Afbeelding van de auteur.

Meera Lester

Auteur van A Beeline To Murder

30 Werken 370 Leden 21 Besprekingen

Over de Auteur

Meera Lester is an internationally published author who successfully used the Law of Attraction to push her career into liftoff, writing ten published books and contributing to three anthologies since 2003. After several years of widowhood, Ms. Lester made a list of the traits, physical attributes, toon meer and, qualities she sought in a new life partner. She is currently planning her wedding to the man whom she attracted into her life. toon minder

Reeksen

Werken van Meera Lester

A Beeline To Murder (0009) 51 exemplaren
The Murder Of A Queen Bee (2016) 37 exemplaren
1001 Ways to Do Good (2008) 6 exemplaren

Tagged

Algemene kennis

Gangbare naam
Lester, Meera
Geslacht
female
Opleiding
University of Missouri
Korte biografie
[excerpted from author's Linked In profile]
I am an internationally published author of nearly three dozen nonfiction books, some translated into other languages such as French, Arabic, Portuguese, and Indonesian. I've also written a series of novels and my work has appeared in several anthologies. I've done college-level tutoring in essay writing, have written hundreds of articles and press releases, and worked as a magazine editor, columnist, and book reviewer. Currently, I do freelance developmental and copy editing of manuscripts, usually by referral. I enjoy developing project ideas, crafting proposals, and writing books (both fiction and nonfiction). I enjoy developing and editing books for clients.

Media experience: Law of Attraction radio, CBS, ABC, and KGO radio in the SF Bay Area and NPR in New York. I've been a featured guest on television and have presented keynote addresses for organizations such as the American Book Expo, Arizona Press Women, and Selling to Hollywood screenwriting conferences.

Other skills:Former respiratory therapist--worked in five ICUs and the ER of a large county hospital. Lifelong practitioner of yoga and world traveler.

Leden

Besprekingen

Former Police Officer Abigail Mackenzie loves her new life. She happily runs her farmette, raising crops and keeping bees. She's a bit concerned about other things though. Her friend, Paola, is renewing her wedding vows, but her husband Jake is a womanizing cad. Abigail is torn between wanting her friend's day to be a joyful one, but also wondering if she should tell her that her husband is a total jerk. In the end, the day is ruined anyway when someone shoots Jake and Paola soon after their vow renewal. Jake is dead. Paola is seriously injured. Was it revenge from one of his many girlfriends on the side? Or something more sinister? As Paola clings to life in the hospital, Abigail is on the case to discover who hurt her friend. Was the philandering husband the target? Or did someone mean to kill Paola? When a second body turns up, Abigail realizes she needs to work fast to solve the case.

A Hive of Homicides is the third book the the Henny Penny Farmette series. I enjoy this series. Abigail is a strong, intelligent main character. She uses her former police experience to really dig into the grit of things and come up with clues, facts and leads, despite local law enforcement really wanting her to stay out of things. I like the side theme of the farmette and bee keeping. Each chapter has little facts about bees, honey or farming. It just adds to the cozy side of these mystery stories.

In this latest addition to this series, the mystery is well paced. The story is a nice mix of the background theme and the murder investigation. There is some character development to further the series. And, it had a nice build to the end (no spoilers from me!) All in all, this was a fun read and I like this series! Each book has been great! I can't wait to read Abagail's next adventure!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**



… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
JuliW | 3 andere besprekingen | Nov 22, 2020 |
**I received a copy of this book from Kensington Press via NetGalley in exchange for a fair, honest review**

When Abigail Mackenzie left her job as a police officer in Las Flores, CA, she bought a farmette and settled into a life of farming and beekeeping. She pads her income with private investigation services on the side. When her friend and local businessowner, Fiona Mary Ryan is murdered, Abby steps up to help investigate. Cult tie-ins, an ex-boyfriend and possible drug connctions soon have local law enforcement and Abby scrambling to discover who is the murderer in their midst.


I enjoyed this book! Every chapter starts with a note from The Henny Penny Farmette Almanac and ends with a recipe or tips about farming. Some of the tips are quite informative, like the proper way to clean freshly collected farm eggs (I never knew there was a proper way to wash them off -- I've been doing it wrong!) and how to make tea from fresh herbs.

When I first started reading the book, I did a bit of reading on Farmettes. Basically, a Farmette is a small, residential farm where the owner makes their main income off-farm. In my mind, I see it as somewhere between a hobby farm and a regular farm. Abby makes some money off honey and herbs, but her side-jobs doing investigations help pay the bills. Living in the South, I know a lot of women who do the same thing.....legal secretary, teacher or some-such by day and evening/weekend farmer, crafter, herbalist. This made Abby seem like a very believable and likable character for me.

The mystery portion of the plot was well-written with plenty of possible suspects, red-herrings, twists and turns. The side plots did not over-power the mystery, although one character was extremely annoying. I will not provide any spoilers ... but readers will know immediately which one I wanted to punch in the face. :) The character was written to incite that very emotion in readers, I believe....and it was extremely successful in my case. :) The engaging mystery...plus wanting to know what happened with the detestable character....kept my attention right up to the very end of this book!

I will definitely be reading more in this series! A fun, mysterious time down on the Farmette!

This is the 2nd book in Meera Lester's Henny Penny Farmette Mystery series. Murder of a Queen Bee has a release date of September 27th, 2016 from Kensington Press. Lester has also written several non-fiction books including 365 Ways to Live Happy, and Why Does Santa Wear Red and 100 Other Christmas Curiosities Unwrapped. Check out her website at: www.meeralester.com
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
JuliW | 7 andere besprekingen | Nov 22, 2020 |
This is the second Henny Penny Farmette Mystery and I enjoyed it as much as the first one.. Abigail (Abby) Mackenzie left her former job as a police officer after an injuray and made a fresh start for herself as a beekeeper and farmer in Las Flores, California. As busy as Abby is running her business, she seems to get drawn into the investigations of crime in the town. It could be that best friend and former partner Kat gives her too much information, but whatever it is she is neck deep in the murder investigation of her friend Fiona. Hours after Fiona was a no show to the scheduled lunch with Abby and Kat, her body is found in a burned out car in what looks to have been a horrific accident. But what the medical examiner finds is a bit shocking, it was obvious that Fiona had already been dead before the fire, Abby is immediately drawn into the investigation out of loyalty to her friend. She also has a bit of guilt as Kat had called her rather anxious to talk about something bothering her, and Abby had scheduled the lunch instead of meeting with her right away.

The mystery was not hard to figure out, but the story was more about Abby, her life and what she was going through. Her old live-in boyfriend arrives back in town wanting to pick up the pieces, Fiona's brother Jack seems to have feelings for Abby that she reciprocates, the commune is becoming more cult-like, and Kat is looking for romance in Abby's neighbourhood. All that adds to the story to give the characters more substance. There is a little bit of a teaser about some commune members who disappeared so I do not know if that will be explored in the next book or not. Overall a satisfying read. My one complaint was the length of the sections at the end of each chapter. Some were rather long and broke up the story just a little too much, I actually stopped reading them. I enjoyed the recipes and the short bits from the Henny Penny Almanc that began the chapters though. If you are looking for a whodunit where the culprit is hard to figure out, this would not be the book for you, but if you are looking for a light mystery with some fun characters and a rather quaint setting, check this one out. The publisher provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
Carlathelibrarian | 7 andere besprekingen | Feb 5, 2019 |
This is the first book in the Henny Penny Farmette Mystery Series featuring former police officer Abigail Mackenzie or Abby as she is known to her friends. Abby left the Las Flores Police force due to an injury that will not let her shoot properly anymore. She purchased a small farmette and has embarked on a new life as a small farmer. Abby is also a beekeeper and when she finds one of her favourite customers, Chef Jean Louis dead on the floor of his bakery, she is sure he has been murdered. When the police chief closes the case and rules it a suicide, his brother hires Abby to investigate and prove that he was murdered. Abby's best friend and former partner, Kat encourages her to investigate and helps her out when she can. They make a great team at solving this crime and I hope more in the future.

The characters in the book are interesting and likeable for the most part. It looks like Abby will have some romance coming up in the future books with her handsome neighbour. I really enjoyed this mystery. It was quite realistic and was solved with good investigative work and intuition. At the beginning of each chapter and at the end is a tip or quote about farming, gardening or a recipe. I would definitely recommend this one to cozy mystery fans.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
Carlathelibrarian | 7 andere besprekingen | Feb 5, 2019 |

Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk

Statistieken

Werken
30
Leden
370
Populariteit
#65,128
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
21
ISBNs
64
Talen
2

Tabellen & Grafieken