20 April 2020

Review: THE BEEKEEPER, Stewart Giles

  • format: Kindle (Amazon)
  • File Size: 1097 KB
  • Print Length: 245 pages
  • Publisher: Joffe Books (18 May 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B072FKXNC8
  • #1 in the Harriet Taylor series
Synopsis (Amazon)

A shocking discovery starts a trail of mayhem on the Cornish coast.

Alice Green is a beekeeper in the small Cornish village of Polgarrow. She lives with her pet jackdaw in a beautiful cottage not far from the sea. One evening, Alice finds something strange under the hollyhock bush in her garden. The gruesome discovery will change everyone’s lives. And then Alice’s best friend Milly disappears . . .

Detective Harriet Taylor has just transferred to the area from Edinburgh. As she investigates a series of shocking crimes, she grows close to the old beekeeper and is determined to bring the criminals to justice. But who is really what they seem and who can she trust?

A crime mystery with a touch of black humour. You’ll enjoy this fast-paced and dark unearthing of the secrets of a sleepy Cornish village.

My Take

I was tempted to classify this easy read as a cozy, although there are 3 rather ghastly murders: 3 elderly people who were part of a wedding party 40 years earlier are murdered within a week. The beekeeper Alice Green is the only one left standing.

When the local police can't solve the first murder in good time a "crack" team of outsiders with a rather pompous DI at the helm move in and come to a conclusion in double quick time. But even as they are celebrating Harriet Taylor proves them wrong.

This is the first in a series so readers can get in at the beginning of Harriet's career.

My rating: 4.3

About the author
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/stewart-giles/
Stewart Giles appears to be a British author with a couple of well established series available mainly in Kindle (Amazon Australia) for $0 

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