A Charmed Death

The fun subgenre of paranormal, cozy mysteries (double-sub really) usually dishes out cute situations, humorous pitfalls and of course a dash of magically-inclined charm. Maybe that’s why this failed? It just didn’t do enough of those traits.

Story isn’t too bad – an obnoxious teen gets killed, the small town finds it tragic, and our protagonist solves the crime. She works at a shop, Enchanted, under her employer, pro-witch type.

The start is semi-sluggish but needed to establish scene of crime. I didn’t feel enough enchantment to rush back to the book so it took me awhile to finish this one. The middle grows more interesting once some personal drama squirts some needed life into it. What really irked me was that the ending show more half got much better, only to have the last chapter or so result to stupidity.

Suddenly the heroine, a woman with her hand on her shoulders, starts acting stupid for the sake of the story. The whole trip for evidence was just hokey and unnecessary. The phone and picture convenient setup? Puh-leeze. Why steal a frame, who not just take a picture of it? Why wait almost the entire book for high res shots and then want them sent to your cellphone? And even if the person is recognized in the shot, how do you automatically know they are the killer because of that?

The heroine is likeable enough, although a bit too goody sometimes. Tom as her romantic interest is dull, have no idea why she cares. Instead of loving Felicity as a super sweet, supportive boss, she irritated me with her clicheness and wise woman persona. There is a clear cookie cutter formula used for characterization. And while I did feel bad for the grieving parents, the ‘victim’ was loathsome and I couldn’t care less about her.

Madeline Alt does write well. She keeps to the point, avoids over-elaborating, keeps pacing consistent, but needs to improve on unrealistic, staged dialogue, especially in the last quarter between her and her boss and best friend upstairs.

Romance is pretty much not there but there are some hints to come. I have to admit I’m curious on what’s going to happen in that department. The mystery isn’t complicated to solve; there weren’t enough players to strongly consider. I guessed before so it wasn’t a big surprise. On it being paranormal, sometimes it delves into that and other times it went so long without it I’d forget it was supposed to be a paranormal novel. I’m not impressed yet with the magic stuff but it has the potential to develop into something better later.

I may like the next book if I get my hands on it. The writer does her job well but there are some rough edges needing polishing. show less

Second in the "Bewitching" paranormal mystery series featuring Maggie O’Neill and set in small-town Indiana. When a local high school prom-queen type is murdered, Maggie is drawn into the case because Amanda had been in to Enchantments the day she disappeared to buy a Christmas present for her mother, a very expensive antique clock. Where did she get the money? When evidence that Maggie stumbles upon comes to light that Amanda was not quite what she seemed to be on the surface, suspects start crawling out of the woodwork—was the person who trashed Maggie’s apartment looking for that evidence or had they meant to harm Maggie? I had another of those instinctive whispers in my ear early on about the bad guy, but no evidence to back show more it up until later. I enjoyed this book, though there is something ever-so-slightly “off” that bugs me about the author’s writing style—I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it was enough of a something that while I can say I liked the book, I didn’t like enough to rave about it. I have the third (and so far latest) in the series already on my TBR so I will most certainly read that one. Hopefully the annoying buzz, whatever it is, won’t get any louder! Maybe it is the “dual love interest” thing—another Stephanie Plum-esque triangle in the offing, perhaps? I thought the “witchy” aspects of this book were quite well done and Felicity’s character reminds me very much of someone I know in real life, albeit without the accent. LOL show less

Maggie is just getting used to the idea that she may be a witch when she is drawn again into a murder mystery. Amanda is the kind of girl who loves to make you hate her so when she dies, suspects abound. Maggie is drawn into the mystery by Amanda's mom who asks for help. What else can she do?

These books are fluff, but fun fluff.

Ok, I enjoyed this one. Maybe not as much as the first, there were things that rankled me. But it is a cozy, entertaining read. As I was reading, it irritated me when suddenly we were at the doctor for our 'yearly exam'. (girls, you know what I mean?) Did we really need that in the middle of this kind of mystery? If she had to go to the doctors, couldn't it just be a cold or something? I like mysteries for escapism, not to remind me of what I should be doing... And it could be just me (and I know you need it to make the theme work), maybe it's the Christian upbringing I had, but the witch/magick parts tended to give me the heebee-geebees. Not enough to take away from the book, but enough that it would take me momentarily out of the show more story. It was nice to hear Maggie (the main character) say at one point “I don't know what I believe”. I think that was an appropriate response for book 2. Instead of, you are right, I am a complete convert, and now I know everything. (not mentioning any authors). I liked that it was the type of mystery that dropped clues, so it was possible for the reader to solve, if you were paying attention. As opposed to some (which I don't personally consider REAL mysteries) where the murderer seems to suddenly appear at the end. I like to play a game, where when I have a guess who-done-it, I write the page and date and who I think it is, down on a piece of paper. Then when I am done I see if I am right. This time I guessed on page 230, and I was right. With all that said, I hated the climax/ending. For me it was unrealistic and hard to swallow. But it was not enough to keep me from wanting to read the next one. =D show less

A Charmed Death, the second bewitching mystery in the series, finds Maggie settling into the new life that fate has thrown her way. As a character, she has grown in terms of confidence and comfort, and her narrative reflects the positive changes in her life. When tragedy once again strikes her small town Maggie keeps her wits about her, and is ready to help in any way she's asked.

I was not as enthralled with A Charmed Death as I was the previous novel, and I found myself constantly bothered by Alt's use of dialects. The teenagers are wooden and forced, Felicity sounds a bit ridiculous, and the Amish member of N.I.G.H.T.S. had me rolling my eyes. I enjoyed the development of Maggie's character (and Marcus' character) much more than the show more two-dimensional "sidekicks" of the novel, and I'm hoping the third in the series will continue to flesh out the characters that really "matter." show less

As second book in the Bewitching Mystery series, this book seems more comfortable with itself than the first. There is less basic description of witchcraft and more of the main character accepting her new found powers. There are still ghosts, but they are more filler story rather than plot-centric. The mystery was especially good, leaving me guessing until the killer was revealed. I could not put this book down and managed to read it from cover to cover in one day. The series is becoming better and better and I plan on reading more.

Madelyn Alt has left me wanting more...

Maggie has managed to stumble her way into investigating yet another death. A young girl in town was found near the river. At first it's suspected that it was an accident, but later the word murder is whispered.

When a visit to the dead girls mother lands Maggie in a precarious position, she has no choice but to investigate the murder. With the help of computer wiz and all around bad boy Marcus, she ends up cracking the case... unfortunately, she discovers who the murderer is right about the time he shows up and gets her alone. Will she make it out of yet another murder investigation in one piece?

The book had me from page one and refused to let me go until I was finished. Reading it cover to cover show more in less than a day, it's definitely holding a place of honor on my bookshelf! show less