Book 25, 2019

Bells, Spells, and Murders by Carol J. Perry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Finished reading Bells, Spells, and Murders this morning. It's the 7th book in Carol J Perry's "Witch City" mystery series. Main character is Lee Barrett, young widow and aspiring investigative reporter.

On assignment for WICH-TV, Lee is scheduled to interview Salem's most beloved philanthropist, Albert Eldridge. When she arrives at his office, however, Lee finds the man dead behind his desk, killed by a blow to the head. Now she has a real story to sink her teeth into. Her boyfriend, Detective Pete Mondello, is on the case, and Lee is able to give him some vital clues, gleaned from her work as a reporter, her contacts, and the visions she occasionally sees in reflective surfaces. Helping the cause is Lee's cat, O'Ryan, reputed to have once been the familiar of a powerful witch. He provides subtle clues in the form of items and books knocked onto the floor.

With Christmas fast approaching, along with a monster blizzard, it's up to Lee and Pete to nab a killer before someone silences Lee forever.

Once again, the killer was fairly easy to guess, but it was still interesting to see the clues come together and the resolution fall into place. As per usual, the story was fun and exciting, with excellent characterizations. What wasn't usual about it was the hot mess of editing. I was utterly dismayed with the poor editing job. Quotation marks were misused, parentheses were overused and misused, and word usage was off. On top of that, in one chapter we have Lee addressing holiday cards and packages and mailing them, only to have her tell her aunt later that she hadn't even started on her cards. Gah! Editing, people.

Favorite lines:
♦ There's something so comforting about being in my own space, surrounded by familiar things.
♦ "A nice, warm cat is always welcome on a cold, snowy night like this."

The story was great, but I'm knocking off a star for the poor editing job.