Magic under the big top.Murder under investigation.Can a non-practicing witch save the family business and live to see the encore?Charlotte never had the choice to follow in her family’s magical footsteps. Her parents decided decades ago to live amongst the humans and leave the mystical circus far behind. But when her ringmaster uncle is murdered and wills her the family’s magical business, she … the family’s magical business, she feels the pull to step back under the big top. As she harnesses the awesome powers of the enchanted performance, she vows to bring her uncle’s killer to justice.
In the midst of juggling her investigation, running the show, and navigating rival groups of carnies, the human-phobic Witches Council schemes to replace her faster than a flying trapeze. With threats coming from both sides of the tent, Charlotte must unmask her uncle’s murderer before the legendary circus takes its final bow.
Witchiest Circus on Earth is the first book in the spellbinding Magical Midway paranormal cozy mystery series. If you like colorful characters, supernatural circuses, and twisty mysteries, then you’ll love Leanne Leeds’ show-stopping whodunit.
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This is a new author for me but I really enjoyed this first book of the series. Charlotte is a witch who’s parents raised her in the human world without much training to be a witch. When her Uncle Phil is murdered, the power to maintain the Magical Midway circus is transferred to her and makes her the new Ringmaster. Will she be killed, too? I have Books 2-4 of this series and plan to read them. I know they will be just as good!
I have been provided with a copy of Witchiest Circus on Earth by the author via Booksprout for an impartial review. This is the first in the new Magical Midway Paranormal Cozy series and this was just a great way to start off a new series. I just absolutely loved getting to enter this new world and meet these new characters. I just didn’t want it to end and I was just captivated by this wonderful story. It was just so easy to get lost in and I immediately wanted more. I can’t wait to see what’s next for this series.
Witchiest Circus on Earth is such a fun book! It is a wonderful magical world. The paranormal circus is so interesting. I love the characters. There are many different magical characters in the circus with many different abilities. This book is engaging and well written. The plot is interesting and original. I highly recommend this book and I will be looking to read more of this series.
This was a fun cozy paranormal mystery. A witch that is raised as a human, not only having to take over a magical circus, but having to find a killer that used magic.
Loved it ! Look forward to reading more of the series.
Charlotte Astley’s parent are both witches
but prefer to live in the human world. Charlotte
is raised as a human never learning witchy skills.
The family lives in Mickwac, Texas.
One week per summer, she is allowed to visit her
Uncle Phil at his Magical Magical Midway. This
is paranormal circus and carnival. Hundreds of
Various paranormal types make this their home.
Uncle Phil is the Ringmaster until he gets poisoned.
Now the inexperienced Charlotte takes over as
Ringmaster. Her Uncle Phil’s spirit is able to
communicate with her.
Samson, the black cat, is a familiar that now
becomes Charlotte’s. Samson is able to read
thoughts and communicate through thoughts
to Charlotte. He is a main part of the story.
An array of unusual, quirky, colorful and
interesting characters involved in a murder
mystery plus an attempt on Charlotte’s life.
An intriguing read and very informative about
mystical creatures.
Loved the characters and the story. Also enjoyed the setting of it being a magic circus.
What a wonderful weird plot with so many wacky twists and turns. Magical characters, murder, mayhem, and chaos abound. Finding out who and what killed her uncle? With out time to prepare she must take over the job of Ringleader. Can she do it, whoever heard of a witch without magical training? Can she solve the murder mystery ? Can she figure out how to be a leader and protect all the paranormal creatures of the circus? So many questions, no easy answer, and many surprises and adventures await!
Magic and mayhem.
A great beginning for a series.
I can’t wait for more of this, I want to say more about this story but I absolutely hate spoilers, so I won’t go into details. I wish we could give half stars everywhere
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Wonderful characters, Page-turner, Great world building, Unpredictable, Original, Easy-to-read, Entertaining, Action-packed, Funny, Whimsical.
Bookshelves/tags:
contemporary, fantasy, humorous, mystery, nonhuman, paranormal, series, weres, witch.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
My first paranormal circus story ever and I absolutely loved it and I couldn’t bear to put it down! Hands down absolutely fantastic! Charlotte is a fantastic character and so much fun with her fellow circus mates.
Charlotte goes to her Uncle’s circus every year for just ONE WEEK and then she has to go home (per her father’s rules). So as you can guess Charlotte really doesn’t know much about the circus OR the paranormals who call it home. Add to it, that Charlotte is a witch, but barely so. Here’s why. Her dad doesn’t want her practicing any magical abilities because he’s concerned that her Uncle will want her to take over when he’s ready to give it up. So much for all of that when her dear Uncle bites the big one waaaaaaaaaaaaayyy before his time and ends up dead. Now, the magic must pass on to another family member, Charlotte or her dad, or the circus will cease to be. Well, we all know how that goes. Now, Charlotte is not only in charge, but she’s determined to find out who killed her Uncle and make sure that she doesn’t get booted out of the way in the process either. Charlotte truly has her work cut out for her, but if she just listens to her new familiar, Samson, her ghostly Uncle and the couple of friends she makes along the way then she should be fine. Right? Of course. At least…we hope.
Witchiest Circus on Earth is the first book that I have read by Leanne Leeds, but the minute I saw it I knew I wanted to read it! I’m so happy that I was not disappointed in this book at all. Charlotte, of course, makes mistakes along the way and incurs the dire wrath of her feline familiar, but with a little push in the right direction, she sets things right. This story is twisty, engaging and loads of fun. I love being able to figure out who committed the crime before it’s revealed, but the author really makes me work for it. Of course, once the pieces start to come together you’ll spot it, too. 😉 This is such an enjoyable story from start to finish. You can really tell how the author took such care writing this story and helping it to flow as beautifully as it does.
There is honestly nothing that I don’t like about this book. It is engaging from start to finish with lots of unique characters. There are some hiccups between the characters along the way, but it’s to be expected when someone gets thrown into the deep end of the pool like Charlotte does. I loved how unique this storyline is and how it kept me hooked from start to finish. Needless to say, I am eager for more.
I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. I’m eager to read more about Charlotte as she takes over the circus and works to make it her new home. I’m sure that this is going to be a truly fantastic story that will keep me entertained for many stories (hopefully many) to come. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good paranormal story, loves circuses, and a hint of romance. This book is a must-read. You won’t be disappointed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, step right up to THE WITCHIEST CIRCUS ON EARTH where nothing is as it seems!!
Leanne Leeds’ THE WITCHIEST CIRCUS ON EARTH is a very imaginative read that is sure to delight circus fans who enjoy magic, romance and mystery! Our heroine Charlotte Astley, the new Ringmaster of the Astley Magical Midway/Circus, is joined by her snarky familiar Samson (definitely is one of the standout characters in this book!). The author fills the midway not with the regular animals you might suspect, but with shapeshifters and other magical paranormals whose true identities the human audiences never guest.
I loved the author’s imaginative and witty naming of the characters and imbuing them with personality features that associate with their given names. Some of these character are: Charlotte’s best friend, Fiona Brus, a Scottish Kelpie, who apparently stomped on Charlotte’s foot when our heroine left a ‘wee, tiny, itty bitty knot in her tail !! (Scottish lore has kelpies usually described as appearing as a horse, but able to adopt human form); Fortuna Delphi, a seer and fortune teller on the Midway who was ‘the picture of a fortune teller with ruby red lips and dark hair, and flowing layers of peasant clothing’ (she and Mark Botsworth, a telepath/mentalist, are the only humans on the Midway; their abilities manifested when they visited the Circus); Jeannie, a djinn or genie who grants the wishes of those who request snacks at her Snack Shoppe; Larry Lare who is Head of Security (in Roman mythology, lares were gods who guarded the home); Kat Riddle (a sphinx who talks in rhymes and will try to ask you a riddle – run, or you’ll be forced to keep trying until you manage to solve it!); Allesandra Atwater, a naiad or water nymph, who is definitely weepy; and Stepanie Clodion, a satyress (Claude Michel, known as Clodion, was a artist known for his work depicting nymphs and satyrs).
Ms. Leeds also gave us magical morning elixirs for what you think you just might need a touch of – say, Mocha Elegance or Peppermint Pride. And, what traveling Circus crew member would not want to live in a magical nomadic yurt – in this case, a tent which seems to share a few size tendencies with Dr. Who’s TARDIS, which the author also references. In juxtaposition to the matical is the more mundane mentions of Costco’s infamous latticed apple pies and yummy slices of pizza!
Regretfully, this magical Circus has the love triangles, greediness and misogyny that the outside human world often suffers from. But, there is also real love, friendship, warmth, loyalty and kindness among the Circus folk.
Since the author has planned out a ten-part Magical Midway Paranormal Cozy Mystery series, we’re sure to have plenty of time to ‘watch’ as Charlotte learns more about her expanding Ringmaster role AND we can see how several relationships develop: Charlotte and Gunther Makepeace (another great naming since he’s the heir of Charlotte’s rival magical Midway and his father wants nothing to do with ‘making peace’); Uncle Phil (hey, I know he ‘died’ – but, this book is about magic – so, read it and watch love continue to blossom) and Foruna and Mark, Fiona and Ningal (a centaur) and, most importantly if your’re a cat lover like me – Samson and Delilah (Gunther’s familiar)!!
I received an eARC copy of this book from Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving my review here, Booksprout and Amazon. I hope it’s Ok to review it here since I did get it from another source.
The author did an excellent job making the storyline interesting and fun. Love the fact there was a good sense of humor in addition to the mystery. There was some good character development, mainly for just the lead so it will be interesting to see how that progresses as the series goes along. Leanne Leeds wins best award for a familiar though–Samson pretty much stole the show for me!
The only reason I did 4 stars instead of 5 is the mystery part didn’t keep me guessing.
I do believe there was some excellent groundwork laid that has my interest and I’ll definitely read the next! Can’t wait to see where the author goes with it!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.