Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult with Jennifer Finney Boylan

 

"There is one type of honey you should avoid at all costs. Mad honey comes from bees that forage on rhododendrons and mountain laurel, and it's full of poisonous grayanotoxanes. It causes dizziness, nausea and vomiting, convulsions, cardiac disorders, and more. Symptoms last for twenty-four hours, and although rarely, if left untreated, can be fatal....The secret weapon of mad honey, of course, is that you expect it to be sweet, not deadly. You're deliberately attracted to it. By the time it messes with your head, with your heart, it's too late."

         -Olivia, from the novel

Mad Honey was highly recommended to me by a friend, but she seemed to think it might not be fitting for my book club. That made me curious. I am a fan of Jodi Picoult and I wondered about the co-writer with whose name I was unfamiliar. The "Authors' Notes" were fascinating, revealing how the collaboration came about. I will try to write this post without spoilers although that will be difficult. 

The story is narrated by two women. The first is Olivia McAfee, a single mother of a teenaged son, Asher. She is involved in apiculture, or beekeeping. The other is Lily Campanello, Asher's girlfriend, who is found dead early in the novel. When Asher is found with Lily's body, he becomes a prime murder suspect.

Much of the novel describes the trial, with Olivia's brother Jordan acting as Asher's defense attorney. Very compelling!

I will say I was liberally educated on an important subject I knew little about, but I probably learned more about beekeeping than I really wanted to know.

A well-written novel, very suspenseful, with likeable characters, Mad Honey rates a 5 from me. It makes me want to look for another Picoult I haven't read! (There are several.)