Book 36, 2018

Roller Rink Witchcraft by Raven Snow

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I stayed up late last night to finish reading the ebook Roller Rink Witchcraft, which is the first installment in Raven Snow's "Harper Foxxy Beck" series, featuring zany witch Harper Beck, who goes by Foxxy.

Harper lives in Waresville, which is home to all manner of supernatural and paranormal folk, making it a tourist destination. She owns the local roller rink, where she loves to get her groove on. When Harper's accountant is found murdered, ritualistic style, in the Funky Wheel, the police suspect her bouncer. Harper knows he didn't do it, but as she begins to do some investigating on her own, she becomes the target of death threats. The detective assigned to the case, Wyatt Bennett, insists that Harper stay out of it, but she refuses to let it go. Once a second body is found in the Funky Wheel, Harper's theory about who murdered whom is blown out of the water. Fortunately, one small clue she unearthed is the key to the mystery.

While it sounds like a fun story, it wasn't. I mean, the premise is great, but the writing fell flat. While I got a sense of Harper's personality, other characters were two-dimensional. The reader never even gets a physical description of Harper. I surmised she was poc, but I can't be sure. I like to be able to "picture" characters in my mind as I read.

Beyond that...

( Here be spoilers )

The story really could have used some fleshing out and more details. There wasn't a lot of continuity, either. I have some others in this series on my Kindle, and I'll give them a try, in hopes the author improved.

Favorite line: A loud thump from the dining room caused me to whip my head in the other direction, and I started off toward it like a bimbo in a horror film.

Two stars for now:

**