Honey-Baked Homicide by Gayle Leeson

The owner of a delightful Southern café tastes the sharp sting of suspicion in this delectable comfort food mystery . . .
 
It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning.

As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation…

HONEY-BAKED HOMICIDE author Gayle Leeson stopped by The Big Thrill to discuss her latest mystery:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

I hope readers will take away the importance of saving our honey bee population and the fact that we never know what is going on in someone’s private life.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

I didn’t have much knowledge of beekeeping or domestic beehives when I began researching the book. I was surprised at all the work that goes into making a hive successful and at the delicacy of the hive.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

Homer–a customer at the Down South Café who has a new hero each day–continues to grow as a character. He has a photographic memory, and Amy wonders how far he could’ve gone had he had the means to get a good education. That goes back to my previous assertion that we never know what’s going on in someone else’s life or mind.

*****

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle also writes as Amanda Lee. As Gayle Trent, she writes the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery series. As Amanda Lee, she writes the Embroidery Mystery series. Gayle lives in Southwest Virginia with her family and is having a blast writing the Down South Café series.

To learn more about Gayle and her work, please visit her website.