Review by tortoise keeper -- The Magic of Murder
Posted: 06 May 2016, 11:37
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Magic of Murder" by Susan Lynn Solomon.]
4 out of 4 stars
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How would it feel to discover that your great, great, great, great grandmother was hung during the 1692 Salem witch trials and that she actually was a real witch? So begins The Magic of Murder by Susan Lynn Solomon.
Emlyn Goode's indoctrination into the history of her family starts when she goes to a bookstore owned by Rebecca Nurse. Emlyn is a writer and is researching a story about a witch. Rebecca specializes in selling witchcraft reference books and spell ingredients. While at the store Rebecca slips an old book in among Emlyn's purchases after "discussing" it with Elvira a large, albino cat. The book contains the story about the Salem witch trials and lists Sarah Goode as one of the women who was hanged. During the next week Emlyn finds out that a close friend, who is a police detective, has been murdered. Her next door neighbor, Roger Frey, is the dead officer's partner and he is intent on avenging his partner's death. Emlyn is beginning to have romantic feelings for Roger. So, with Rebecca Nurse and Elvira the cat, Emlyn sets out to use magic to solve the murder before Roger or anyone else gets killed.
I enjoyed this book and finished reading it in two days. It is a light-hearted, humorous story about magic, friendship, betrayal, and murder. My favorite character was Elvira the cat. While Elvira does not actually "speak" the people around her interpret her facial expressions and gestures. The story is fast-paced with lots of amusing dialogue. The plot is easy to follow and the main characters are well developed. There are not an excessive amount of secondary characters to make the plot confusing.
I have two minor complaints about this novel. The first is that Emlyn always seems to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to discover obscure clues. Secondly, I thought that the final reveal regarding the murder could have been more interesting since magic was the theme of the book.
Overall the book was incredibly fun to read. It had a unique twist on what you would typically expect from a mystery novel. This story left a few loose ends and could easily be turned into a series. I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I would like to read more about Emlyn and her friends as she continues to learn about her magical powers. I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a well plotted mystery with engaging characters.
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The Magic of Murder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
How would it feel to discover that your great, great, great, great grandmother was hung during the 1692 Salem witch trials and that she actually was a real witch? So begins The Magic of Murder by Susan Lynn Solomon.
Emlyn Goode's indoctrination into the history of her family starts when she goes to a bookstore owned by Rebecca Nurse. Emlyn is a writer and is researching a story about a witch. Rebecca specializes in selling witchcraft reference books and spell ingredients. While at the store Rebecca slips an old book in among Emlyn's purchases after "discussing" it with Elvira a large, albino cat. The book contains the story about the Salem witch trials and lists Sarah Goode as one of the women who was hanged. During the next week Emlyn finds out that a close friend, who is a police detective, has been murdered. Her next door neighbor, Roger Frey, is the dead officer's partner and he is intent on avenging his partner's death. Emlyn is beginning to have romantic feelings for Roger. So, with Rebecca Nurse and Elvira the cat, Emlyn sets out to use magic to solve the murder before Roger or anyone else gets killed.
I enjoyed this book and finished reading it in two days. It is a light-hearted, humorous story about magic, friendship, betrayal, and murder. My favorite character was Elvira the cat. While Elvira does not actually "speak" the people around her interpret her facial expressions and gestures. The story is fast-paced with lots of amusing dialogue. The plot is easy to follow and the main characters are well developed. There are not an excessive amount of secondary characters to make the plot confusing.
I have two minor complaints about this novel. The first is that Emlyn always seems to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to discover obscure clues. Secondly, I thought that the final reveal regarding the murder could have been more interesting since magic was the theme of the book.
Overall the book was incredibly fun to read. It had a unique twist on what you would typically expect from a mystery novel. This story left a few loose ends and could easily be turned into a series. I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I would like to read more about Emlyn and her friends as she continues to learn about her magical powers. I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a well plotted mystery with engaging characters.
******
The Magic of Murder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like tortoise keeper's review? Post a comment saying so!
