Now, reading and book reviews aren’t usually a topic I blog about. They are however something that I have been considering adding to my blog recently as I am a total bibliophile.

I have ALWAYS been a voracious reader. You will never not find me without a physical book, or my kindle, or an app on my Iphone. I have to have books, and I certainly spend a good chunk of money buying books every month.

My whole family is the same. My twins have always loved to read, and probably go through more books than I do every month. My spare room is filled with books, and I have boxes of them in attic too.

Whilst browsing on one of the blogging groups I am a part of on facebook, there was an opportunity to review the latest book by D.S Nelson, called ‘Live and Let Bee’

I was attracted to the premise of the book, which is number 6 in the series. The books revolve around the central character, Blake Hetherington, a Milliner with a penchant for vintage times, whilst living in a modern age.

Mysteries and sudden deaths seem to thrust themselves upon Blake, along with his sidekick Delilah and her beau, DS Rob Claringdon. The obvious suspect is not always the dastardly perpetrator either!

I started the book whilst spending the day at a local hospital waiting for a relative to be treated. I am pleased to say that I was glad to have bought it with me as it certainly helped pass the hours away.

I soon got engrossed in the story. Blake is staying on a remote Scottish Island for the up-coming nuptials of his best friend. The discovery of a body on the beach heralds the start of a mystery, that Blake is initially very reluctant to get involved in.

Thrown in Russian Oligarchs, Beekeepers, Eccentric locals and rivalry between two honey producers, and you have a roaring tale which kept me enthralled to the end.

The writing style is easy, yet detailed. The locations are talked about in a way that almost made me envisage what they looked like in my mind. I became quite invested in the characters, and wanted to know more about the three main stars.

I particularly liked the names of the chapters, which were all relevant to bees, and came with little snippets of information as to why the chapter title had been used. This all added up to the overall charm of the book.

I have to admit I didn’t anticipate the ending, which had me guessing right up until the last moment. I won’t go into too much detail, not wishing to spoil the book, but it was the opposite of who I was expecting.

As mentioned, this is the sixth in the series of books. I have already downloaded No1  and intend on getting the others later this month. There are actually 2 full size novels, (Model for Murder and Live and Let Bee)  3 novellas (Hats off to Murder, One for the Rook and The Visitors Book)  and 1 short story (Coming Home for Christmas)

The book is very well written, and the mystery does knot itself around you and sucks you in to the tale. As I mentioned, I am a voracious reader, but this book literally pulled me in and I couldn’t stop reading until I got to the very end, in just a couple of days.

The author manages to write in such an easy reading style, I was transported to the island and the local characters within. I almost wanted to stay at the guesthouse described within, with its eccentric owners. I wanted to go and walk my dog among the heather (although not find dead bodies)

Sitting down with a cup of tea and Radio 2 on in the background, I managed to lose myself for a good couple of hours. Well, dust only gets dustier and the hoovering would still be there tomorrow, was my theory.

Of course, my justification was that I had to read this book for the review. But the truth was that I was enjoying the book so much, and really needed to get to the end to find out whodunit! Let’s face it, given a choice to enjoy a cracking good read with a cuppa, or doing the housework, any sane person would make the choice I did.

And I am so glad I did. I relaxed, lost myself in the beautiful plotlines and spend a rather lovely afternoon immersed in the Scottish Islands.

If you are a fan of the mystery genre, especially the “Agatha Christie” style of writing, rather than a bloody thirsty murder spree type of mystery, then this book (and its predecessors) will be right up your alley. To make a comparison, think more along the lines of Midsomer Murders than Silent Witness.

The book is available for pre-order and will be released on 02nd March from Amazon for the bargain price of £1.99. It certainly is worth a read, in my opinion. This latest book can be read as a standalone book, however I do intend working my way through the whole series, and finding more out about Blake and his sidekicks.

There are one or two allusions to things that have happened in the past, and whilst this doesn’t detract from the book, it makes me want to find out more, almost a mystery in itself, finding out what other adventures the trio have had.

Why not go and give D S Nelson’s website a look too.

Watch this space for more reviews of the previous books!

What do you think to me including more book reviews, and introducing recipes and favourite items to my blog? Or should I stick to what I know best, rambling along in my middle-aged way? 🙂

I would love to hear your thoughts
Tx

**Whilst this preview copy was sent for me to review, all the thoughts in this blog are purely my own**