Mushrooms, Magic, and Murder

by Theresa Miller

Nora Logan comes from a long line of hedge witches – practitioners of small, everyday magic. As a kitchen witch, Nora has a passion for cooking, and teaching people to make their own healthy and delicious food. Her new business, Kale & Hearty, a health food store with a cooking class in the back room, is flourishing. Everything is going just the way she planned until someone dies in her cooking class – and it looks like poison.

As Nora tries to salvage the good name of her fledgling business in a gossipy small town, she finds there is more to magic than she ever imagined. Much more. Between murder, magic, and Bradan Idaho gossip, does she have time to examine her feelings for the two handsome policemen competing for her affection?

239 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2023

Reviews

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic in small town Idaho

Mushrooms, Magic and Murder is the start to what I hope is a series because I love these characters and want to learn more about them, the town and the magic system.
Nora owns a health food store in Bradan, Idaho, a fictional town.
She is a hedge witch. Her family have been born green or hedge witches for generations. This forms the basis for the story.
A high magic witch dies in Nora's store. This is Nora's mystery to solve.
I enjoyed the mystery and the familial interactions. There are some humorous moments and tense dangerous moments.
See that cute purple hippo on the cover, it has an important role to play in the mystery.
I recommend spending some time getting to know the Hedge witches of Bradan Idaho.
The author is the Mom of one of my coworkers. This is a great first book! Congratulations, Theresa!

[Dabney Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this cozy murder mystery story! I felt like I knew the main characters and could envision their surroundings. There were lots of different characters in Nora’s little Idaho town, I hope we get a sequel in the future!

[Katie Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable!! I loved escaping into this book every night and wish it lasted longer! 😍😍

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

No spoilers
This is Theresa Miller’s first in a series. Her world is well developed as it is set in a modern day small Idaho town. However, this world and certainly this town has a significant number of people with magical abilities. It seems magic runs through family lines.
This cosy mystery reads easily and the author’s use of character voice is good. The protagonist is likable and realistic, though I have always felt that characters in murder mysteries always seem to behave oddly, running to the mystery than away from it as I would do.
This story is complete and leaves lots of threads for character development and recurring characters for the next books, which I will be buying.
Very good first publication!

[Hunter Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book from start to finish.👍 I don't see enough cunning folk/hedge witches in fantasy. Miller's hedge witches lend well to cozy mystery. I liked her wry humor and unique take on magic systems in our present day world. Was guessing the killer (wrong) up until the big reveal. Diverse cast (race, orientation, body type, privilege, etc).

I liked the MC, Nora, a witch who just wants to run her store and brew a great coffee. I liked the story's family dynamics. I wish there were more romance between Nora and a couple potential love interests, but it's setting up a slow-burn romance for Book 2. Will definitely read Book 2 for that (and another mystery).

[Krista Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of murder mysteries, and a fan of stories about witches. This book is a double-whammy! Characters you pull for, good witches, bad witches, even worse witches, lots of talk of good food, a stuffed hippo, and PIE. I chuckled, and I got mad, and I got hungry. I'm really looking forward to a sequel!

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely book! Definitely puts the “cozy” in cozy mystery!

[Lisa Faison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read! Looking forward to reading more of her series .