Spell Booked (Retired Witches Mysteries) Mass Market Paperback – December 2, 2014

Three older witches are trying to find replacements so they can retire. Unfortunately one of them is murdered and the other two try to find the murderer.I really enjoyed this book. I liked the quirkiness of the characters. I liked that they were not young but my age and older. As I got to know them and the world in which they live, I got into the story. I looked forward to getting home from work to pick it up and get back into this world. Wonderful world building!The mystery was believable. I did not figure out who it was. I kept thinking other people outside of who Molly and Elsie believed. When the murderer is finally revealed I was shocked. Not what I expected.This is a quick read but so satisfying. I look forward to more in this series.

Magic-themed mystery novels tend to come in two basic flavors, comic and portentous. Both can be hard to pull off, especially in a contemporary setting. If you’re in the mood for a comic one, *Spell Booked* is a very good choice! The characters are vivid and down-to-earth, their setting is rich with detail, the plot complicated. I giggled at the interactions among the core trio of witches, especially after one of them . . . changes, and I enjoyed the flashes of deeper feeling that arose from the storyline.The story opens in Wilmington, North Carolina, with a coven of witches who are getting up in years and want to retire. But they can’t do so until they recruit new witches to take their place. (Why this should be so is not really spelled out.) Their efforts in this direction are interrupted by murder, break-ins, thefts, and other mayhem. Although the husband of the central character is a police detective and the police are trying to investigate these crimes, most of the detecting has to be done by the witches, because regular humans are not supposed to know about witchly matters.The Wilmington setting is described, but not with a specificity that would have made me feel I was there (could have been more atmospherics to make the setting seem less generic). There also could have been a little more backstory; despite the fact that this is the first novel in the Retired Witches series, we seem to be pitched into the middle of an ongoing situation right at the beginning, and it took me a while to get on board. Because it is part of a series, there are also some threads left dangling at the end. But the core story had a satisfying arc and there was enough resolution that you don’t feel tricked into buying the next one right away! You may want to, though, if you develop as much affection for the characters as I did.

Interesting characters and an even more interesting plot. When Molly and her friends decide they want to retire they find a librarian that has magic she is unaware of. Likable characters living in our world with a bit of power.

Molly and Joe appear to be your average couple. She's a retired teacher and he's a police officer. But when Joe is at work, Molly lives a whole different life as a witch with her besties Elsie and Olivia running their herb and books shop, that is until Olivia is murdered. Molly is afraid to let her husband get too close because as we all know, magic and mortals/muggles/mundane world do not mix (I remember that from watching Bewitched lol). So with the help of a newly recruited, just found out she's a witch type witch named Dorothy, Brian, a male witch they met and Olivia's ghost, Molly and Elsie are determined to find out who killed their friend and why this person is targeting and stealing from witches.I really loved this mystery. It was written in such a light-hearted and comical style at times that it was too enjoyable to not suck me into the story. Being a witch didn't always have an advantage for the friends while investigating because whatever they were looking for seemed more powerful than they were. I loved their determination and sticking together. Olivia was such a hoot when she was a ghost, she had some of the best lines and I loved the friendly bickering between her and Elsie. Joe was an amazing husband--I won't spoil the one part but let's just say he's a candidate for sainthood in my book! Oh and I also enjoyed the insight given from the cats. So many times you read about witches having cats but the cats have no personalities but these cats communicated with their owners. Dorothy, the newest witch, had named her cat Scooter when she didn't realize she was a witch. The renaming of Scooter was a good part of the book too.This was a really intriguing story and I didn't have any suspicions until later in the book. My suspicion was correct but as always, I had no idea about the reasoning and deeper story behind. I thought it had a really nice ending. It didn't lead into another story but I like the characters so much that I do want to read the other two in this series. The authors, Jim and Joyce Lavene have passed on but I sure wish they were still around to write some more magical stories like this one. I intend to look into their other series as well.

Molly, Elsie, and Olivia are three witches who own a shop called Smuggler's Arcane. They are all getting toward retirement age and have been experiencing some lessening of efficiency of their spells. They are looking for replacement witches to take their place and to whom they can pass on their book of spells. However, early on in the book, Olivia is murdered and their book of spells is stolen. Elsie and Molly try to find the murderer with help from two neophyte witches.This book was a fun read. There were many twists and turns to the story. There are at least two books in this series.

I like the author and the story

Excellent!

I like this series. The authors didn't disappoint

Jill here and these older ladies show that just because we are mature we have not lost any of our zing!

Fab