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Story Fischer thinks her life is finally working out OK. Her divorce is final. It's not wonderful that the ex lives down the street, but Story can live with that. Her bee-related business is doing reasonably well; the honey harvest is in and it's National Honey Month in Wisconsin. Then her mentor, Manny Chapman, is found dead and covered with honeybees. The obvious assumption is that he was stung to death by his bees. Story doesn't believe this; she knows Manny and bees too well. Then the body of Faye Tilley is found floating in the river. Story's ex-husband Clay is arrested for killing Fays. He says he didn't do it; he will admit to having sex with her in Story's kayak (is this physically possible??) but maintains he didn't kill her. For reasons that may not make sense to the reader but obviously carry a lot of weight with Story, she believes him and tries to prove his innocence. Go figure. I found BUZZ OFF to be a mixed bag. There were aspects of the writing that really annoyed me. I'm getting fed up with protagonists, usually women, who are generally unpleasant to be around, women that don't get along with very many other people. I'm tired of women who, inside their own head or out, persist in telling me how fat they are. I'm bored with women who aren't over their ex-husbands, who can't stand up for themselves, who need to find their spine. There is the upside to all this ranting - obviously Reed made Story real to me, real enough to annoy me. Short term, that's a good thing. Long term? Not so much. I'm not sure I want to read more about Story and her life. I know I don't want to encounter her friend Holly, who speaks in text. Annoying, and implausible, at least for a woman in her 30's (admittedly, I'm way past that age, and may not be au courant on that aspect of thirties life any more). Plotting? Good overall, although I did find it difficult to believe that a guy, especially a police chief, would carry a grudge from high school for a decade and a half. And that gossip central wouldn't have known how Faye Tilley died; Moraine isn't THAT large a town. Figuring out the motive and the killer may not present a big challenge to hard-core mystery buffs, but it isn't screamingly obvious. For the reasons given, I can't give BUZZ OFF a great review. I can say, with no problem, that fans of traditional mysteries, fans of amateur female sleuths, and fans who like a little romance with their mystery may find a small pot of honey hidden in BUZZ OFF. § P.J. Coldren lives in northern lower Michigan where she reads and reviews widely across the mystery genre when she isn't working in her local hospital pharmacy.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, September 2010
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