Helpful Score: 6
This is the second in a series that seemed like a good read. I really wasn't sure about it, but someone I know who likes mysteries recommended it to "break up" all the romance novels I had been reading of late. I immediately went and read book four, and have now begun book one. Okay, so it's completely out of order, but THESE ARE GREAT BOOKS!!! The mysteries have been well written, the characters are well rounded, the stories are fun! There are times that I have found paranormal books can be as harsh on Christianity as Christianity can be on the paranormal, but that judgement is not to be found in these books. Oh, you may run across a character who has that opinion, but the tone of the books does not show disrespect to any belief system. Instead, I think they have a very nice balance to them. Thought provoking without being heavy. Maggie deals with her love life, belief systems, small town life, and family dynamics all as she approaches her 30th birthday. This is definitely my newest addiction. I'm a true and steadfast fan of this series. May the books keep coming!!
Helpful Score: 4
Honestly, I felt that the description on the back was a bit misleading. I don't view the main character as a witch at all. If I had to label her, I'd say she's an empath testing the waters of paranormal investigations. Felicity identifies as a witch and I think that's fine, but saying Maggie is a new witch just didn't feel quite accurate to me. But, that's mostly just me nitpicking over word choice. :)
Anyway, I love this book and the series so far. The whole paranormal cozy genre is fantastic. What a concept! This book is a great example of the genre. I thought the mystery was engaging and quite a bit seedier than I anticipated. In fact, the plot was actually quite dark by the end. Overall, I really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the next one. :)
Anyway, I love this book and the series so far. The whole paranormal cozy genre is fantastic. What a concept! This book is a great example of the genre. I thought the mystery was engaging and quite a bit seedier than I anticipated. In fact, the plot was actually quite dark by the end. Overall, I really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the next one. :)
Helpful Score: 3
Another great book in the Bewitching Series! This is the 2nd book in the series! Both books have been good but this one I think was a tad bit better! Can't wait for the next one to come out!
Helpful Score: 2
This is the 2nd in the Bewitching Mystery series. This is a great series! The characters and storyline are really good! I can't wait for the 3rd one to come out in December.
From the back of book:
Maggie O'Neill was just a small-town girl, stuck in a dead-end job--until she started working at Enchantments, Stony Mills finest mystical antique shop.
Now Maggie is Indiana's newest witch. Learning to cope with her newfound powers is tough enough, but add to that keeping the stock at Enchantments organized and remembering to tape reruns of her favorite show, Magnum, P.I., and Maggie's got a full plate.
But when she witnesses an altercation between a local teen princess and another customer in Enchantments--and later the girl turns up dead--she feels compelled to investigate. Though the police are at a loss, Maggie has some tricks up her sleeve, or to be more specific, some spells, charms, and mystical intuitions. And with the help of her boss (and favorite witch) Felicity Dow, Maggie is spellbound and determined to get to the bottom of this murder.
From the back of book:
Maggie O'Neill was just a small-town girl, stuck in a dead-end job--until she started working at Enchantments, Stony Mills finest mystical antique shop.
Now Maggie is Indiana's newest witch. Learning to cope with her newfound powers is tough enough, but add to that keeping the stock at Enchantments organized and remembering to tape reruns of her favorite show, Magnum, P.I., and Maggie's got a full plate.
But when she witnesses an altercation between a local teen princess and another customer in Enchantments--and later the girl turns up dead--she feels compelled to investigate. Though the police are at a loss, Maggie has some tricks up her sleeve, or to be more specific, some spells, charms, and mystical intuitions. And with the help of her boss (and favorite witch) Felicity Dow, Maggie is spellbound and determined to get to the bottom of this murder.
Helpful Score: 2
The narrator has a pleasant voice. The paganism described is rather silly, that American eclectic white-light variety whose goddess has no name (apparently all gods are one); but hey, it's fiction. The protagonist is a little too blind to things obvious to the reader, and a little too ready to walk into the villain's clutches, but those are common problems in mysteries and don't, in this case, ruin the story, which is an enjoyable one.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked this book, but not as much as the first one. It has second child syndrome but not as bad as it could have been. It's still a good read.
Maggie finds herself once again thrown into the town's current murder drama when a rambunctious and prominent high school girl, Amanda Roberson, goes missing soon after her visit at the antique store Maggie works at.
At this part it's sort of made unclear why Maggie feels the need as an antique store worker, that's not particularly close to the girl, to dive in on trying to find out where she is but I guess that's me nitpicking. The story has to start off somewhere right?
A few hours later Amanda's car is found under an old abandon covered wooden bridge and the murder investigation starts. Maggie really starts getting into the investigation when Amanda's mother wanted to return the clock Amanda had bought that day for her Christmas present. Hidden inside the clock was some incriminating photos with Amanda entertaining an older gentleman, along with evidence she was running an underground sex blog that the high school population was frequenting.
Tom, her love interest to be, (for reasons I don't entirely understand, he seems like your typical small town narrow minded bigoted cop), doesn't make much of a return in this one but her sidekick in all these little mysteries so far, Marcus Quinn, does. Maggie seems to think he and her boss and friend Felicity have this torrid May-September romance going on but it's painfully obvious they don't. It's just kind of ridiculous, in my opinion, she is supposed to be this crime solving wiz and the reader (us) is sitting there going, "Oh give me a break. Could it be anymore clear that there is nothing going on?".
A few chapters before it ended I knew who it was. It being the dastardly murderer of said high school tramp Amanda Roberson. The mysteries are a little better than standard but the series is more than that. It has genuine pagan witchcraft as it is today and not any of that Charmed crap. (Sorry if you liked Charmed, I personally hated it) You get an understanding of who modern witches are. Both the flighty and powder puff types to the vastly intelligent personality set. The rituals and tools explained in the book are genuine information that witches use in practice today, so if this series succeeds and becomes mainstream at least it is contributing to easing some of the horrid stereotypes inflicted upon this religion.
Maggie finds herself once again thrown into the town's current murder drama when a rambunctious and prominent high school girl, Amanda Roberson, goes missing soon after her visit at the antique store Maggie works at.
At this part it's sort of made unclear why Maggie feels the need as an antique store worker, that's not particularly close to the girl, to dive in on trying to find out where she is but I guess that's me nitpicking. The story has to start off somewhere right?
A few hours later Amanda's car is found under an old abandon covered wooden bridge and the murder investigation starts. Maggie really starts getting into the investigation when Amanda's mother wanted to return the clock Amanda had bought that day for her Christmas present. Hidden inside the clock was some incriminating photos with Amanda entertaining an older gentleman, along with evidence she was running an underground sex blog that the high school population was frequenting.
Tom, her love interest to be, (for reasons I don't entirely understand, he seems like your typical small town narrow minded bigoted cop), doesn't make much of a return in this one but her sidekick in all these little mysteries so far, Marcus Quinn, does. Maggie seems to think he and her boss and friend Felicity have this torrid May-September romance going on but it's painfully obvious they don't. It's just kind of ridiculous, in my opinion, she is supposed to be this crime solving wiz and the reader (us) is sitting there going, "Oh give me a break. Could it be anymore clear that there is nothing going on?".
A few chapters before it ended I knew who it was. It being the dastardly murderer of said high school tramp Amanda Roberson. The mysteries are a little better than standard but the series is more than that. It has genuine pagan witchcraft as it is today and not any of that Charmed crap. (Sorry if you liked Charmed, I personally hated it) You get an understanding of who modern witches are. Both the flighty and powder puff types to the vastly intelligent personality set. The rituals and tools explained in the book are genuine information that witches use in practice today, so if this series succeeds and becomes mainstream at least it is contributing to easing some of the horrid stereotypes inflicted upon this religion.
Helpful Score: 1
This series gets better and better. On the surface, it's a nice cozy that makes for a good weekend read. But, it also offers a complexity and thoughtfulness that you don't always get from this genre. A smart cozy, I guess you'd call it! I hate to part with this one, but it's also nice to share!
Helpful Score: 1
great series. not too heavy on the occult..just the right touch!
Helpful Score: 1
Not really my type of book. I really love gruesome murder mysteries; sometimes I read so many truly suspenseful books that I need a break to clear my mind before I get scared. That is when I reach books like these. I read books 1&2 of this series. They were both quick reads, & sometimes that is a good thing too. Overall, however, the series is much too "girly" for me. If you like fun, quick, & easy books, this series may be for you.
Helpful Score: 1
A nice bewitching mystery. I would recommend this book and I will be looking for more books to read from this series.I would like to see how the main character "Maggie" develops and grows in the coming books.
Leanne D. (eclecticmusicmama) reviewed A Charmed Death (Bewitching, Bk 2) on + 426 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I found this book a slow read, compared with the first book of this series. For my taste, there was too much detail and not enough action.
I like the idea behind the series though, and hope that book 3 will another winner as I love the characters and Enchantments.
I like the idea behind the series though, and hope that book 3 will another winner as I love the characters and Enchantments.
Helpful Score: 1
One of the better mystery books I've read recently, made especially so by the interesting blend of magic and intrigue. My main criticism is that the author seems to depend on her supporting characters too much to carry the main character and the story. Other than that a definate must read.
As soon as I finished book 1 I ran out & bought book 2.
I really enjoyed it. It's a great quick read. Fun story.
I really enjoyed it. It's a great quick read. Fun story.
Fun little mystery.
Cute, quick easy read.
Bonnie Anderson (catladybj) -
the story was pretty good, unfortunately the author did something really stupid. On page 4 she reveals the murderer in the first book of the series. I feel like I do not need to read it now. I absolutely hate when someone gives away the key point of a story or movie before the end. It REALLY ticks me off. OK, rant over, Pet Peeve told, it was a decent plot. However if she does the same thing in book 3, that will be the last book of Madelyn Alt's I will ever read. A book should stand alone, you should not have to read them in order to enjoy them, tho that IS my preferable way of reading a series. I would advise you read this series in order, just in case.
This book bored me. I was well over 30 pages into the story when I just gave up on it. I later read a review saying the pace picked up a third of the way into it. Ah well, they had more patience than I.
Nice quick read. Need to enjoy the paranormal to like this book.
Maggie O'Neill is a witch-in-training, an empath to be exact. While working at Enchantments, Maggie encounters Amanda Roberson a privileged high school student with attitude who later that same day disappears. Of course, Maggie can't keep her nose out of trouble and when evidence falls into her lap, instead of going to the police, she investigates herself. We've all seen the horror movies, so you know what happened next....
I really enjoy Maggie's fumbling attempts at solving mysteries. She just stumbles along from one clue to another with no idea and then with a little magic it all comes together. She always seems to get herself caught with the killer as she's searching for the final proof before handing it off to the police. Madelyn Alt puts the mystery together in pieces so solving it can't be done until the final piece is laid out. Great writing!
I really enjoy Maggie's fumbling attempts at solving mysteries. She just stumbles along from one clue to another with no idea and then with a little magic it all comes together. She always seems to get herself caught with the killer as she's searching for the final proof before handing it off to the police. Madelyn Alt puts the mystery together in pieces so solving it can't be done until the final piece is laid out. Great writing!
Second book in series. Good reading.
A cozy. A quick lite romp through the enchanted world of witchcraft.
I liked the second better than first.
Great story line. I really enjoyed this book - lots more than the first one, and even that one was good. I would recommend this cozy mystery in a heartbeat!
Though I am enjoying this series, the ending of this story seemed sloppy to me. I didnt get the feeling that Maggie solved the crime as much as falling over the obvious conclusion. The uncertainty of Maggies relationship with Deputy Fielding and her attraction to Marcus make Maggie come across as very wishy-washy and confused me even more. Im led to believe that Marcus and Felicity are a couple (according to Maggie), but Im given the impression that Felicitys feelings toward Marcus are not of the romantic variety. So, this leaves me with more questions than answers. Im hoping these issues are resolved in future books.
I enjoy watching Maggies curiosity and interest in learning the Craft and am looking forward to seeing how she develops her knowledge. My favorite character remains Felicity Dow. She is the kind of woman people are drawn to instinctively, like a moth to a flame. She demonstrates a sincere compassion for the people around her.
Overall the story, though not intense, was a decent story that I hope will develop into more in time.
I enjoy watching Maggies curiosity and interest in learning the Craft and am looking forward to seeing how she develops her knowledge. My favorite character remains Felicity Dow. She is the kind of woman people are drawn to instinctively, like a moth to a flame. She demonstrates a sincere compassion for the people around her.
Overall the story, though not intense, was a decent story that I hope will develop into more in time.
Good series
Light, breezy one gulp reading. Fun, fluffy, and fast.
I didn't like this one as much as the first --it seemed to scatter here and there. I like the lead character though.
If you enjoyed the first one you will definately enjoy this one.
I love this series! This is the 2nd book. This book follows "The Trouble With Magic". If you like the paranormal, you will love this series!
Great Book!
A fun and interesting story
Good storyline well told. Good characters. Not for someone uncomfortable with paranormal and modern good witcheery.
Likable characters; an intriguing, multilayered love triangle developing; teenagers with what sounded like realistic teenage dialog, and bonus points for presenting Wicca in an accessible way for those not familiar with it. Plot is serviceable enough. When I originally got hold of the book someone (can't remember who) had told me that the cat on the cover was a main character, but not so -- there aren't any felines in the book whatsoever.
ok read good characters and plot
I love this series! Cute little cozy mystery with some paranormal/magic. Can't wait for the next book to come out!
I enjoy this series! Light, Fun, magical summer read!
