It Takes a Coven

After Lee Barrett joins a former student’s bridal party, she expects cake tasting and dress fittings but not murder. There’s a magical baker, a best man with a checkered past, and a talking crow named Poe as the ring bearer. There’s also an old man dead under his apple tree, one of a series of unexplained deaths of witches in the area.

Wedding planning becomes strange when Lee’s scrying talent kicks in. With witches dropping dead before they even come out of the broom closet, Lee’s best friend, River, fears she might have inadvertently cast a dreadful curse on the city. Aided by a very strange crow and her clairvoyant cat, Lee sets out to investigate. Are lives being claimed by vengeful supernatural forces, or by the human variety?

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Series: A Witch City Mystery – Book #6
Author: Carol J. Perry
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Witch/Paranormal
Publisher: Kensington Books

Rating:

It Takes a Coven is a great addition to the “A Witch City Mystery” series. It is filled with wonderfully charming, intelligent, and unforgettable characters. Ms. Perry is a talented writer that puts sentiment and realism in her stories.

Lee isn’t your normal average person; she has visions that can be frightening in their intensity. Sometimes the visions make no sense; at other times their meaning is clear as a bell. This time her visions showed her a dead man in a gazebo on a beach, and she knows exactly who he is. It also shows her a dead witch who will go to great lengths to find the killer and get her spellbook back. Lee must figure out what to do to prevent another death and to appease the hanged witch before the congregating crows destroy the peace and quiet of the town or another body turns up.

Lee’s aunt plays a delightful role in this story and is very helpful as always. River North also plays a bigger role, and it would be wonderful to see her play an even bigger role, and it would be wonderful to see her play an even bigger role in the future. Lee’s boyfriend Pete is his usual self, and with Lee’s help figures out who the killer is in the nick of time.

Setting a witch-based series in Salem could never be wrong. The history and the city lend itself to mystery and magic. For those who have never visited Salem, it will inspire them. For those who have, it will bring back fond memories and give them fanciful ideas.

The ending of It Takes a Coven can be a bit baffling for a first-time reader. Although this book can stand on its own, it is helpful for readers to read at least one of two of the other books in the series. Clues to the killer’s identity are there, but they can elude the average reader and make the unmasking a letdown. Longtime mystery readers should have no problem figuring out who did it and why early in the book.

There are some issues in general; there is far too much talk about food and Lee’s car and not enough investigating. Lee becoming an investigative reporter, might upset fans who enjoy the interaction she has with her students who are intricate to the plot in almost all the other books in the series. This book and series are recommended for anyone who wants a fun, easy to read paranormal cozy with well-rounded characters that will leave them smiling.