5 Hoots

Witches. Mermaids. Magic. A wonderful beginning to a new cozy mystery series!

I was lucky enough to get and ARC copy of this book from Netgalley and I am really excited that I did! It is no mystery that I love reading cozy mysteries and I feel like I struck gold with this one. I read cozies that involved magic but this is the first one that I have read that involved mermaids! Sadly, these women are only descendants of mermaids and they themselves cannot grow a tail, but a girl can dream. While there were no mermaid tails there was a portion of the book where we got to hear the authors version of the little mermaid. Ariel wasn’t involved but there was a magical shield that played an important part in this story.

The story starts off with Alex going to Bellamy Bay to spend time with her family. It had been years since she was able to see them because her father cut off all connection with them, but since he died they are all the family he has left. Plus, she really just needed a break from her regular life, so off she went! Her family welcomed her with open arms and even allowed her to work in their apothecary shop while she was there, everything was going pretty great for her. That is until a man came into the shop begging for some “good luck tea” and then was found dead the next day. Police presumed that he was poisoned by the tea and immediately arrested her Aunt. This of course leaves Alex no choice but to help prove her aunts innocence. This is really where the story picks up and magic gets introduced.

I don’t want to give up too much because the book comes out in a couple days but lets just say that there was water manipulation, explosive tires, attempted murder x2, magical healing, and a lot more! I loved the world that Addison created for her mermaid/witches. She created this myth about the Warsaw Mermaid and how her descendants were healers/protectors just like her aunt and cousins. This myth became a very important piece to the murders that occurred in the town. Plus, it was just an interesting side story. What I also loved about this series was that the magic did not overwhelm everything and Alex wasn’t suddenly this amazing magic user. She was a beginner and it showed. Overall this was a great read and is definitely Owls Book Nest approved! It really set the foundation for a wonderful new series and I am looking forward to see where it goes.