Book Review: Off the Books by Lucy Arlington

The Novel Idea Literary Agency has planned a wedding-themed week for Inspiration Valley, celebrating not only North Carolina’s best vendors but also some of the agency’s most popular bridal books. The fact that Lila can use the event to plan her own impending nuptials is just the icing on the cake.

But wedding bells turn to warning bells when Lila finds a dead man facedown in the frosting. Soon it’s discovered that the victim was connected to several Novel Idea authors, all of whom quickly become suspects in the case. It’s up to Lila and her fellow agents to find the real killer before one of their clients winds up scribbling stories from behind bars...[summary via Amazon]

It's a bitter sweet world, we cozy readers, are currently living in. A lot of cozy mystery series are being cancelled and we are saying goodbye to much beloved characters, and towns. When you read you immerse yourself in the story and it can be very much like visiting family and friends. As is the way, when a series ends, it is sad to not have new adventures with those characters. 

I've been taking adventures with Lila and her family and friends in Inspiration Valley since her first adventure. The Novel Idea Mysteries quickly became one of my favorite adventures and it was very bitter sweet for me to pick up the last adventure. I'm hoping somewhere down the track there will be more adventures, but for now, I'm happy to have had one final adventure with Lila.

In Off the Books it's wedding fever, as the agency holds a wedding-themed week. Disaster strikes when someone turns up dead, and one of Lila's authors is a suspect. Together with other members of the agency, they look to find a killer before one of their authors ends up behind bars!

I really enjoyed this mystery. It kept me guessing right until the end, as I didn't solve the mystery before Lila. I also liked the wrapping up of several other character storylines. Even with murder abound, Lucy Arlington has managed to create a beautiful final book in the series, and give several characters their "happy ending", which as a huge fan of this series, I was so happy to see.

I thoroughly encourage readers to read this series. It's a fun, beautifully written series, with memorable characters and I'm looking forward to reading other books by the author in the future.

Book Review: Putting on the Witch by Jim & Joyce Lavene

In the latest mystery from the bestselling authors of Looking for Mr. Good Witch, the retired witches of Wilmington, North Carolina, are ready to kick up their heels...

With their coven’s spell book still missing, Molly and Elsie—along with their ghostly friend Olivia, her daughter Dorothy, and her boyfriend Brian—are all on edge, especially now that Dorothy’s infamously wicked father is back in the picture. So when they receive an invitation to an exclusive Witches Ball, the ladies jump at the chance to dress up and have some fun.

The castle locale is spectacular and the party is hopping, but the festivities come to a swift end when a member of the Grand Council of Witches is murdered. With the whole place on lock down, the coven is determined to find the cunning killer, even with an angry council and a real Spanish Inquisitor breathing down their necks...[summary via Amazon]

The witches are back for a spine-tingling good time this Fall, with their third adventure - and in  my opinion, their best one yet!!

Molly and Elsie, along with their friends, are headed to a very exclusive Witches Ball. However fun and frivolity soon turns to murder when a member of the Council turns up dead, and the ladies are called to find the murder. With danger lingering in every dark corner in the castle, it is a spine-tingling good time, as I watched Molly, Elsie, Olivia, Dorothy and Brian investigate and try to find a killer!

Alike to other readers of this series, reading Putting on the Witch was very bittersweet for me. I've read and loved so many books that Jim and Joyce Lavene have read, and with both of them passing away within the last year, reading their final book in this series was so bittersweet. Jim and Joyce Lavene always created memorable characters, in unlikely situations, that always left me more than satisfied when I turned the last page. This series is certainly no exception. The Retired Witches Mysteries is a first class series, and any fan of para-normal cozy mysteries should certainly add this one to their list.

If you're looking for a bewitching tale to read this Fall, pick up the Retired Witches mysteries. You will love all the characters, both human, ghostly and feline, and will be wanting to read the entire series again and again.