Natural Enemy — Jane Langton

Spiders, bees, everything in nature had its place, until people interfere -- then things can turn to murder.

Edward Heron died, grasping for breath, with yellow jackets hovering around him. Had Edward's asthma finally killed him -- or were there more sinister forces at work? Edward's death would affect many people in his small community; his spinster sister's, a real-estate developer with his eye on Edward's property and Edward's long-time neighbor, Buddy Whipple.

Fortunately, Homer Kelly, another neighbor, steps in, and with the help of his teenaged nephew, an amateur naturalist, discovers just who would profit the most.