Book 88, 2023

Hoodoo and Just Desserts by Constance Barker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Finished another ebook last night. I read Hoodoo and Just Desserts by Constance Barker. This is the first book in the "Witch Sisters of Stillwater" series of cozy paranormal mysteries. The main character is Mazie.

Mazie loves life in her small hometown of Stillwater. She and her sister share a house with their talking cat, Moody. The peace of Stillwater is threatened, however, by a real estate developer who plans to turn a large parcel of ground adjacent to the historic Civil War battlefield into a water park. Everyone in town is against the project, which means there's no shortage of suspects when the developer ends up dead, skewered on the sword of a statue on the battleground. Mazie's sister, Fern, works in the sheriff's office, and she is burning the candle at both ends in an effort to solve the case. Concerned for her sister, Mazie starts asking some questions of her own. Mazie has the ability to speak to ghosts, and she hopes the three ghosts haunting the battlefield will have some information. Unfortunately, they aren't talking.

An okay story. Not a lot of character development or back story. The plot wasn't smooth; it was somewhat disjointed. Mazie and Moody were fun characters, but Fern was a tad too solemn for my liking.

Favorite lines:
♦ I already had the crazy cat lady down.
♦ "I'm not here to argue with the two of you about liver snacks and sardines."
♦ "She's getting a little pudgy, everyone can see that muffin top. Heck, it's not just a muffin top--it's a pound cake."

Cute read, but lacking substance. Three stars.