Book 113, 2023

Potion Problem by Linnea West

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Finished reading Potion Problem last night. It's the first book in Linnea West's "Halloween Helpers" series.

Lavinia "Vinnie" Daggerwood, a non-magical witch, and her twin sister, Lavender, are the newly-appointed Halloween Helpers. The job means they must assist others in the paranormal world with problems, big or small. As luck would have it, their first job is a doozy. A coven leader has been murdered, and not only must the Halloween Helpers solve the crime, but they are also tasked with naming the next coven leader. As if that wasn't difficult enough, Lavender is kidnapped, allegedly as a test to see if the Daggerwoods are up to the task of being Halloween Helpers. Now it's up to Vinnie, who has no magic of her own, and her teenage witch-in-training niece, Diggy, to solve the murder, name a new coven leader, and get Lavender back.

I'm undecided about this story. It was entertaining enough. Vinnie is a likable character--stalwart and dignified. However, so much of the plot made little sense. For instance, the Halloween Helper is typically one witch. If Lavender was snatched to test Vinnie and Diggy, who gets kidnapped when there's only one Halloween Helper? I am leaning towards thinking the person who took Lavender was making all that up as he went, because he seems to have an unrequited crush on Lavender. Even more confusing, Lavender had a premonition she'd be "going away" for some time, yet she made no effort to save herself.

Favorite line: "I'm happy to announce that all spiders have been rehomed to the basement."

This doesn't deserve any more than an average rating of three.