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BEE MOVIE
by Wendy Webb
Marietta Publishing, September 2003
204 pages
$13.99
ISBN: 1892669242


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Beluga Stein is not your typical female detective. In fact, she's not your typical female. Big, bright, and sassy, Beluga considers Hawaiian muumuus to be the height of fashion, especially when accessorized by a purse as large as an overnight bag, shoes that have never seen heels, and a package of pastel pink cigarettes. Her casual clothes belie her vocation; a college biology professor, Beluga applies her hit-or-miss psychic abilities to the sleuthing trade only when she's not teaching classes.

In BEE MOVIE, Beluga's called upon to investigate strange happenings involving a low budget horror film. Accompanied by her black cat Planchette (her familiar) and best friend Tanya (seven time widow and crash course linguist), Beluga invades the world of acting after several accidents on a B-class movie set convince the crew that a supernatural entity is dooming the film.

She's hardly begun her work when a fire breaks out at the studio. After the smoke clears, an actor dressed in a bee costume is found hanging by the neck from a crane. Beluga jumps into the fray, interviewing a witchy actress, a hard-nosed director, and a nervous producer before turning her attention to more important matters, like the choice of food at the soundstage snack bar.

Although the police point their collective finger at producer Boley Ash as the culprit in the crime, Beluga considers the man too weak-kneed for murder. Leading lady Jett Blacke looks to be a better suspect, given her nasty nature. But then there's also Gigi Lui -- Gig, for short -- the tough little female director who doesn't want the union to find out she's working on a non-union set, and Betty, the film editor, who seems to know more than she should about a certain movie star.

Given a small part in the film, Beluga plays it to perfection while spending most of her time snooping around the soundstage for paranormal -- and not so paranormal -- clues to the crime. Matters come to a head when a second bee man is found dead, stuffed in an air vent. While Beluga is a firm believer in the supernatural, even she can't believe that the spirits are responsible for the growing body count at the studio. Her instincts prove to be correct when a very human killer decides to end her meddlesome activities once and for all.

The wisecracks flow fast and furious at the beginning of this mystery, almost to the point of becoming obnoxious. But just as the reader is thinking "enough is enough", the author wisely tells us why Beluga resorts to so many one-liners: witticism is a cover Stein uses to shield herself from loneliness. Alienated from her daughter by a misunderstanding, Beluga's witty patter becomes more palatable after a mid-book reunion of the two.

As for realistic police scenes, don't expect to find them here. Webb's in the writing business for fun, and fun is what you'll get with BEE MOVIE. Fans of humorous mysteries will clamor for a shortened school year after meeting Beluga, for outrageous as she is, this lady is one cool sleuth.

Reviewed by Mary V. Welk, April 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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