Book 62, 2023

May Day by Mara Webb

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I finished an ebook last night: May Day by Mara Webb. This is book 5 in the "Hallow Haven" series of cozy witchy mysteries, featuring peacekeeper Sadie Allen.

Sadie has gone from having two bickering guardians to having none. Miller, whom she was beginning to think of as her boyfriend, has disappeared, and Ryder seems to be avoiding her. While the rest of the people on the main island are gearing up for May Day celebrations, Sadie tries to change her fortunes by casting a spell for good luck. The spell goes awry, however, and Sadie ends up on the mysterious Dark Island after nearly drowning in the sea. Something about the island seems off. The women she meets are mysterious, and there seems to be very few men around. One man she does notice is Miller, and Sadie learns he's about to be married! In the meantime, one of the island inhabitants appeals to Sadie as the peacekeeper to help locate her missing sister. As if that wasn't enough, Sadie learns that the highlight of Dark Island's May Day celebration will be a ritual sacrifice, and she's it.

This story was just all over the place. Not a lot of it made sense, and not everything was resolved. Certain things that were building and building were resolved with precious little fanfare, which felt like a bit of a cheat. Sadie seems to have decided on Miller, yet she still ends up all a'twitter around Ryder. Sadie learned new things about her family, which leads to one of the most annoying aspects of this series: nobody will f*cking tell her what's going on. She spends a lot of time in a state of confusion, but people around her who could explain things never tell her anything. It's maddening.

Favorite lines:
♦ Nowhere in her instructions did it suggest that I follow the extinguished candle smoke to a watery grave.
♦ 'Owners came to my rescue, dragged me from the beach after I almost drowned and provided a warm bed, hot bath and evening gown. Five stars.'
♦ "You've both been scurrying around the island for hours like those pesky kids from Scooby Doo."

Not this author's best effort: two stars