“Something’s buzzing at Lavender Hill Farm—but it’s not the bees. When veterinarian Dr. Harriet Bailey-Knight joins a lively group of church seniors for a tour of White Church Bay’s must-see lavender farm, she anticipates a relaxing day among the fragrant blooms. But when one of the seniors remarks on the surprising absence of honeybees for such a beautiful sunny day, Harriet’s curiosity is piqued. She soon finds the bees aren’t gone…but something’s not right. Honey yields are mysteriously low, tensions are mounting among the staff, and the resident alpaca keeps escaping his pen. Can Harriet find the source of the issue before things get out of hand?
Meanwhile, Harriet’s aunt Jinny has been acting strange lately. Every time Harriet tries to reach out, Aunt Jinny withdraws. Fortunately, healing—of both bees and hearts—can come in unexpected ways. Harriet is about to learn that even when life stings, a little honey can go a long way.”
Series: Book #22 (of 22) in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to the prior books’ reviews: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, Book #10, Book #11, Book #12, Book #13, Book #14, Book #15, Book #16, Book #17, Book #18, Book #19, Book #20, and Book #21!
Spiritual Content- Proverbs 11:3 at the beginning; A couple Scriptures are mentioned and quoted; Church going & a sermon that discusses integrity; Mentions of God; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor/vicar, sermons, services, & Sunday school classes; A couple mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A mention of Vacation Bible School; A mention of a godsend; A mention of being blessed;
*Note: Religious phrases: ‘heavens’ is said once; Mentions of luck & crossing one’s fingers; A couple mentions of “ghosts” (a place offering ghost tours and a previous book’s prank); A couple mentions of a fossil called “devil’s toenails”; A mention of Mother Nature.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘shoot’, and a form of ‘stupid’; Some eye rolling; Eavesdropping; Many mentions of possible sabotage, stealing, and criminal actions; Mentions of a fire, smoke, & potential danger; Mentions of injured or sick animals & Harriet’s veterinary clinic treatments (including animals in pain or scared, possible organ failure, & allergic reactions being mentioned and shown; barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of deaths of spouses & grief; A few mentions of eavesdropping; A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A couple mentions of terminal illnesses & someone dying; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A mention of a kidnapping (in a prior book); A mention of jail;
*Note: Mentions of fictional characters, plays, & authors (Peter Rabbit, Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, ‘Othello’, Shakespeare, & Agatha Christie); A few mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of songs (from ‘Phantom of the Opera’; ‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles); A mention of a TV show (Spooks).
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, three cheek kisses, a forehead kiss, three not-detailed kisses, and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss (all are between a married couple); Some touches, embraces, & hand holding (barely-above-not-detailed); Harriet witnesses a fifteen year old girl being smitten with an older boy (who is noted to be “close to twenty” and too old for the girl at “this point in her life”) and the girl sneaking around to meet with the boy; The girl’s parents do not want her going out with the young man and *Spoilers* it ends with her breaking things off because of him flirting with other girls and his actions towards animals; She has told her parents about it all and does receive a punishment because of it, but her parents are grateful she told them *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of teens dating, sneaking around their parents, blushes, & crushes/being smitten; A couple mentions of dates; A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of a kiss; Very light love, being in love, & the emotions (by a married woman for her husband).
- Harriet Bailey-Knight
P.O.V. of Harriet
277 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
And just like that, the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series is complete! This has been such an enjoyable cozy mystery series with incredibly light romance, faith content, and non-murder mysteries. I’m sad to say goodbye to Harriet and the rest of the group, but it was a good ending to the series.
For this final book: I was quite interested in the mystery of the bees as a gardener and had some theories of my own. Harriet was a little too busybody-like in this with her snooping and eavesdropping which I didn’t love. Both her and Polly come up with stories as a way to gain information from others that while may not have been lying per se, it wasn’t exactly innocent either.
Some parents of potential younger readers might want to be aware of the interest a teen girl has in an older boy. It’s implied he is an adult and she’s not, but it doesn’t continue for long. More about this is in the Spoiler in the Sexual Content section of this review.
Overall, I did enjoy this book and trying to figure out the culprit. It’s bittersweet to finish this series, but has been one that I enjoyed reading!
See y’all on Monday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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