Title: Seven-Year Witch
Series: Witch Way Librarian Mysteries #2Author: Angela M. Sanders
Source/Format: Netgalley; eARC
More Details: Mystery; Paranormal
Publisher/Publication Date: Kensington; August 24, 2021
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Synopsis from Goodreads...
Finding your feet in a new job isn't always easy. That goes double for Josie Way, who's settling in as Wilfred, Oregon's, new librarian--and has just discovered she's a witch. But will her fledgling powers be enough to save her from a spell of murder?
While Josie develops her witchcraft with the help of letters left by her grandmother, there are other changes happening in her new hometown. A retreat center is being built at the old mill site, and rumor has it that the location is cursed. That piques Josie's interest almost as much as Sam Wilfred, handsome FBI agent and descendent of the town's founder. When Sam's soon-to-be ex-wife, Fiona, goes missing at the same time that a bloodied weapon is found, Josie enlists her witchy insight, and her cat familiar, to clear Sam's name. But then the mill project's architect is found dead, and it's clear that someone has been drawing up a vicious plan. Now Josie will have to divine her way out of fatal mischief, before this deadly trouble turns double...
Overall, I liked the story. The setting was a small town, and there seemed to be secrets around every corner. The mystery portion of the story was good. It had a strong presence in the story. And while the characters went about their daily routines, I mostly liked the way they approached investigating the incident. There were a few stumbles with the main character putting too much focus on one possible scenario/cause, which didn’t really lead anywhere. But besides that, the mystery was good.
Josie Way is a witch that’s technically in training. She’s also a librarian with an unrequited crush who also happens to live in the apartment above the library, which comes in handy since her magic is mostly book based. That alone, was quite an enjoyable aspect about the story. The books really stood out as a highlight, because of the way the quotes and their presence were used in Seven-Year Witch. At times, the library felt like a character in its own right.
There were a lot of good and interesting ideas here, which wrapped up with a nice but open-ended conclusion for some aspects of the story. Seven-Year Witch was a fun read.
About the author...
Angela grew up in rural Northern California building forts in the woods where she devoured Nancy Drew mysteries. She earned degrees in economics and public administration, and in graduate school studied six months in Paris, sparking a lifelong interest in French culture. After 11 years as a congressional investigator, Angela realized she was more fascinated by the stories at the edges of her investigations–the decrepit exercise equipment in the ladies room of a Czech oil company; the curious number of framed photographs of women on a nuclear weapons official’s desk; the stupendous speed by which a particular Agriculture undersecretary inhaled chili dogs–than by the policies she evaluated. She returned to the west coast to explore the world and her imagination through magazine stories and fiction.
Angela lives in Portland, Oregon.
Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Kensington) via Netgalley for this review, thank you!
