Where There's a Witch

Where There's a Witch is my second bewitching mystery. I'm afraid one of the Ouija messages kept going over my head, but I had an unfair advantage in guessing the killer anyway. The description of what must have been the murder weapon matches an item we have in our home.

I haven't read book four, but it seems that Maggie's self-centered sister, Mel, blabbed about Liss, Marcus, and the N.I.G.H.T.S (the Northeastern Indiana Ghost Hunting and Tracking Society) in the last book. What's worse, Mel did it after they'd done her a great service. The fallout from Mel's loose lips is a major subplot of this book.

Yes, things have been going wrong among the citizens of Stony Mill, Indiana for months now, but I'm more likely to attribute it to the show more darkness in the hearts of the self-righteous members of the First Evangelical Church of Light creating an opening for evil entities to move in. Sadly, Stony Mill is a conservative small town. Among the persons with false ideas about Wiccans are the mothers of Maggie and young Evie, much to their daughters' distress.

I haven't read books one or two, either, so I don't know for sure what Father Tom, the priest at the Catholic church Maggie has stopped attending, did. From the hints dropped here, he should have been ousted from his position. (I remember how our priest thundered that those pedophile priests were EVIL when the scandal first broke. I personally refused to watch televised Masses featuring he-never-deserved-to-be-the-Vicar-of-Christ-after-his-betrayal Benedict XVI. I had no respect for him then and none now.) What a pity that Maggie's mother defends Father Tom. I wish Maggie would tell her outright that she's not going to attend Mass at their church until they get a priest worthy of the office.

As for the Ouija messages, it's high school students Tara and Evie who are using it. Maggie doesn't want to, but they talk her into it. They do get some useful information, though. It might have been more useful if the ghost could spell better.

The finding of a forgotten room turned out not to be what I expected, but still interesting. I'll cut Maggie some slack for not putting some clues together sooner because she's got the anti-witch campaign, nagging mom, and jerk Deputy Fielding problems on her mind.

Pardon my chortle, but a phone conversation Liss has in this book makes me suspect that a possibility from book three will eventually come to pass.
(Same first initial, too, heh heh.)

Cat lovers, the black cat on the cover is no longer a cheat. Minnie is a dear little kitten.

Now that I've read the two books that came my way, I want to read the rest. show less

Terrible! I was very excited to read the next installment in this series and was utterly disappointed. The main character, Maggie, has made no progress whatsoever. Her boring lack of a love life is excruciating to read about and is completely her own fault! If she would get out of her own way we might be able to add a little steamy romance to this storyline but instead she insists on being loyal to a man who has clearly moved on already. The clues to the story's mystery were literally spelled out for her but she is unable to put two and two together. This lack of vision and her self pitying "I'm just a run of the mill empath" is infuriating and left me screaming at the book when her own life is threatened by the killer and she STILL show more thinks it was someone else! I truly hope the author can improve these issues when the next book is due because I do not want to give up on a series that held such promise in the past. show less

Terrible! I was very excited to read the next installment in this series and was utterly disappointed. The main character, Maggie, has made no progress whatsoever. Her boring lack of a love life is excruciating to read about and is completely her own fault! If she would get out of her own way we might be able to add a little steamy romance to this storyline but instead she insists on being loyal to a man who has clearly moved on already. The clues to the story's mystery were literally spelled out for her but she is unable to put two and two together. This lack of vision and her self pitying "I'm just a run of the mill empath" is infuriating and left me screaming at the book when her own life is threatened by the killer and she STILL show more thinks it was someone else! I truly hope the author can improve these issues when the next book is due because I do not want to give up on a series that held such promise in the past. show less

There are two totally different aspects of Where There's a Witch - the overall series story line and the book specific mystery. Just when long-awaited things start heating up in the series, the mystery in this book falls flat.

When asked which man she wants, Marcus or Tom, Maggie claims to be more concerned with not wanting to hurt anyone. This has been the problem from the beginning of the series. Maggie refuses to chose, therefore she hurts everyone, including herself. Thankfully, things finally start moving in the romance department in Where There's a Witch.

The solution to the mystery was painfully obvious from the very beginning. Maggie receives some ghostly clues that are very easily deciphered by the reader. Statements are made show more that basically name the killer and Maggie conveniently forgets them for chapters at a time.

Small town fear of the occult is rising at a brisk pace in Where There's a Witch. Much animosity towards Liss and all those who associate with her is brewing rapidly, with the occasional surprise show of support from certain townspeople. Things definitely seem to be building towards an exciting event in this area. The promise of this, plus the newly embarked upon romance are what keeps me excited about the series.

Maggie continues to be more than a little naive. She's overly caring, most likely due to her empathic ability. It's hard to sympathize for her when she seems blind to most other people's real motives. If Maggie could just become slightly more empowered, or if the mystery had been a lot more mysterious, the book would have been wonderful. The tension, romance and potential foreshadowing are what holds this book together. It won't be enough to draw new readers to the series, but it does give long-time fans hope for the future. show less

I really enjoy this cozy series. I like the paranormal aspect that is just a part of "real" people's lives rather than an entire paranormal world. I also like the inclusion of a little bit of the darker reality of provincial attitudes toward different belief systems that has been playing a larger and larger part in this series. The mystery this time was pretty obvious, but all in all, it was a entertaining story.

Madelyn Alt has created a charming universe and some fun characters in her Bewitching Series. However, it is time for her to allow her main characters, especially Maggie, to grow a bit. Maggie is still clinging to her old religious beliefs even though she doesn't really believe in them. It's time for her to step up and embrace her Wiccan beliefs and stop whining about not knowing what she believes or what she should do. She also needs to pick between the two men in her life. We've heard enough whining about that, too. Last, she needs to show a little more spine. In this book her sister rides roughshod over her, creates a huge, long lasting problem for her and she does absolutely nothing about it. She also needs to work a little harder show more on coming up with a solid mystery for Maggie and company to solve. This one was pretty thin and not that interesting. show less

In this fifth book in the series, Maggie and company are involved in the murder of a woman at the church she attends. But the story is really more about the continuing story of a town that is under siege by spirits. And about how the blame is being shifted to Maggie and her friends at Enchantments. Funny, because these folks are to best hope the town has. Maggie is also learning more about her talents and about herself.

I really like this series. The characters are well defined and I feel that I know them pretty well. The mystery in this one is pretty good but as I said, I find the other story lines more intriguing. The paranormal is not over the top in this series. You really need to read this series in order.