder happened. It was like being pulled from one scene to another with no smooth transition. I didn't find any of the characters lovable. Describing a character as plain and non-descript doesn't really give me a visual of what they look like , even any of their true characteristics or traits. Which you slowly pick up as you read but its so.......plain.
When I read a Cozy Mystery I expect there to be well some mystery, a little intrigue even...it doesn't have to have humor, but if it does great more pleasant to read.(I don't think this book had humor but I couldn't tell you if it tried at it, cause if it did it went over my head). I felt this book offered none of the above. The ending was just truly disappointing, but even as I started reading I felt this would've only been 2 stars...but it slipped to 1.
I won't leave with out telling you the one thing I did enjoy in the book, that was the care of the Honeybee's.

[D.A. Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought DEATH BY A HONEYBEE was an interesting and enjoyable read.

Josiah Reynolds, the main character, has a fairly large chip on her shoulder that made it difficult for me to relate to her at first. As the story progressed, revealing the circumstances that led to Josiah's attitude, I found myself not only empathizing with the character but also liking her, even when I didn't agree with all of her actions. In my opinion, Josiah and the supporting characters were well developed, and the dynamics of their relationships was very believable.

I thought more contractions would've made the prose and dialogue less stiff, but that fact didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the story. I thought enough questions were resolved by the end of DEATH BY A HONEYBEE to bring closure to the first story of the series while leaving enough loose ends to spark interest in the next book.

Being a Kentuckian, I found the descriptions and historical information about the setting very interesting. I also thought the information on honeybees was an enriching part of the story.

Bottom line: I liked the book and plan to read more about Josiah and her sleuthing escapades!

[Sharon Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There seems to be a surfeit of murder mysteries of this genre at the moment - older lady stumbles into a murder, and begins to investigate - but I liked this one, because it had so much peripheral detail about the bees!
The main character is a beekeeper, who finds a rival bee charmer lying dead in one of her hives. She believes she is being set up for the murder, and also that the police seem determined to believe she did it, and so she begins to investigate herself. She is a big fan of old movies, and she and a friend of hers play a movie game, and quote classic movie lines at each other. I admit, most of them passed me by, but luckily the movie was mentioned at each quote.
Like a lot of these books, there is a certain suspension of belief, but I enjoyed this one. I have to admit that I particularly enjoyed the fact that the second book in the series, which I have just started reading, simply carries on from where the first one left off...a nice touch, I thought, because it kind of implies that the events from this first story aren't yet finished....

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book in what I hope to be an interesting series based on the banks of the Kentucky River. Josiah Reynolds is a former art professor turned beekeeper. Living on 139 beautiful Bluegrass acres, she has an interesting life; widowed with a young soon-to-be attorney living on her property. Josiah is not your typical heroine, but a 50 year old impatient, smart-mouthed woman who takes no guff from anyone.

When a rival beekeeper is found dead headlong into one of Josiah's hives her world begins to fall apart. Did she have something to do with the death? If so, why? How can she keep her secrets (everyone thinks she is rich...is she?) and still prove her innocence? And what is up with the two detectives assigned to the case?

I enjoyed this book because there were many elements that seemed true to life. Also, there is a bit of Kentucky history combined with thoroughbreds and beekeeping. What is not to like?

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really only got about halfway through before quitting. I tried to stick with it to at least find out whodunnit. But I just couldn’t make myself suffer through it. The author describes the characters as being snarky but they really came across as shallow and mean. None of them felt believable or even likable. It’s hard to get invested in a story when you don’t like the protagonist enough to want to see her vindicated after being falsely accused. The constant beating the reader over the head with how broke Josiah was also got old quickly. As someone who works retail and can usually relate to tough financial times, it could be refreshing to have a character who isn’t independently wealthy but don’t give it more story time than the mystery itself. Or make her so whiny.

After reading other reviews, I’m glad didn’t bother to finish it. I dislike the idea of being forced to buy another book just to know how the mystery is solved. Nope. That’s a deal breaker for me.