A Hive of Suspects: An Irish Village Mystery, Sheila Pim

2001 Rue Morgue Press oversized trade paperback, Sheila Pim (Common or Garden Crime: An Irish Gardening Mystery). The mining village of Drumclash, Ireland, circa 1950, is all abuzz when irascible curmudgeon Jason Prendergast dies after dining on honey taken from his own hives. In a town filled with eccentric characters, suspects abound, including the bees themselves. There's Penrose, the morose chauffeur, and Vera, the vamping maid; throw in a couple of traveling thespians, some curious cousins, and a peculiar partner, and you have a typical Pim crew of likely candidates. Not one to fly off course, the head of the investigating Civic Guards gets a particular bee in his bonnet and suspects Phoebe, Prendergast's niece and caregiver. - Amazon