Book 26, 2020

The Book Of Ill Deeds by Phaedra Weldon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Early this evening I completed reading The Book of Ill Deeds by Phaedra Weldon. It is the first in her "Witches of Castle Falls" paranormal mystery series, featuring semi-reluctant witch, Ginger Blackstone.

When Ginger gets a call from the sheriff in her hometown, telling her he's arrested her grandmother, she hightails it back to Castle Falls, There, she learns a man was found dead in the shop owned by her grandmother, Mama D. With no real evidence, Mama D is soon released, but now Ginger is determined to find out who the real killer is. She is aided by the town's new doctor, David Flanagan, and the deceased man's familiar, a black cat named Max.

As the clues begin to add up, pointing to someone wanting to obtain The Book of Ill Deeds, which is where all supernaturals' sins are recorded, and more people die, the race is on to find both the book and the killer.

Charming story. Ginger was likable, loyal and smart. Max longs to be claimed as her familiar, and with him around, Ginger's magic grows stronger. She is reluctant to bond to Max until the mystery is solved, but she may not have a choice. David is a solid presence at her side, and it was refreshing to not have the heroine's love interest be someone in law enforcement. Mama D is a hoot, and even one of the local harridans turned out to be not so awful. Plot clipped along nicely, editing errors were relatively minor, and there were enough twists and turns to keep things interesting.

Favorite line: "Enchanted objects always come back to the enchanter, eventually."

Very good, and I look forward to reading more in this series.

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