I am a long-time fan of Jennie Marts, so I was very excited to read this 2nd book in her new Cozy Mystery Series. I very much enjoyed returning to Humble Hills, Colorado to visit Bailey Briggs, her family, and her quirky friends.

Hilarity ensues when at the annual Bee Festival there's a bake off, a beauty pageant, and the murder of a not-so-nice celebrity host.

I beelieve in my review of the first book in the series, I called it Thelma & Louise meets Lucy & Ethel, and it's still true. The author is brilliant at plotting an unputdownable mystery and keeping the reader turning page after page to get to the end.

And speaking of endings, I literally gasped at the very last line of the book. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

An amazing cozy mystery. And the puns! The puns were wonderful! This book was an absolute joy to read and I would highly recommend.

The Humble Hills annual Bee Festival is about to begin and this year they've been able to get popular television host Rex Rafferty to host the festival's bake-off. When Rex is found dead part way through the festival Bailey and the Hive put on their detective hats to find the killer.

I loved the development of the characters in this book and will be going back to read book 1, as I anxiously wait for book 3. The town of Humble Hills, especially with the Bee Festival, give off Gilmore Girl's Stars Hallow vibes in the best way. This may be my favourite book this year.

Thank you to Jennie Marts and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy but am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

This is the second in the Bee Keeping mystery series, and I love it!!

Bailey Briggs is helping her granny with the annual Bee Festival in Humble Hills, Colorado. They have asked a famous celebrity to host the cooking contest and were surprised when he said yes. Of course, he had his stipulations as he was a hollywood diva. They were still happy that he accepted. He brought his television crew from California to film the event, which made it even more exciting. That is until they found his dead body backstage.

Bailey with her Granny Bee and her geriatric friends/sleuths were on the case since Bailey's best friend, Evie was suspected of the murder. Sheriff Sawyer Dunn is not happy with their 'help'.

This series is a joy to read as the humor has me laughing out loud and the characters are wonderful.

While I am very familiar with Jennie Marts's cowboy books, this was my introduction to her cozy, small town murder mysteries. I didn't read the first book, but that was not a problem keeping up, with lots of back story provided. It is a second chance, small town romance, amateur sleuth/ novelist story with amiable characters, lively banter, lots of information about bees and the doings at a morgue and a well developed mystery murder.

Bailey Briggs was abandoned by first her father and then her mother when she was a little girl, but was taken in by her lively grandmother, Granny Bee, who raised her at the old homestead in the little town of Humble Hills, Colorado. Bailey had moved away, but when she was soon on the brink of being homeless she returned home with he daughter, Daisy. The annual Bee Festival is approaching and as it is sponsered by Granny Bee, so all hands on deck. They hired a celebrity host from California to be the emcee for the Cook-off. There is also a beauty pageant, a bear run and lots of bee related activities. With not enough contestants, Bailey's two elderly aunts enter the pageant. Hilarious! But soon the obnoxious emcee ends up dead. When Evie, Bailey's bff becomes one of the suspects, Bailey and all her friends, relatives and the book club, get involved to prove her innocence. To add texture to the story, Bailey had a boy friend, Sawyer Dunn, in high school, who moved away suddenly, but he has also come back to Humble Hills and is the sheriff. Is he also Daisy's dad? Cliff hanger!

This is a very entertaining book and I look forward to reading more. I was gifted with an Advanced Reader's copy provide by NewGalley.com. This is my unbiased, voluntary and honest review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I was able to find the audio version through my local library app. This was a cute cozy mystery novel. I love the cover! The characters are great and loved the town. Highly recommend for those who like to to read murder mystery novels.

This was a fun new series for me. I loved how Bailey interacted with the characters, and the flow of the storyline. I enjoy cozy mysteries where I think I've figured it out, but get foiled in the end. And I wouldn't mind having my own Hive too.

An annual bee festival is all a buzz, pun intended, when a celebrity host is killed. Rival contestants and long held secrets blur the investigation with multiple suspects. Bailey is at the center of a murder investigation and Granny Bee with her misfit group of amateur sleuths are on the job to clear a dear friend. Touch of romance makes for a sweet cozy. Grab a tea and scone and settle in for a cozy read. Has recipes in the back.

This is book 2 in the Bee Keeping Mystery series and it is an enjoyable addition to the cozy mystery genre! I like the characters, the setting and the mysteries. I like that Bailey is a little older with a tween daughter. It is definitely a series I will continue to follow.

This is such great sequel to Take the Honey and Run! I love our protagonist and her friends and family. This book had me laughing out loud at some of their antics. They mystery was so fun. I cannot wait for the next one!

I love cozy mystery novels set in the bee keeping world and this is a good one.
Entertaining, well researched, and with the right level of twists and humour
Had fan and it kept me hook.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A great addition to an incredible series! Wonderful characters in an incredible setting. This book will keep you guessing until the end.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one in the series. The mystery was engaging and kept me guessing until the end.

While I didn't love this one as much as I did the first one in the series. But I still did enjoy the book, though I like the characters more than I did the mystery. But I will still pick up the next one in the series.

What a fun book to listen to. The narrator was great, very easy to listen to. Had me laughing out loud from the very beginning, loved the bee puns. Bailey is once again trying to write her own mystery, when she has to put her amateur skills to help solve a murder in this quaint little town. Love the elderly sisters, they are such a hoot. I'm hoping there is more to come.

Just buzzed through "Kill or Bee Killed" by Jennie Marts, and it’s a delightful addition to the Humble Hills series!

The annual Bee Festival in Humble Hills, Colorado, turns deadly when a celebrity host winds up dead, and Bailey’s best friend Evie becomes the prime suspect. With the help of her Granny Bee and some quirky friends, Bailey is on the case to clear Evie’s name. 🐝🕵️‍♀️

This book is packed with charm, humor, and a thrilling mystery that kept me hooked. I can’t wait to read more in this series!

I thought I'd enjoy this mystery that takes place at a honey festival in Colorado, one of my favorite places. But I didn't really enjoy it all that much. At first I thought it was going to be one of those mystery-in-name-only books that is really a romance, because the first few chapters were all about Bailey stumbling and bumbling and being embarrassed, rescued, and aroused at the same time by Sawyer, who is, of course, the sheriff. I think Bailey does the exact same pratfall that lands her in Sawyer's arms at least 4 times. It was funny the first time, but not the second and definitely not the third. The author has surrounded her main character with a quirky family and friends. I think I liked her grandmother and aunts more than Bailey. The town name--Humble Hills; dreadful. The murder takes place backstage at a cooking competition, because those are all the rage now. The hook is that all of the dishes must use honey as an ingredient. The cast is cliched--there's the smarmy emcee, the best friend who's competing, the good 'ole boy, the uptight snob who slowly unravels under the heat of the competition, the production crew members who are hiding secrets. I hate to be a snob, and I am as much a fan of salami and cheese on a cracker as the next person, but it is not a "gorgeous charcuterie board" when you're serving Ritz crackers. If Sawyer "scrubbed" his hand through his hair once, he did it 5 times. Scrubbed is not the right verb here. And after coming up with some ridiculous phrases for the characters to use so they don't curse (e.g., jagoff instead of jerk), the author has a main character call someone a "douche canoe" and a "douche wad." That ain't gentlewomanly in my book at all; I find that way more offensive that a four-letter word. But Ms. Marts needed to introduce a wild side to someone, somehow to move her story along, so she has Bailey and Evie break into a motorhome to look for clues. Evie later makes a crude allusion to sex, and so does 12-year-old Daisy, so those expecting a squeaky clean book will be surprised. I sure was--that was totally out of character for Evie and if that was my 12-year-old, I'd be terrified. I was floored when Daisy knowingly repeated some racy dialogue she overheard. There are more instances of out-of-character or just weird behavior (Evie reaches over and starts helping herself to the funnel cake eaten by someone she's met maybe two or three times, professionally, and has only known for two days; how rude) that almost made me think a second author was writing these scenes. The book has one good thing going for it--a golden retriever. There, I thought of two nice things to say: I like the dog and I like the great aunts. Otherwise, I disliked this book a lot. It read like an unedited draft (there were many typos in the Kindle ARC) written by an immature teenager trying to act grown up and cosmopolitan and failing miserably. It's hard to write this, but avoid this book.

We're back @ the honeybuzz ranch for a visit w/ Granny Bee, Bailey, Daisy, Sawyer in the aunties! It's time for the beeee festival and along w/ a bear run and a pageant is a bake off being hosted by celebrity judge Rex Rafferty. Things start buzzing when the celebrity host is found dead.
I really am loving this series! All the females are written as smart, independent women and it's so refreshing! The mystery kept me engaged and (of course) I was guessing the killing right up until the reveal! The ending does feel like a little bit of a cliffhanger....so be warned!
For more cozy content subscribe to my cozy mystery YouTube channel the beachbum bookworm!
Truth beee told I would recommend this book to any cozy mystery lover! I would like to thank netgalley, the author Jennie Marts, and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book!

"Kill or Bee Killed" by Jennie Marts is a delightful and entertaining cozy mystery set in the charming small town of Humble Hills, Colorado. With its quirky characters, humorous dialogue, and a murder mystery that keeps readers guessing, this book is a perfect blend of suspense and lightheartedness.
The murder mystery is intriguing, with enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the end. Kill or Bee Killed" is an enjoyable and engaging cozy mystery that will appeal to everyone. If you are looking for a light-hearted mystery with a touch of romance and plenty of laughs.

This series is so much fun! I love Marts’s liberal use of bee puns throughout and how fun the characters are; though really, that’s where it ended???? Come for the small town vibe, stay for the mystery writer solving mysteries.
4.5 stars

Kill or Bee Killed by Jennie Marts
A Bee Keeping Mystery series #2. Can be read as a stand-alone but better in series order.
The small town of Humble Hills, Colorado, is abuzz with excitement over the annual Bee Festival. Activities include a beauty pageant, a “bear” run, and a bake-off that brings a television crew from California. Unfortunately, the celebrity host is found dead and Bailey, Granny, and their bookclub friends play amateur sleuths to try to clear Evie, one of Bailey’s friends.

Once again, Sheriff Sawyer Dunn seems to be late to the investigation as the amateurs run circles around him. Bailey and the Bee senior crew create more havoc than imaginable.
“ 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.”

Plenty of Bee puns as group combs through the clues at the Bee Festival. Ha! We see and hear a little bit more of the sheriff now that Bailey and her daughter are staying but it’s definitely the females in charge.
Cute and unlikely, but fun all the same.
Honey infused Recipes included at the end of the ebook.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.