Death by a Honeybee (Josiah Reynolds Mysteries, #1)

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. Retired, 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 that 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 houses, Josiah struggles to uncover the truth in a city that keeps its secrets well.