In the Company of Witches, by Auralee Wallace (Berkley)
I listened to the audiobook version of this cozy mystery
with great delight. Part cozy murder mystery, part family saga, part sweet
urban fantasy (witches, ghosts, you know the drill), the story invites the
reader to contemplate deeper issues of generational trauma, loss, and healing. I
say “invites" because the process involves sitting down with a cup of tea
and scones.
The Warren witches have used their powers to help their
neighbors in the quiet New England town of Evenfall for four hundred years. Currently,
sisters Nora and Izzy, along with their niece Brynn, run a bed and breakfast, complete
with a secret garden of poisonous plants used in magic. Brynn, too, has a
secret: she once was able to communicate with ghosts, but that talent disappeared
with her husband’s recent death. And Brynn has no intention of ever using her
magic again. So when an unpopular heir to a historic mansion is found dead
(aka, murdered) in the bed and breakfast, Aunt Nora becomes the prime suspect.
The story moves along briskly, with plenty of offbeat characters,
revelations, and plot twists. If I had to name a fault, it would be how the aunts
kept nagging Brynn to use her magic again and her drawn-out reluctance to tell
them why she can’t. Otherwise, an entertaining book.
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