Ebenezer Falls, Washington…a sleepy burg or murder central? The game is afoot…as amateur sleuth Stevie Cartwright plunges head first into a murder investigation. With twists, turns, and suspects aplenty, this one will keep you guessing from start to finish. USA Today bestselling cozy mystery author Dakota Cassidy serves up mayhem and murder in Witch Slapped, Book 1 of her series, Witchless … Slapped, Book 1 of her series, Witchless In Seattle Mysteries.
“Oh, good. Not a problem. I’ll invoke the Gods of Pilates. I’m sure they’d be happy to help. Hang on just one sec while I dial them up. Oh, wait. I can’t. Know why I can’t? Because my hands are tied behind my back with zip ties, Win!”
A rib-tickling cozy mystery complete with an ex-witch, a dead British spy, a cotton ball bat, and a cast of suspects that will keep you guessing right up to the end! Join the hunt for a murderer with Stevie, Winterbottom, and Belfry, in a race against time as the local police prepare an eight by ten cell for our intrepid ex-witch.
What’s a girl to do when she’s a broke, shunned ex-witch with a very tiny, very hungry bat familiar named Belfry to feed?
Hello. My name is Stevie Cartwright, and I’ve been witchless for thirty days.
If only there was a support group for down-on-their-luck ex-witches who’ve had their powers slapped right out of them (literally). Just as I was licking my wounds after returning to my hometown of Ebenezer Falls, WA, and navigating my suddenly non-magical existence with the help of my familiar, the only friend I have left in the world–things got sticky.
Enter an ex-spy and newly departed spirit named Winterbottom, who’s infiltrated my life with his sexy British accent and a couple of requests…
Thanks to Belfry’s successful attempt to use me as a human antenna to the afterlife, I can somehow hear Win. I should be ecstatic; helping departed souls used to be my witch specialty. It’s like I got the teensiest piece of my old life back. Except Win’s dropped me right at a dead woman’s feet.
Madam Zoltar, the town’s beloved fake medium, has been murdered, and Win wants me to catch the killer.
My old life won’t be worth much if it gets me whacked before my new life has barely begun–and that seems to be exactly what the killer has planned!
This cozy mystery has a complete cast of oddball characters from witches to ghosts and bats to psychics. Witchless In Seattle Mysteries is a spin-off of Dakota Cassidy’s bestselling paranormal romance series, A Paris, Texas Romance.
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Already looking forward to the next book in the series. I like that I couldn’t figure out who did it, as usual. Plus some of the plot will carry over to the next installment!
after reading this first one I ended up getting the whole set read them all and wanted more so starting on another set
I enjoyed this book so much, I’m reading the entire series!
The book started out a little slowly, but quickly got very interesting. I really enjoyed it and recommend it.
Cute
Cute, entertaining story. A little lacking in background/motivation, though maybe those show up in later books. Seems like wish fulfillment on some of the goodies the main character gets.
Found it hard to get into for some reason. Main character just didn’t pull me in
Liked it a lot. Great characters. Easy read.
Fabulous paranormal mystery novel with outstanding audiobook narration
Stevie Cartwright is a 32-year-old ex-witch who, after having her magical powers stolen from her, has been shunned by her coven in Paris, Texas for no longer being magical. In the process, she loses her livelihood as a 911 operator in Paris, as well as the ability to continue with her passionate avocation, as a medium who loves to help ghosts. Stevie is broke and desperate to find a way to support herself and her adorable familiar, a tiny, magical, talking, cotton-ball bat named Belfry. Out of options, Stevie returns to the town where she was born and raised, Ebenezer Falls, Washington, a small, seaside town where nothing much ever happened when she used to live there. But this time around, within days of arriving, she is led to the shop of a fake psychic, due to the insistent request of a ghost who communicates with her through Belfry. At the shop, Stevie is shocked to discover that she has stumbled onto a murder scene. Madam Zoltar (AKA Tina Marie Martoni), was a beloved town eccentric, and far too many locals—including, most worryingly, the cops—view Stevie as Murder Suspect Number One.
Stevie soon learns that the ghost who led her to the crime scene is a recently deceased British spy named Win who knew MZ personally. Win wants Stevie to work with him to solve the mystery of who killed MZ. But the biggest mystery, as far as Stevie is concerned, is how the heck Win is able to speak to her so clearly. Granted, she can’t see him, as she used to be able to see ghosts as well as speak to them. But since she lost her witchy powers, she hasn’t been able to see or hear ghosts at all. What’s so special about Win that he can talk not only to Stevie, but he was able to clearly communicate with MZ as well, even though the dead fake psychic had never been able to communicate with any other ghost before.
I own the Kindle and audiobook version of this book, and I was so engrossed in this fun story, I listened to the audio version while reading along in the Kindle format, because I didn’t want to miss a word. The repartee between Stevie and Belfry, Stevie and Win, and between the three of them as a trio, all of it, is humorous and intensely entertaining. I’m not typically a fan of murder mysteries unless, as is the case with this novel, there is a paranormal element and lots of quirky characters. This wonderful novel fulfills those requirements in spades.
The moment I finished this novel, I rushed to start the sequel. I am greatly looking forward to enjoying every book in this series and, fortunately, there appear to be a lot of them.
This novel is narrated by the terrific voice talent, Hollie Jackson, who does an amazing job acting out the parts in this novel. She does a great job with male and female voices of all ages and various accents but, most importantly, her portrayals of Stevie, Belfry and Win are each distinct and spot on. I am delighted to learn that she has narrated all the books in this series.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 5 stars
Setting: 5 stars
Mystery Plot: 5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Audiobook Narration: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars
What a fun read, I’ve ordered the next several in the series, looking forward to them!
Very quirky book, interesting premise and great characters. I really enjoyed the read and will follow the series. Considering this story, I’d follow Dakota Cassidy’s other works.
Fun and funny! Creative storytelling…
I wanted to keep reading when it was done!
A witch who has lost her powers, maybe. And an attractive ghost who may not really be forever dead. Fun!
Liked the characters so much have gone on to read more of series.
I love this whole series! Cheeky and fun, it reads like a Janet Evanovich novel. Plucky heroine, hints at romance that I wish would get a move on!
Fun book
I loved this book, and how the author created such fun characters! Ok, I have to admit that I looked up cotton ball bats, and they are so cute! My library had a book sale and I saw quite a few Dakota Cassidy books, and I just HAD to pick up as many as I could. I love a good book, and I’m so glad to find another author that I just know that I’m going to enjoy their books!
I usually like this writer’s books the Accidentally series I really like. This book put me in mind of that with them at first. I loved the characters, the sarcastica bat familiar, the snarky spy ghost and the the the former witch who seems a bit shaky when she remember she doesn’t have her powers any longer. The story was moving along and then it fell flat at the end like a TV show that ran out of time and had to wrap it up.