I really enjoyed reading about Bailey and her daughter Daisy and the women known as The Hive.. It's hard to pick which woman in the group was my favorite.

This book is well written with a great cast of characters. It will make you laugh and keep you engrossed in the pages until you reach the end. And it leaves you wanting for more. I enjoyed this book and think you will too.

Check it out you will be glad that you did.

Take the Honey and Run is the first book in a Bee Keeping Mystery series. This is the first book in the series, where all the women in the Briggs family are named after flowers. I enjoyed Granny Bee's two eccentric sisters, high tea, and how The Hive all came to Granny Bee's rescue leaving the sheriff exasperated. This is a fun, fast paced cozy mystery with some great characters. It is a fun plot and includes some yummy-looking recipes in the back of the book. I look forward to reading the second book. If you love a quick, fun read with a good mystery and a well developed cast of characters; this is for you!

#TaketheHoneyandRun #NetGalley

TAKE THE HONEY AND RUN (A Bee Keeping Mystery #1) by Jennie Marts will be released on July 18, 2023 by Crooked Lane Books.



Mystery writer Bailey Briggs, along with her daughter and dog, returns to her hometown in Colorado after a few years away. Upon arriving at her grandmother's ranch, she finds Granny Bee in a heated argument with the town's mayor. The next day, Bailey finds the mayor dead from an apparent allergic reaction to some of Granny Bee's honey. Everyone in the small town knew of the mayor's allergy, and there is no way he would have willingly ingested honey. The mayor was obviously murdered—and there is a long list of townspeople who had a reason for wanting him dead. Granny Bee finds herself at the top of the local sheriff's suspect list since her honey was the murder weapon. To clear Granny Bee's name, Bailey teams up with her daughter, her eccentric great aunts, her best friend, and the other members of Granny Bee's book club to find the killer.



TAKE THE HONEY AND RUN had an interesting premise—the murder weapon was unique and there were plenty of suspects with solid motive—but I just couldn't get into the story. Part of my problem was that I really didn't like any of the main characters—Bailey and her best friend came off as very immature and the rest seemed annoying. I also couldn't understand why the sheriff let Bailey traipse all over the crime scene or why he kept letting her take the lead in his investigation. She always seemed to be one step ahead of him and easily found out information that he couldn't. It made the sheriff look like he either had no idea what he was doing or was just really bad at his job. It stretched my imagination a little too much to find Bailey's crime solving abilities believable. Overall, it was an interesting story and will be great for anyone who is looking for a light cozy mystery.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

If you want a cosy mystery then this is a perfect read. I wasn’t griped by the story lines or characters. It’s interesting but I found myself putting it down more often than not. The writing is great I just thought it needed more to the plot.

A delightful light hearted Murder Mystery ,with family Secrets & Romance all thrown & into the mix, plus a wonderful Golden Retriever called Cooper .#NetGalley, #GoodReads,#FB, #Instagram,#Amazon.co.uk, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

I enjoyed this book. There were plenty of suspects and Bailey does a good job at trying to solve the crime. There was a bit too much romance for me for a mystery though. There is an effort at a love triangle with one suitor being slightly tortured. There's also a mini family mystery that is left hanging.

The secondary cast of characters have a lot of potential. Bailey's best friend, Evie, get the most development here and I hope in future books the rest become more individual.

Looking forward to book 2.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book has it all! A beautiful Colorado backdrop. A smart, successful single mom, a second chance romance, a sassy grandma and a fantastic group of senior ladies in a book club all trying to solve a murder mystery. I haven't laughed this much reading a cozy mystery for a long time, I was truly delighted. If you love a quick, fun read with a good mystery and a well developed cast of characters; this is for you! Thank you for my review copy Crooked Lane Books!!!

Great book, written with humorous captions which made it a very enjoyable read. Loved the twists and turns of the plot

new-series, first-in-series, cozy-mystery, Colorado, family, rural, relatives, relationships, verbal-humor, situational-humor, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, writers, murder, murder-investigation, pet-dog,*****

The mystery writer and her preteen daughter go back home to visit her Granny. THEN she finds out that her high school boyfriend has moved back and is the sheriff, AND that Granny has threatened her nemesis and he turns up dead the very next day. Good laughs in a fine new series with great characters and a fine bit of sleuthing.
I requested and received an EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Bailey Briggs and her daughter return home to Colorado and to her grandmother's Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch where Granny Bee keeps bees and makes a living from them. Baileys arrival has two surprises, her high school sweetheart is now back in town and her grandmother is threatening to kill the mayor. When the next day Bailey is returning the mayor's jacket, she finds him dead and the sheriff thinks that her grandmother is the killer. Bailey, with the help of her aunts and The Hive, grandma's book club friends, start to investigate into the mayor's life and come up with numerous suspects.
A quick and enjoyable cozy mystery with the main character being a mystery writer that now gets into the middle of her own murder mystery.
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this e-galley of "Take the Honey and Run".

Bailey Briggs and her daughter have come back to visit Grandma Bee. But they are contemplating a more permanent visit. All is going well, until the town's founder turns up dead. It turns out that he was quite the blackmailer and womanizer also. And Grandma Bee is the main suspect.

Bailey sets out to exonerate her Grandma and find the murderer. It's not an unpleasant task, as the local sheriff is her old boyfriend. She's also working hand in hand with her old childhood friend, Evie.

My only beef with this book was the constant references to Bailey's stomach, heart and other body parts, when she encounters Sawyer, the sheriff. Okay. We get it. The girls in love. Can we move on?

But other than that, this was a ripping good story. The characters are humorous and well developed. The rapport between Bailey, Edie and the aunts has almost a Janet Evanovich feel. I highly recommend this book.

Bailey Briggs is a successful mystery author who moves to Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch with her twelve year old daughter, Daisy, when her Granny Bee ‘Blossom Briggs’ breaks a foot. Bailey and Daisy fit right in with “The Hive”—Granny’s friends and book club members. Bailey is also reunited with Sawyer Dunn, her teenage crush. Arriving at the farm, they see Granny Bee running off Werner Humble for making a pass at her! The Hive is swarming around her and they’re all upset. Werner’s allergic to bees and they’re surprised he even set foot on the property because of all Granny’s beehives. Within hours, Bailey and Sawyer find Werner’s sticky corpse at his home and one of Granny Bee’s jars of honey nearby. I laughed so hard when the medical examiner arrived—he’s read all of Bailey’s books and he is FUNNY! Author Jennie Marts inserts a lot of comical moments into the plot line which I fully enjoyed! The Hive members are also a hoot! For a bunch of aging women, they have a lot of love troubles that will soon be revealed. LOL!

Bailey declares she’s going to solve the murder mystery using her writer skills to clear Granny’s name. Her best friend, Evie, helps her, and these two get into soooo much trouble that had me laughing out loud constantly. They soon find out Werner was a scumball. Everywhere Bailey and Evie go; Sawyer, who’s the Sheriff, is just steps behind them. Many clues are dropped throughout this excellent story and the author weaves some really great information in and out to throw you off the killer’s trail. I liked all the banter between the friends, and yessss—a hidden room livens up the mystery! There are many satisfying twists and turns to the story. Can you figure out the killer before the reveal? I found “Take the Honey and Run” very entertaining and I highly recommend! The author graciously provides delicious recipes for readers.

I honestly reviewed an unedited digital arc provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions are my own.

This is my second book from Jennie Marts and she has quickly made her way into my heart when it comes to authors that I love as far as style of writing. I think what I like the most is that the characters are always so incredibly likable and the stories are always so heartwarming.

In this book, Sawyer and Granny steal the show for me. I loved the quick wit from Granny and The Hive and Sawyer is definitely a guy any gal could fall for in a heartbeat.

Unlike the prior book I read from Ms. Marts, this book was not a straight up romance. This is a mystery and it had me engaged throughout the story. I love that it takes place on a bee keeping farm. It is so different to see a backdrop like that in a book and I have always been fascinated by the process.

I also love that there is a Golden Retriever in the story. Ms. Marts always finds a way to bring lovable animals into her stories and that is very near and dear to this reader's heart.

I can't wait to see the next installment in the series. In the meantime, I'll be catching up on the rest of this author's books.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

It was a pretty cute, quick read. Enjoyed the plot and mystery, the characters were witty. Overall very enjoyable.

Take the Honey and Run is a great debut cozy mystery. This story is about a mystery author, Bailey, and her trip back home to visit her Granny Bee. While back home she decided to do some investigating, with her best friend Evie, when her Granny is suspected if murder.
Jennie Marts did a fantastic job introducing the characters and creating a world that I would love to visit again. I found the book to be captivating, entertaining and funny at times. Can’t wait to read the next book.

There are lots of things I like about this series debut. The characters are relatable and imperfect, and I enjoy the family relationships. Bee keeping is something I know little about, so it's interesting to have that backdrop in a novel. The plotting works out logically, but there are several instances of the main characters downplaying or outright excusing highly criminal acts--apparently just because the person committing the crime is a sympathetic character. That doesn't sit well with me, and it also kind of undercuts the whole search for justice aspect of a mystery. That part's what keeps this from being a 4 for me. I'll try the next one and hope the same issue won't come up!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bailey Briggs, her daughter Daisy and their golden lab Cooper are all headed to Humble Hills, Colorado to visit Bailey's grandmother, who's broken her foot. Granny Bee has a ranch with cattle, a few horses and lots of bee hives. Honey products are sold there and her friends (and book club) are called the Hive. When Bailey arrives, Grandma is busy throwing an older white haired man out of her house. Bailey learns that he is Werner Humble, the town's mayor. He'd been making advances to Granny Bee and she didn't appreciate it, and yelled "I'll kill you if you come back" as she throws him out. Werner left his suit jacket behind in his hurry to leave, so the next day Bailey volunteers to take it to his house. When she arrives, there's no answer to the door bell, but looking through the window she see him lying on the floor. When the Sheriff arrives, he breaks the door down and they enter the house to find Werner dead. He was extremely allergic to honey and bees and his body was found with honey in his mouth. Bailey is very worried that her Grandmother will be considered the killer and she and The Hive set about to find out who the read killer is.

The first couple of chapters were very busy and frantic, with lots of running around and many characters doing silly things, and at first I thought this was a silly book. But by the time I was half way through, I enjoyed it a lot. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy.

Bailey Briggs returns home to help, with her daughter, Daisy, to Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch and the farm she was raised on. Blossom Briggs, better known as Granny Bee is Bailey's grandmother and a beekeeper. Bailey isn't prepared for two things, her 'old bad boy' boyfriend, Sawyer Dunn, and watching Granny Bee toss the town founder off the property.

When Bailey and Sawyer find the town founder dead, evidence points to Granny Bee. Defying the sheriff’s orders, Bailey, and her best friend, Evie, find themselves in all kinds of outrageous predicaments to find the real killer.

This is the first book in the series, where all the women in the Briggs family are named after flowers. I enjoyed Granny Bee's two eccentric sisters, high tea, and how The Hive all came to Granny Bee's rescue leaving the sheriff exasperated. It is a fun plot and includes some yummy-looking recipes in the back of the book. I look forward to reading the second book.

I requested and received an ARC from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Books and I voluntarily reviewed this book.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Crooked Lane Books and #NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


The first in a new cozy mystery series leaves me wanting more. With characters who are likable, you feel like you know them. The story itself is fun, intriguing. Kudos!

I couldn’t get into the main character in this cozy mystery - her immature behavior and reactions put me off the book completely and I had a hard time getting immersed in the story. The beekeeping enterprise was the saving grace for me.