A Spell of Murder

A Spell of Murder
Clea Simon
Pub Date: 10 Dec 2018

Book Blurb:
“It’s Harriet’s fault. It’s always her fault, not that she’ll ever admit it.” So begins A Spell of Murder: A Witch Cats of Cambridge mystery, the first in a new cozy series that mixes feline fiction with a touch of the paranormal, and a little romance as well.

Becca, newly single and newly unemployed, wants to believe she has psychic powers. With nothing but time – and a desire for empowerment – she’s studying to become a witch. What she doesn’t know is that her three cats – Harriet, Laurel, and Clara – are the ones with the real power. And when Harriet – “a cream-colored longhair with more fur than commonsense” – conjures a pillow for her own comfort, Becca believes her spells are finally working. Could that be why Trent, the coven’s devilishly handsome leader, has been showing her special attention? Or why Suzanne, a longtime coven member, draws her aside to share a secret – a confidence that may lead to murder?


As the blurb describes, Becca is a young woman going through some rough times - she lost her job around the same time her boyfriend broke up with her - but she has one huge benefit that she doesn’t realize: she owns three magical cats.  And these aren’t just your average magical cats (for all cats have some magic), but witch cats.  When Harriet, a lazy creamcicle cat concerned more about treats and dinner than anything else, conjures up a pillow, Becca thinks she’s done it.  Which leads to all sorts of problems, including murder.  Clara,the youngest (by a few minutes) of the three cats and the closest to Becca, feels obligated to protect Becca and help her solve the case.

What I really loved about this book is that it’s told from Clara’s point of view.  She’s able to follow Becca, so we get to see the action, so to speak, but we don’t get insight to all of Becca’s thoughts.  Becca is a researcher, so she’s always googling stuff; Clara watches her, but can’t read, so we only get to see the pictures, for example, of the web search Becca does of her great grandmother (who incidentally had Clara’s foremother as a pet); we get to see there’s a connection, but don’t get the full details right away.  I’m hoping it’ll be revealed over the series.  I also love how Clara’s journey seems to be echoing Becca’s.  Both start off seeming very young, but start to grow into their powers, so to speak.  Becca gains some strength and independence, for example, when she finally walks away from her ex-boyfriend, while Clara starts to suspect she has other strengths, like being able to suggest things to people as well has her sister Laurel can.

The mystery itself was a little on the light side I felt; the motive just seemed thin.  Yes, there were some clues pointing to it, but it seemed a little unbelievable to me.  Maybe I need to re-read the book to find what I missed?  And I felt like a few of the main characters were flat; I never felt like I got to know Becca's best friend Maddy, for example.  However, given how much I liked Clara, her sisters, and Becca, I’m looking forward to future books.

I received an ARC of this book which I voluntarily chose to review.

To Catch a Witch

To Catch a Witch

Heather Blake

Pub Date 07 Aug 2018

Book Blurb:

Wishcrafter Darcy Merriweather might be a witch with the ability to grant wishes for others, but wishing isn't going to help her catch a killer.

When wishcrafter Darcy Merriweather's personal concierge company is hired by elite runner Abby Stillwell to organize the Wicked Mad Dash, a competition that takes place in the Enchanted Village, Darcy is more than willing to help her friend. As blizzard conditions rage on the morning of the race, Darcy's main concern is the terrible weather - until Abby goes missing and is later found dead, buried in the snow.

As Darcy investigates her friend's untimely death, she learns that she didn't really know Abby well at all. And those closest to the woman - her secret fiance, her roommate, her ex-boyfriend, and her co-workers at Balefire Sports - seem to have plenty to hide too. As Darcy digs deeper, she uncovers complicated relationships, a possible embezzlement scheme, and allegations of cheating against a top athlete.

Just when Darcy is convinced she's hit a dead end in the case, a startling burglary and the hunt for Abby's elusive ex send Darcy down a dark, dangerous trail. It will take the help from friends, family, and a little bit of magic for Darcy to stop a stone-cold killer from striking again.

This was a light book - good for a beach read.  I really liked the setting.  It seemed like a typical small village where everyone knows everyone else with the twist of some of the inhabitants practicing witchcraft.  It was the second book in the series, and while the first book wasn’t required to enjoy this one, I think it would have helped.  For example, early in the book, before the primary characters were known, there were lots of characters introduced with lots of different crafting abilities and lots of different rules.  I’m assuming a number of these were introduced in the prior books, so coming into this book, the reader wouldn’t feel as lost as I was.  At one point I debated creating a Cast of Characters list.  However, by the middle of the book, after the focus was shifted to a smaller group of characters, it became easier to keep track of them.

Another element that was a little annoying was all the rules that the community had, some of which seemed like convent plot points than a true rule of the community.  For example, when the main character is interviewing a suspect, she thinks she’d like to ask about X, Y, and Z - which would have made her job easier (and the book shorter), but couldn’t because of rule A. An multi-book plot seems to be driven by a couple of this rules.  Again, these rules may have been explored in the earlier books (I think I read this the 8th in the series)  more organically, and thus not be as contrived as it feels here.

Overall, a fun book - good for when you’re looking for some light entertainment.

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley and voluntarily chose to review.

Cherry Pies & Deadly Lies

Cherry Pies & Deadly Lies
Darci Hannah
Pub Date: 8 June 2018

Book Blurb:
Cherry enthusiast Whitney Bloom is furiously baking her way into the heart of Chicago with her fabulous cherry pies when she receives a desperate call from her mother. The annual Cherry Blossom Festival has just kicked off at the Cherry Orchard Inn in Wisconsin and the manager of the Bloom family orchard has been found dead beneath the cherry blossoms. Worse yet, all evidence points to Whitney's father as the killer. After racing home to help, things really land in the pits for Whitney when she discovers that Jack MacLaren, her old high school nemesis, is Cherry Cove's only police officer. Putting her cherry-tastic treats on hold, Whitney matches wits against Jack. But will she have what it takes to clear her father's name and sift out the real Cherry Cove killer?

Like many cozy mysteries, this one has a theme: cherries! Our protagonist, Whitney Bloom, grew up in Cherry Cove, Wisconsin on a cherry orchard living at her parents' Cherry Orchard Inn.  She left home for college and an less than stellar advertiser career before dashing home to help when there's a death in the orchard.

While I really enjoyed Cherry Cove, I was less charmed with elements of the plot.  Over the last 20 or so pages, for example, Whitney goes from shaking from the shock of nearly being killed (again) to going on a picnic with her best friend's love interest.  The killer is revealed with a somewhat contorted motive, Whitney saves the day, and then manages to forget that she has dinner plans with person A while eating with person B.  All this over the last 20 pages!  She also kept ignoring good advice, getting into sticky situations and screaming way too often.  True, I did appreciate she was always able to rescue herself (and the occasional drugged man with her); I just wished she acted little more intelligent (maybe a little less gleeful about heading into dangerous situations?) or at least have the situation initially presented as being less dangerous than it turned out to be.

Despite my misgivings about the plot, I really enjoyed the book.  I loved Cherry Cove and some of the quirky characters - Whitney's mother, grandmother, friends, and especially McGruff.  There was some fun lines - Jack's comment about having kids; the reference to the Scooby Gang (complete with some possible romantic foreshadowing??).  I look forward to reading future books in the series!

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley and voluntarily chose to review.

Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles

Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles (A Mahalia Watkins Mystery)
A.L. Herbert

Book Blurb:
Welcome to Mahalia’s Sweet Tea—the finest soul food restaurant in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In between preparing her famous cornbread and mashed potatoes so creamy “they’ll make you want to slap your Momma,” owner Halia Watkins is about to dip her spoon into a grisly mystery . . .

Halia Watkins has her hands full cooking, hosting, and keeping her boisterous young cousin, Wavonne, from getting too sassy with customers. Having fast-talking entrepreneur Marcus Rand turn up in her kitchen is annoying enough when he’s alive—but finding his dead body face-down on her ceramic tile after hours is much worse.

Marcus had his enemies, and the cast iron frying pan beside his corpse suggests that at last, his shady business deals went too far. Halia is desperate to keep Sweet Tea’s name out of the sordid spotlight but her efforts only make Wavonne a prime suspect. Now Halia will have to serve up the real villain—before the killer returns for a second helping . . .


I picked this book up because of a recommendation from a book list, and I’m glad I did. Mahalia Watkins, or Halia to her friends, runs a successful upscale soul food restaurant. She’s not getting rich, but she’s comfortable. Right off the bat, the reader learns of the importance of family to Halia; the restaurant is named not after her, but after her "grandmommy" Mahalia who taught her to cook.


This theme of cooking and family continues throughout the book. One late Saturday evening, Halia and her cousin Wavonne head home, leaving her business partner Marcus to finish his dinner meeting and lockup. They stop by the grocery story to pick up a few items her mother had requested for Sunday dinner the next day. When Wavonne claims to have left her purse at the restaurant and asks Halia to buy some make up for her, Halia decides to return to the restaurant so Wavonne can pay her back right away. Only when the two return Sweet Tea, they find Marcus dead. In order to protect her restaurant, Halia gets Wavonne to help drag his body outside. In the process, Wavonne swipes his wallet; before his body is even found, she’s using Marcus’s credit cards to buy expensive purses. If the police manage to connect the stolen card to Wavonne, she’ll be the prime suspect. Halia realizes it’s up to her to find the killer and clear her cousin’s name.

I enjoyed the characters of Halia and Wavonne; both seem well developed – it makes perfect sense that Wavonne would do something silly like stealing a dead man’s credit card and buying an expensive item. Supporting characters like Halia’s mom Celia and Jacqueline are also developed; I hope they show up in future books. Details around running the restaurant add to the story. I even enjoyed the recipes; frequently I find recipes in cozies less than appetizing.

There are a few minor criticisms. For someone so totally devoted to running her restaurant that she doesn’t have free time to date (a sore point for her matchmaker mom), she leaves it quite a bit during the story without much internal struggle. And Marcus’s car sitting in the restaurant parking lot for several days doesn’t cause much concern; when Jacqueline comes looking for Marcus, why isn’t she all over the fact it’s there, asking how long it’s been there, getting the police involved in finding him immediately, and so forth. I also think the assumption that finding Marcus in the restaurant will hurt its reputation is questionable; yes, they’ll probably have to close for a day or two, but given the public’s love of a juicy scandal and Marcus’s shady reputation, I’d expect people be lined up to see the spot where the dirty deed was done.


Overall, I enjoyed this book. Highly recommended.