An ordinary murder leads to a perfectly magical mystery. A paranormal cozy mystery from #1 Best Selling Author Susan HarperMonica Montoya is the new owner of the Back Room Bookstore, an ordinary bookstore with a back door to the supernatural realm. When a man is killed at a party, her plan to live a normal life is turned upside down. With the help of a little magic, she seeks to bring the killer … little magic, she seeks to bring the killer to justice. Can Monica keep her secret and protect her friends, both mortal and supernatural?
Books and Brews is part of the Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery series. If you like fun paranormal mysteries, you will love Monica and her friends, both human and supernatural.
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41/2 stars
Captured my attention and didn’t let go good thing I f hv ave book two on hand. Great start to this series
Not a fan of this book and most especially not a fan of Monica the MC. She is hyper excited about everything! Every other sentence that should just be part of a normal conversation ends with an exclamation point! It’s like she’s yelling! All the time!!! Plus she bounces and giggles… a LOT. Seriously it’s like she’s a hyperactive 6 year old that ate all the Halloween candy in 10 minutes. She is annoying, especially since she knows nothing of the mortal world; more in that in a bit.
So the premise of this debacle is that she’s a witch but not a “natural witch” meaning she wasn’t born with her abilities but had to study hard to learn her craft. Ok, sounds like a good start but… she constantly compares herself to her identical twin (with different colored hair, eyes and skin tone. Identical? Nope, that’s fraternal twins dear author) Mona who is a natural witch and supposedly good at everything. But she’s not complaining! Which she points out each time she does in fact complain. Sigh…
So her Aunt has a bookshop with sides in mortal world and witchy world and retires. Monica takes over the mortal side since she interested in them. She knows absolutely NOTHING about mortals, their customs, their phrases, their food, etc. Because of this she makes ridiculous mistakes and blunders. I think it’s meant to be cute, but it’s just plain dumb. Aspirin is pronounced “asporyun” for example. Why? It makes her seem even more childish. And why would the Aunt leave a completely unprepared person in charge of her store? Witches and paranormal beings are supposed to be kept a secret yet they let this dunderhead loose to bounce and giggle and exclaim nonsense excitedly and repeatedly almost give herself away. It’s ridiculous. And I will point out again Monica talks often (too often!) throughout the book about how hard she studies to get her potions right. Okay, so why wouldn’t she have studied mortals and their ways before taking over the bookstore??? She hadn’t even read one mortal book before she stepped into the store and STILL hadn’t by the time the story ended.
Then there’s Officer Brian who she instantly has a crush on. SMH. Here’s another joke of a character. Dude is completely useless! And he decides to have Monica tag along to help with the murder investigation. She rides along in the patrol car, she goes inside suspects apartments, she sits in on interrogations. What? Does the author (or those who liked this book) even know how police work is done? She not hired as a consultant, it’s just “Oh gee would you like to help me solve a crime? It could be fun.” There are a billion cop shows on TV, watch one to get the gist of it. Gah! And Officer Brian is a patrolman yet has a corner office. That’s a puzzler.
This wasn’t a fun, paranormal light read for me. I expected more given the positive reviews and was sadly disappointed. Worse still I got this as part of a 12 book box set and I’m positive the next 11 in this series are going to be the same nonsense so I’m going to pass on reading any of them.
I wanted a fun and magical story. What I got was childish, annoying. And loaded with needless exclamation points!!!
Monica and Mona are witches who take over their aunt’s bookstore when she decides to retire. Mona gets the paranormal side and Monica gets the mortal side. Monica doesn’t have a lot of witchy ability so she uses potions instead. When a man is found dead at a town festival, she helps the handsome detective investigate while trying to keep her secret.
This is a story about a witch (not so great with potions) who comes over to the human side of town to run her aunts bookstore. She meets the locals and tries to fit in. She also helps the deputy solve a crime. I wish there were more depth to the story, but I can see this being a light easy beach read.
For twins Monica and Mona life as witches is fairly routine. That is until their aunt Wilma decides to retire and asks them to take over running her bookstores. Monica will take the human bookstore while Mona will run the magical bookstore. The trials Monica faces as a new “human” are funny and she is quite charming because of her naïve knowledge of all things human. Really looking forward to reading more in this series.
urban-fantasy, witches, murder, magic
It looks like a great book for those with the right imagination. I got lost when it turned out that while she had no witchly abilities, she also was unfortunately unfamiliar with mortals and their obliviousness to the magic around them. I usually have an easier time relating to the main character.
This is a fun mystery and an exciting start to what promises to be a great new series! I look forward to more adventures with Monica and her familiar, Abigail.
Actually 3.5 stars, instead of 3.
Books And Brews – The cute cover caught my eye, even though I like this author, having read several of her books already. This well written quick read is full of naivety, humor and interesting characters. Monica and Abigail have a rocky relationship but there are reasons. The bookstore is actually two, human and magical. A good introductory story about the sisters and their magic, which is well done.
There’s a developing friendship between the witch and the simpleton policeman, which may blossom into a romance. The murder part of the story is rather silly, Monica is investigating alongside Brian? The murderer is easy to figure out early in the investigation. This part of the book didn’t work too well and I was disappointed with the farce of an investigation. I contacted Fairfield to do reviews. 3.5*
The Flight Risk Cozy Mystery Series is a funny, entertaining series with a couple of interesting main characters: Pauline and Kendell. Pauline is a feisty, older woman from Georgia, USA, and her sidekick is a confident, young woman from NY. Add a pocket pup that barks at the wrong times and you get entertaining stories to read on their journey around the globe. P.S.: Pauline isn’t senile, she’s quaint and smart. 4 stars
Murder at Macbeth #1 – Funny, entertaining. I had stopped reading Ms. Harper for a few months and wanted to try this series. I enjoyed this book, the storyline and certainly the characters: Pauline and Kendell. There’s a little bit of everything in this story, including a nod to Jackie Chan. While the morgue scene was a bit unrealistic, it still worked, and the rest of the story is entertaining. The Bobbies take a bit of beating with their lack of investigating. 4 stars
A Killing in Kenya #2 – The story picks up on the plane ride from London to Kenya. This story is funnier and has more adventures than Murder at Macbeth. Added to the mix is flight attendant friend Liv and many fun animals. Well written with interesting dialog and an intriguing plot, along with plenty of humor and adventure. It was interesting to read about game reserves and legal hunting of endangered animals; whether this is true or not, it makes sense. Entertaining and quick to read. My favorite of the first four in the series. The next stop: Hawaii. 4 stars