Bree Baker’s Seaside Cafe mysteries have become some of my favorite cozies. As someone who  reads for character, I appreciate the amateur sleuth, Everly Swan, and the strong supporting cast, including the almost-obligatory police detective who is interested in the sleuth. In the case of the latest book, A Call for Kelp, I appreciate Everly’s self-awareness. Her summary could be the slogan for almost all amateur sleuths. “I consistently bumble into the killer’s clutches while Grady follows legal channels to prepare a case and make an arrest.”

Everly Swan is the owner of a tea shop and cafe on Charm, North Carolina in the Outer Banks. The Swan women founded the town when they fled the Salem witch trials, and they’ve had a strong bond with the island ever since. Everly returned there, to the town where her great-aunts, Fran and Clara, are beekeepers and shop owners. Now, a Hollywood icon, Mitzi Calgon, is in town. She was a close friend to Everly’s grandmother, and agreed to do the voice work for a documentary film to save the American honeybee. Mitzi’s fans are swarming the island.

There’s a welcome luncheon planned before the filming begins. Just before the luncheon, Mitzi confides she has two hundred letters to give Everly that her grandmother, Hazel, wrote. There’s always been a mystery about Hazel. She went to Hollywood, but returned, pregnant, and never told anyone who the father was. Everly is hopeful she can find clues to the family mystery. Instead, she’s caught up in the drama of Mitzi’s murder, when she’s found dead in a plexiglass bee box.

How many times has Detective Grady Hays warned Everly not to ask questions and get involved in murder investigations by throwing around her “theories”? By now, people in the town, and even the local media, ask Everly if she’s going to investigate. And, Everly does have theories, although someone sends her warnings such as “Don’t Bee Stupid.” After she’s locked in a room, and has documents stolen from her, Everly knows someone is close, watching.

Part of the charm of a cozy mystery series is the cast of characters, and the development of relationships, storylines and backstories. There’s a mayoral race going on in Charm. Everly’s former lover, a rodeo cowboy, now works for the nature center. The Swan family has a fascinating history and a family archive. But, one of the most interesting stories is Grady’s. For a change, it’s the police detective, not the amateur sleuth, who has a troubled family history. Grady and his son, Denver, are attractive characters in the cast.

As with many cozy mysteries, readers might pick it up for the setting or the occupation of the amateur sleuth. Readers come back because of the characters and their relationships. The characters and the ongoing storyline just continues to get better in Bree Baker’s series, now in A Call for Kelp.

Bree Baker’s website is www.breebaker.com

A Call for Kelp by Bree Baker. Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks, 2020. ISBN 9781728205724 (paperback), 352p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.