Book 31, 2024

If the Curse Fits by Kennedy Layne

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Last night I finished If the Curse Fits, which is the first book in author Kennedy Layne's "A Hex on Me" series of paranormal mysteries. The main character is Tempest "Lou" Lilura, who's been cursed by another witch.

Lou has been cursed by an immortal witch to have premonitions of murders. She is then compelled to rush to the scene in an effort to either avert tragedy or make sure the perpetrator is brought to justice. Lou is desperate to remove her curse, which is why she seeks out Piper, a young witch who comes from a long line of healers. When a murder is committed at the coffee shop where Piper works, Lou and her friend, Orwin, try to solve the case, but a nearby druid is blocking Orwin's ability to pick up on other peoples' thoughts. Soon Lou and Orwin are chasing down leads with the assistance of Piper and her familiar, a white cat named Pearl. During the course of their investigation, Lou has a premonition of another murder. Now the race is on to not just solve one crime, but to prevent another.

This is billed as a first in series, but I really felt I'd been dropped into the middle of a series. The reason why the witch cursed Lou was rather inane, and part of me wondered why she didn't simply ignore her premonitions if she felt so burdened by them. I was left wondering why Lou didn't have a premonition about the first murder. I mean...duh? That made no sense. I am also dismayed to admit that I didn't care for Pearl, the cat. I love cats! But she was such a condescending snot that I simply did not like her at all. The author saw fit to have a hunka hunka man show up everywhere Lou and Orwin did, but with no explanation as to how or why. Finally, the motive for the initial murder (and the attempted one) was incredibly pithy. I suppose it's safe to say that people have been murdered for dumber reasons, but I'd rather not devote my time to reading about it.

Favorite line: Piper seemed to find our Scooby Doo method of investigating crimes rather interesting.

I generally enjoy cozy mysteries that involve witches and familiars and whatnot, but this one was incredibly lackluster. Giving it a generous three stars.