Review - Home for a Spell

For those of you awaiting a review on the new Bewitching Mystery, I finally got to it.  If you like cozies but have never tried this series, you maybe surprised.  Let's go to small town Stony Mill Indiana for murder.

Author: Madelyn Alt

Copyright: Jan 2011 (Berkley Hardcover) 290 pgs

Series: 7th in Bewitching Mysteries

Sensuality: Mild

Mystery Sub-genre: Romantic cozy

Main Character:  Maggie O'Neill

Setting: Modern day small town Stony Mill Indiana

Obtained Through: Publisher for an honest review

I have classified this as a romantic cozy rather than a paranormal mystery because there is a minuscule amount of anything related to the paranormal or witches.  Maggie is sporting a cast on her foot and her boyfriend Marcus is caring for her.  But when Marcus puts off his regular pursuits for Maggie and even postpones taking college classes, Maggie decides to find an apartment she can manage even with her cast.  She finds a newly renovated apartment complex and the manager makes her a deal she can't turn down.  But the morning she shows up to sign the lease, she finds the manager floating in the pool.  Maggie's ex-boyfriend Tom is not happy to find her in the middle of yet another murder investigation.  The manager had a prior record and disciphering what got him killed may take uncovering what illegal activity he was involved in.

Maggie gets to investigate more in this book, even with her cast.  Even Tom and Marcus both are involved in Maggie's sleuthing which lends some jealous tension to the story.  The mystery doesn't have any immediacy and is just a puzzle to solve.  Maggie is a charming main character and of course Marcus's character is continually developed.  Like many cozies, visiting with your favorite characters is a main attraction and that is true in this installment of the Bewitching Mysteries.  The killer is a surprise with an interesting twist.

There is a change in the cold war between Tom and Marcus, Stephanie is getting married and her fiance will be taking a job in another state so Maggie is loosing her BFF.  There was far too little of Felicity in the book (again).  It seems there has been a definite shift from the first book till this one and it is away from the paranormal and more toward light romance.  Unfortunately, I like when there is actual paranormal or witchy things so this is disappointing.

Also in keeping with a cozy, the mystery stays light and not too dark, but sadly I must say that combined with moving away from the paranormal/witchy and the stories becoming even "lighter" I don't know that I will read the next in the series.  I say this with a heavy heart since I eagerly devoured the first in the series and anxiously awaited each new release.  But they just aren't for me any longer. That isn't to say that you won't still enjoy them.  Especially if you are looking for a lite and romantic mystery.

Here is a really amazing recipe for you!

Nutella Cheesecake
 

Ingredients

    *  2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
    *  1 egg
    *  1 teaspoon Vanilla
    *  1/2 cup chopped walnuts or hazelnuts
    *  1/2 cup ghiradelli dark chocolate pieces
    *  1 (13 ounce) jar chocolate hazelnut spread (nutella)
    *  1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (alternatives: chocolate crust or regular frozen pie crust baked first)

Directions

   1. Sprinkle chopped nuts and ghiradelli dark chocolate pieces in a thin, single layer on the bottom of the crust. Then bake at 350 for 7-8 mins to melt.
   2.   In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and egg until smooth. Blend in Nutella and vanilla until no streaks remain. pour into crust. Bake for an additional 30 mins.  Chill it overnight (about 8-9 hours).
   3.  Before serving top it off with whipped cream.
 

Review: A Witch In Time by Madelyn Alt

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Author: Madelyn Alt

Copyright: April 2010 (Berkley); 304 pgs.
Series: #6 in Bewitching Mysteries
Sensuality: Mild with adult themes
Mystery sub-genre: Paranormal Cozy
Main Character: 29 year old Maggie O’Neill
Setting: The small town of Stony Mill Indiana

Obtained book through: ARC from publisher for honest review

If you are making your way through this series from the first book, the last edition, Where There’s A Witch, ended with a decision concerning which of two guys Maggie goes with. Well, this review will be a bit of a spoiler.

Over the last several months Stony Mill has had an increase in crime. While some might write it off to new people moving in etc, Maggie and her paranormally minded friends know it is something else taking place. A few eyebrows rise over the news of a young man’s death possibly from a drug overdose.

In this book we have much more about Maggie and the dark and dangerous Marcus who turns out to be quite the boyfriend. While Maggie is at the hospital (sister Mel is having some complications in delivering her twins) enduring her mother’s disdain for her new boyfriend, she manages to get stuck in an elevator and overhear a suspicious conversation that filters to her. Later that night as she is trying to sleep in a chair in Mel’s room she overhears an argument from down the hall and the man involved ends up dead the next day. Is this death connected with the suspected drug overdose and how does the suspicious conversation Maggie overheard in the elevator tie in? Through all these developments there are indications that Maggie is developing into a psychic, to her chagrin.

"That would be my eldest daughter and her boyfriend."  My mother's voice came drifting down to us from the general vicinity of the nurse'es station, just down the hall.  "You might know him, actually - in an official capacity?  Tom Fielding.  Of the Police depart...ment."

I could tell by the way her voice went all funny that she had caught sight of me...and more important, of Marcus.

She hurried toward me, her eyes fixed on Marcus the whole way.  I braced myself.

"Maggie?"  She transferred her attention from Marcus's lean good looks to my frazzled form.  Her brows stretched high, an open inquiry that demanded an answer.

"Brought the coffee," I told her, pressing one instantly into her hand.

She ignored the coffee.  I  knew it as a long shot.  "And who might this be?" she asked, inclining her head toward Marcus in a way that was surprisingly regal and demanding for a plain old small-town housewife.

This book is less about the mystery and more about Maggie’s relationships with family and Marcus which I must admit was a disappointment. I missed Felicity, Maggie’s boss, she has a bit part in this one and even with Maggie’s developing powers there is much less about the paranormal than the usual books in the series. For fans this will be a delight of a read for the developing relationship between Maggie and Marcus, but if you are new to the series this is probably not the book to start with nor the one for a good puzzler mystery to solve.

The story is a light entertaining read with a sideline mystery.  It isn't difficult to figure out.  Maggie’s family is spotlighted and her mother is much like Marie Ramono from “Everybody Loves Raymond” and gossip-queen-sister Melanie has her life start to unravel which may result in that character growing a little. I am looking forward to the book where Maggie stands up to her mother's controlling ways, but it isn't this one.  I love Maggie’s grandfather in this one - he is a hoot. So for fans this is a fun addition but if you are new to the series this is not the best book to start with.

For your convenience you may purchase your copy here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ And for a little something extra ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Graham Cracker Toffee


Ingredients:

About 12 whole (24 squares), (honey) graham crackers (perforated) broken into quarter sections

1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)

3/4 C light brown sugar

3/4 C chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

3/4 C Chocolate chips

Line up the graham crackers  in a jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet with low sides), sides touching so nothing can leak out. Over low heat melt butter. Stir in the sugar – simmer (not boil) about 10 minutes – until it melts. Occasionally stir. Pour mix over crackers – spread evenly. Sprinkle w/nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. Take out and sprinkle chocolate chips over them and allow them to soften from the hot crackers.  Then spread the soften chocolate chips with the back of a spoon to cover the the surface.  Regrigerate for a few hours before breaking up into pieces.

Until next time, I wish you many mysterious moments.

Book Review: Where There's a Witch by Madelyn Alt

We are continuing in our October paranormal mysteries to build up to Halloween with this delightful mystery.

Where There's a Witch by Madelyn Alt

This is the fifth in the Bewitching Series with a charming main character named Maggie O'Neill who you could consider an apprentice witch of the Wicca belief system. Maggie is loyal to her friends and tries to be fair and level headed. She is sensible, friendly and a caring person.

"My name is Maggie – Margaret Mary-Catherine O’Neill, actually, but I’m not a formal kind of girl - and one of my personal truths recently discovered is that I am an empath. A bona fide, natural-born intuitive capable of sensing emotion, both past and present, in the air around me. This means that I have a tendency to pick up strong emotional memories that linger near people, places, and things whether those feelings are in the physical world or the world of spirits. Memories perhaps better ignored, or even forgotten. Too bad I didn’t understand all of this sooner. It would have saved me from internalizing a lot of emotional heartache growing up that wasn’t even my own."

I feel this a cozy mystery first with a paranormal angle second. Stony Mill Indiana is the small town setting that in past books has highlighted Amish neighbors and rural farm settings. In this book we have a local church carnival to raise money to expand the church as the setting for a murder. A young girl is found murdered on the church grounds not long after Maggie witnessed the victim in a heated argument with her ex boyfriend. Not long afterwards, Maggie discovers that a spirit from the crime scene has followed her home.

This book has the on going dilemma of Maggie dating a local cop while she is clearly attracted to another man with her same spiritual beliefs. In this installment of the series her relationship with the cop, who seems to try to mold her into what he wants, is clearly at a fork in the road. Will Maggie try to stick it out with Tom or will she give into Marcus' charm and never ending interest in her?

He studied me a long, serious moment, searching my face. His directness had always thrown me for a loop, and this moment was no exception. I lowered my gaze, keeping it focused directly on the ground at his feet, so I knew exactly the moment he took that single questioning step towards me. My breathe caught and I instantly backed away. When he didn’t move again, I was forced to bring my gaze up to look into the all-seeing eyes I had been trying to avoid.
Marcus shook his head again. The smile he wore was just the teensiest bit regretful. “Still scared, Maggie?”

Am I ever. Only of myself, not of you. I shrugged

There’s no need,” he whispered, making sure no one could hear but me. “We’re friends, yes?”

I could barely find my voice. “Always.”

Cozy mysteries tend to have the family ties that can drive the main character nutty and this book has that. Maggie's mother is the guilt-throwing equivalent of Ray Ramono's mother Marie. Maggie's sister is a spoiled gossip queen and completely self-centered. They are used to good effect as part of Maggie's life complications.

The writing is light and carries you along to the point you feel you are a part of Maggie’s life. As a reader, you will start to route for which guy she should go with and how to deal with her mother or sister.

The mystery takes awhile to warm up through the church carnival, but quickly picks up from there. The climax to the book is nicely done and on par for a cozy. If there were any elements to the book that I would like to see changed it would be that Maggie’s dad and grandfather became a more positive and important characters to balance the mother and sister. Dad and granddad seem under-utilized.

Madelyn Alt weaves an entire experience that draws you in and you don’t want to leave. Where There’s a Witch is a pleasant cozy with great romantic tension, adequate mystery, a sprinkling of tense climax that leaves you wanting another Maggie adventure. Next book in the series is due to be released on April 6, 2010 titled A Witch In Time.

Obtained book through: Personal Purchase


For your convenience, you may purchase this book here.

Be sure to check back in with us next Monday for a give away!!!

Part of the Book Blog Carnival