Magic and Murder

Wicked Witches of Spellcaster Creek #2

by Mara Webb

Step right up and enter the enchanting world of Spellcaster Creek, where magic and mayhem collide in this captivating paranormal cozy mystery!

When a magical circus rolls into town, Sage Rivers finds herself caught in a whirlwind of mystery and intrigue. As the circus sets up its tents, strange disappearances begin to plague the once-peaceful community of Spellcaster Creek.

But trouble also brews in Sage's own shop when a mischievous magical parasite wreaks havoc among her precious inventory. With customers and townsfolk growing impatient, Sage must solve the perplexing puzzle before her beloved shop falls into ruin.

If that wasn’t enough Grandma Thelma is fixated on the upcoming annual pie competition. She always comes second to ‘that hussy’, Madge Kepler, but Thelma is determined to win this year, no matter the cost. With a little blackmailing Thelma talks Sage into helping. All she has to do is find a way into the magic library’s restricted section and bring back a banned recipe…

If Sage can keep all that in her head things might be alright, but with the handsome and arrogant guardian, Hunter, lurking around she can barely remember her name every time she sets her eyes on him. It seems the mysterious and tall guardian has secrets of his own too, but what exactly is he hiding?

As danger lurks around every corner, Sage must navigate the treacherous path of secrets and deception, gaining the trust of her quirky new neighbors and unearthing the truth before she becomes the next person to up and vanish.

Can Sage conquer her doubts and harness her magical abilities to solve the spellbinding mystery? Will she unravel the dark secrets hiding beneath the charming facade of Spellcaster Creek?

Prepare to be spellbound in this whimsical paranormal cozy mystery, where supernatural forces collide, secrets lie in wait, and Sage Rivers must embrace her destiny before time runs out. The magical adventure awaits!

151 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 25, 2023

About the author

Mara Webb graduated from a child with a vivid imagination and a love of all things magic, to a professional writer. Mara writes cozy mysteries with a paranormal twist, and delights in concocting new and unusual ways to murder characters in her books.

Reviews

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do think this is a cute series. Both books so far I guessed the culprits early on. But I do like the series. However, the amount of typos and wrong words and things are ridiculous. Book one had a ton too. But I will continue the series.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bookworms and Pies... oh My !! . . .

Sage Rivers inherited Spellbound, the local bookstore in a supernatural community. It would be quite a surprise when she learned she was a book witch able to see the ‘spirit’ of any book that she touches, quite helpful when she needs answers quickly. Her magical powers have been appearing and she is making good use of them. She is also the town’s “Keeper” who is like an unofficial sheriff. She works with the guardians who are the magical police, with the head guardian being Hunter. She argues with him often, yet he can also be thoughtful and caring. They did kiss once or twice, but they are sort of co-workers and she has decided to make him off-limits to keep it professional.

Now something odd was occurring. A customer asked for a book and Sage’s magic led her to the shelf, but the book was missing. Definitely not sold, yet where was it? A tour bus stopped and 14 customers arrived. Four of those asked for books that again were missing when she checked the shelf! While Callie, her familiar, searched for journals that might help locate the books, Sage approached two more customers dressed elegantly in expensive clothing. Arnold and Anita Lark introduced themselves as acrobats who had just arrived with the traveling circus. Anita purchased 15 books, only 1 of them “missing”. As she closed the shop, she and Callie went to the basement to find the journals and she told Aunt Delilah’s ghost about the missing books. To her surprise, she looked panicked… this was a BIG problem, a bookworm! She could end up losing the bookstore over this! And even more problems await as Grandma Thelma is all flustered over a pie competition which makes her extra cranky. Can Sage get help removing the bookworm from Oscar Penrose who helped Delilah the last time? Will the disappearances escalate into something worse? Will Grandma Thelma get herself in trouble in her determination to win the pie competition “no matter what”? The excitement is about to increase, so grab your copy and see what’s going on here.

[Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Touch of Magic

I'd already borrowed this & the first book in the series. I feel I should respect authors enough to finish any book I start through KindleUnlimited. It takes a lot of work to move beyond word one book one by an author.
That being said, I l not be continuing to follow this series.
The main protagonist tends to be simple, with a kind of sketchy moral compass despite using somewhat childish language when upset. Early teen better describes her portrayal of emotions. She takes longer than I expected to grasp who the bad players are.
But what bothers me the most are glaring grammatical errors. I won't note them here, it may not be a problem for you. Forgetting names of key characters and replacing them within two paragraphs is problematic, as is changing relationships (a grandson is suddenly a nephew)
There's also an attempt to make just plain mean, cruel characters seem acceptably "quirky" when that is so far from the case.
I will say, however, that it's nice to see Sage, the main character, mature little bit, become more self confident.

[Mike Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

entertaining paranormal cozy mystery series

This is an entertaining paranormal cozy mystery series. A fun cast of characters and an entertaining storyline. Sage Rivers is a book witch who at the age of 25 did not even know she was a witch until one day she inherited her aunts bookshop in magical town. She was working at dead end job living a human Monday in life when one day a cat showed up and started following her around. After a while she heard the cat talking and her new adventure began. She dropped everything and head off to the magical town and started a new life. Read on and follow the adventures of Sage Rivers and the rest of the magical folk as the circus comes to town. A new adventure awaits and more mysteries arise. Can they figure out what’s going on and who is responsible. Read and see.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sage is able to explore a magical library, and has the great misfortune of an awful entity or two in her own collection

disappearances from the population raise questions, including some curiosity for Sage about the history of the Guardians

As Sage and Hunter track dark forces, and awkward moments with each other, Grandmother Thelma terrorizes the family with preparations for a pie contest- could shady deals be afoot?

curious magic and confounding travels

intriguing whodunnit and magical misadventures

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a mess. Besides the culprit(s) once again being painfully obvious early in the book, then ending makes less and less sense the more you think about it. How did Enigma abduct all those people, especially those much bigger than him? What was up with all the vampire foreshadowing that was completely unused? Like, why was Enigma asking people if they wanted to be immortal? It makes no sense given the ending, especially since everyone he talked to was freaked out by him.

Seriously, just skip this one.

[Debbie Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I liked the things that Sage has to deal with in this book. It was a good mystery. I especially liked the crookedness that she discovered at the end with her getting proof.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The characters are all fascinating, the plot is easily followed, and the premise is finding out where the missing people were. The answers were macabre and weird, but there it is. I do recommend this book.

[Mrs. Garen L. Herd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Boom 2 has the circus coming to town and young men start to disappear. There is murder, mystery, danger, magic, a new paranormal, a pie contest, and love blooms. Highly entertaining.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it!

I really liked this second book in the Wicked Witches of Spellcaster Creek. More Sage! The setting was awesome, the story entertaining. A good book!

[Tim Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Just loved the characters, so much sass and fun. Can't wait to carry on reading and find out what's next.

[Rebecca Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful book by author Mara Webb.
This is book two in this series and just as good as book one.
I loved reading this awesome book and highly recommend it...

[Stephen Levesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally enjoyed it! This is a well written and has well developed characters. The story is catching and with the strong characters makes for a very enjoyable read. Great Reading Everyone!

[Diane C Hyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another page Turner.

Even though this is a magic town, they have the same problems as other town people.
The ending was great. Everyone who deserved to be caught, was. Great book.

[c.jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant

I love this book so exciting and you just want to be able to read more ,I love the talking cat and the way he’s always forgetting thing a must read

[JANE VAN HORN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

This is another great book in the Wicked Witches of Spellcaster Creek by Mara Webb. I can't wait for the next book.

[stephanie huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and entertaining

[Bill Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting background to a minor mystery around the circus. Not quite what was expected, so it makes a good tale. Enjoyed it.