Book 64, 2019

[chez_jae]

That Old Witch! by M.Z. Andrews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I just finished reading That Old Witch! by MZ Andrews. It's the first installment in the "Coffee Coven's Capers" mystery series, featuring senior sleuths (and witches!) Phyllis, Char, Loni, Gwyn, and Gwyn's mother, Hazel. It's set in the same universe as the author's "Witch Squad" series, and some familiar characters pop up.

After the untimely death of Katherine "Kat" Lynde, her four BFFs from the Paranormal Institute for Witches are called together for the reading of Kat's will. Unfortunately, the friends suffered a falling out years ago. Phyllis and Char are no longer on speaking terms with Gwyn and Loni. Forced together by Kat's will, the four of them discover that what they've been feuding about all these years--the "theft" of the spellbook the five of them were meant to share--was not what they were led to believe. Turns out, Kat had the spellbook all along, and kept telling the others that this witch or that witch refused to relinquish it.

Once they have tentatively reconciled, the four friends, along with Gwyn's mother Hazel, learn that Katherine was murdered and that her killer stole the spellbook. Determined now to get the book back as well as get justice for Kat, the four of them team up to solve the mystery. When another local witch is murdered, and Hazel later disappears, the pressure is on to find a killer before Hazel becomes the next victim.

The book was charming. I enjoyed meeting the characters, including Char's husband, Vic, who has been turned into a Chihuahua. Loni was a recluse, refusing the leave her home for fear the FBI would find her, but no explanation was given to why. It was obvious she was a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but it would have been nice to know why she believed the FBI was after her. In addition, Hazel was a bit over the top, in my opinion. I enjoy reading about feisty senior citizens, but Hazel went beyond feisty and into the realm of toddlerhood, complete with temper tantrums. At that point, her behavior was no longer amusing.

Favorite lines:
♦ "They call this carpet? I've seen thicker rugs on Dean Martin's head."
♦ "Wrinkles are like underwear. They creep up on you when you least expect it."
♦ "I hope they didn't put that in his obituary. Died of diarrhea. Can you imagine? You'd be glad you were dead."
♦ "Have you seen my ass? I'm pretty sure I'll have to start paying property tax on it..."
♦ "Your jeans used to cringe when they saw you coming."
♦ "You look like you went to hell and the devil didn't want you, so he spat you back up."

Good book overall.