Book 79, 2021

Post-op and Potions by Amorette Anderson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I finished reading Post-Op and Potions last night. It's the first installment in Amorette Anderson's "Midlife Medicine" series. The main character is Grace Littleton.

On her 50th birthday, Grace blows out the candle on her cupcake and wishes for some positive change in her life. She's divorced, her adult son lives overseas, and she's a traveling nurse. When Grace finds a random flier advertising for a nurse in a town called Covenstead, she packs up her bags and her dog, Lucky, and makes her way to the small town. There, she learns that the populace are all witches, and that she must be one, too, to have answered the Summons.

While Grace is trying to wrap her head around witches and magic, she also finds herself at the center of the mystery involving her lone patient, Earl. He was attacked by hypnotized squirrels, which means there's a Rogue Witch in Covenstead. Grace's predecessor was the town's investigator, and she is now expected to step into that role as well. Grace has no experience investigating crime, but she does love a puzzle, and putting clues together may just be the biggest puzzle of all.

This was cute and fun. I got a good sense of Grace's character, but not so much of the others. I expect that to change as the series goes on. I enjoyed it when Grace learned that Lucky was her familiar and that they can now communicate telepathically. There's a romantic interest, who for once isn't a police officer (hallelujah!), and Grace is making new friends.

Favorite lines:
♦ "Terrible, isn't it? All those squirrels creeping up on him right on his own land. It's just dreadful--has everyone on edge."
♦ "It's not every day that a murderous pack of squirrels with glowing red eyes come at ya, you know."
♦ If I'm on the right track, perhaps they want me to get out of town so that they can continue their squirrel-backed reign of terror.
I can see me at the helm of a cat-backed reign of terror...

The story was amusing, but not engrossing. Giving it an average score.