Schatzhexe (Die Torrent-Hexen von Harlot Bay 2)

Torrent Witches #2

by Tess Lake, Astrid Radtke (translator)

Harlow Torrent, Teilzeit-Journalistin und Vollzeit-Switch-Hexe, wird in einen mysteriösen Mordfall hineingezogen, als die Überreste eines Mannes und eines Mädchens auf Truer Island entdeckt werden.

Sie hat Visionen von der Vergangenheit, die nur allzu real erscheinen, und Geister, die von Tag zu Tag körperlicher werden. Harlow versucht, ihre Online-Zeitung am Laufen zu halten, sich mit ihrer streitlustigen Hexenfamilie zu arrangieren und herauszufinden, wie sie sich verhalten soll, wenn der gut aussehende Jack Bishop wieder in der Stadt ist.

Aber als der Mörder sie ins Visier nimmt, gerät Harlow an ihre Grenzen.

Buch Nr. 2 der Torrent-Hexen-Serie.

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery, Fantasy, Cozy Mystery, Witches, Paranormal, Magic

277 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 2, 2024

About the author

I'm all about Cozy Witches! Mystery, murder, magic! Author of the bestselling Torrent Witches Cozy Magic series.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read. Really enjoying this fun series, I have all ten books and I'm hoping they will all be as good as these two.

Happy Reading 📚📓📗📘📒📓📚📙📕📗📔📘📒📓📚📙📕📗📘📒📓📚📙📕📖

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked from start to finish! The mystery in this book was fantastic. It felt like an episode of unsolved mysteries but with a magical twist. Obviously, it's not as technically involved, though, which would have been a little better, but it would be a little less cozy lol


I was so excited to see more of what her magic could do, but WOW, I did not see any of that coming. If I had her abilities, I think I’d lose my mind and end up hiding in that cave.. AND that prophecy, though 😳 I’m seriously nervous about where that’s heading. The fact that it’s our girl at the center of it.. I don’t know if I’m ready for what’s coming next! But here we go..

[Miss Rachey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so I am starting to get into the series now. I’m still not sure we need all the cousins and the moms/aunts but I’m sure we’ll get there with that too…

Interesting that Harlows slipping this book was the appearance of the past but not just people - the way Harlot Bay looked in times gone by aka just a forest…with trees appearing in the car! But all the dead appearing for her and to varying degrees that they were solid and could interact with reality, that others could see them, and then them being forms that only Harlow could see.

Enter Holly - a ghostly little girl who asks for Harlows help to solve her murder - whose bones were dug up by accident as the town prepares for a tough mudder type experience, which naturally, the Torrent family have signed up for…

I do feel that the discovery of the murderer and how that all played out was a bit rushed at the end - as in, there was lots of Harlow just going about life, then bam! kidnapped by the murderers, finding out who they were and then everything being resolved but without much of a build up for the reader to be like “ooooh, so I think *they* could be the villains” or “I think *this* is what happened”…it’s just suddenly thrown at you that *that* is what happened…

But, the cliffhanger at the end has me ‘hanging’ and I need to start book 3………#forget 🙃

[Chrissy Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Bookish · Rating 1 out of 5]

See my review of the initial book in the series, Butter Witch. All of the same problems. Tess Lake should be forking over the majority of her royalties for this series to Amanda M. Lee.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Torrent witches are back with internet reporter Harlow chasing a child ghost to try and identify her murderer. The cast members are the same: two crazy cousins, three mothers trying to play matchmaker, and Great Aunt Cass blowing things up and wreaking havoc in their small beach community.

I enjoyed the characters and the mystery. Throw in Harlow’s powers as a slip witch, which have the past manifesting randomly around her, and it’s mayhem at its finest.

A quick and witty romp that entertained me start to finish.

[Mhollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The narration is juvenile as is the writing. The story and dialogue simplistic. The narrator, Natalie Duke, is horrible, with knack for failing at snark.

Since I bought the whole series for $5.99 on an Audible recommendation and I can’t get my money back, I’ll keep listening to the rest of the books in the series.

I have come to the conclusion that most recommendations and reviews on Audible and Amazon are suspect and cannot be trusted.

[Sop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this much more than the first book. The characters were fun, the plotline was really interesting too!
With the ghosts, murder mystery and their powers.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun second book. Read 1 and 2 on the plane flying from Australia to the US. Started 3 as well. Let’s see how it holds up.

[Mackenzie Beckmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🤗

[Chantelle Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars (Audible Plus Catalog). Perfect cozy for a cool early Autumn day.

[AdeNike · Rating 3 out of 5]

~~3.5/5~~

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun series with quirky but relatable characters. I like the balance between mystery and silly magical antics. I will point out that my cozies star rating shouldn’t be compared to my non-cozies star ratings.

[Malissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining and fun. The author did a great job creating a fun adventure and some great characters. Look forward to more in this series.

[Reeci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am LOVING this box set so far!! I cant get enough. The characters are amazing and I love how everything develops. Can't wait to see what the rest of the books hold.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 but they typos bug me

[Damien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not to say that Butter Witch was a much better book, but this one takes a leap downwards from that.

The book is full of issues that jam the story up like 5 o’clock traffic.

Harlow’s slip witch powers, just muddy up this story in a way that doesn’t make it seem smooth to read because we never really get a good sense of how the slipping works. The other, witches in the story, have a specific power traits that they’re assigned as well, but they really don’t practice that power trait, which leaves me to wonder why we introduced it in the first place. The writer also describes magic as a complex process but to cast it it’s just a easy one word…which feels ridiculous.

One of the issues I find myself having the hardest time to digest is the fact that this is supposed to be a family of strong witches, but it just feels like there’s no strength in these witches at all. They tend to lose themselves in the constant pining after men and their mother’s heavily reinforce that old idealistic “marriage is the way” kind of trope. It makes the story feel very much like it was written in the early 80s - 90s and not the 2000s. Also, these adult women are constantly pushed around by their older mothers, and never really get a backbone and they never stand up for themselves. Which honestly sounds like a therapy nightmare and could use some unpacking. This all leads me to wonder why the elder witches, who should be wiser, never really help in a way that progress the characters themselves along.

Also, the writer has an issue with overloading of characters so a lot of them seem not fully flushed out, nonsensical, or just unnecessary…and it leaves the character to just seem annoying. They just seem to pop up and are easily lost throughout. With so many characters, it leaves the story very convoluted and hard to pick a part who’s doing or saying what. This could’ve been easily resolved by scaling back a few of the characters because a lot of them don’t add anything.

I haven’t finished the book just yet, but I’m hoping that things will smooth out or that the story will hurry up and end. Also, I’m hoping that the rest of the books get better as I have 10 of them because they are on special through Audible.

[CarolKat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this series in the complete box set. I am reviewing individually as I read.

I do recommend that you read this series in order as this book continues where the last one left off.

If you recall Harlow had been frozen after defeating a murdering magical creature, it's now six weeks later and she's finally awakened. She's also avoiding Jack. She had promised him a date if he was still around after the Butter festival but being frozen meant her family lied and said she was vacationing in France.

Harlow Torrent and Carter Wilkins are in a wild ride as this book opens. Marika Henderstrom CEO of Gold Mud International is driving the golf cart they're in at speeds that should never be reached in the vehicle. The end of that ride contains a news worthy find. The backhoe operator stops and, in the ditch, clearly visible, are two skeletons. Nothing like that kind of reveal with two journalists present.

Sheriff Hardy is called and after he gets everyone's statement things gets shut down. Harlow's hoping to decompress with her cousins Molly and Luce at the Traveler's but their new complicated, somewhat dangerous, Italian spouting coffee maker, has attracted a new volume of business. They are now thinking of switching from souvenirs to a coffee shop. Luce wants to wait but Molly wants to forge ahead, a new point of contention with them. They also have boyfriends, Will the landscaper and Ollie the librarian. They're all heading to lunch when Harlow sees a little girl's ghost, she's sure it's the ghost of the child skeleton found earlier and already knows she's going to help and tells the ghost where to find her.

Aunt Cass offers little in the way of help with the girl they are calling Holly since she can't remember her actual name.

The renovation to turn part of Torrent Mansion into a Bed and Breakfast is still in progress but enough has completed for the first guests. There's so much that is happening in this book with the next thing a bit explosive as Aunt's Cass's stock of illegal fireworks starts exploding at the end of dinner with those first guests. Stopping the fire that caused it with Cass opens Harlow up to a scary side effect.

Harlow still hasn't addressed the issue of Jack. His brother is opening an office downstairs from hers so she knows she can't avoid him forever but she's going stay away as long as she can. After another interview with the sheriff, Harlow spends a few minutes in a witchy happy spot on a corner. This is when she decides to go to her office and face whatever comes.

The Festival of Lights was quite the event and Jack and Harlow's date was interrupted by an attack on Carter and the bald man who stepped on her as he rushed by them a bit earlier.

I love the way Harlow gets bits and piece of information from all different sources as she helps the sheriff unofficially solve the crime. I also get a kick out of her cat Adams, who sneaks in information even as he complains he's starving.

Intrigue, spats, laughter, tears and romance as well pour from these pages as the crime is solved.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it until the ending left me confused.

Harlow is a slip witch, from what I can tell that means her witchy powers slip in and out often changing and fluctuating specialty’s (auras, prophecy, visions, ghosts, etc.) from a little power to a lot of power often uncontrollable. In this book Harlow is on assignment doing an interview when a couple of skeletons are found. When Harlow’s power of seeing ghosts leads her to befriend a little ghost girl she feels drawn to help find answers behind the death of the skeletons that were found. But someone doesn’t want the answers found and they are willing to attack and set things on fire to keep the case unsolved. Can Harlow navigate this mystery while dealing with out-of-control powers and staying safe or will someone else be hurt before the truth comes out?

I fluctuated back and forth between 4 stars and 3 stars for this book and eventually decided to go higher but I do want to point out I didn’t love the climax scene. The way it was written it caused more questions than answers and I really wasn’t a fan of that scene. However since I really enjoyed up until that point and I still really want to read book three to find out more about this prophecy I went with a 4 star rating.

Things I like:
1. The talking cat
2. The family dynamic
3. The character personalities
4. The side characters
5. The mystery


Things that frustrate:
1. The really slow romantic relationship
2. The world building questions (not as bad in this book as the 1st, but the rules of the world are still unclear )

Things I didn’t like:
1. The confusion and lack of answers as to what happened during the climatic scene (and the couple scenes leading to it) it’s like the author got so focused on the movement in the scene and the revenge element she forgot to make a clear story line of events for the reader to understand. She intentionally left dangling threads like a cliffhanger but I was unsure how much was cliffhanger and how much was just unclear or unimportant excess information. I guess only time will tell.

[Turtle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book a higher score because the conflict was actually quite interesting. I liked the idea of ghosts and past magic.

However I still have issues with how boy crazy the MC are. They seem more like horny teenagers than young adults but being ace, it’s hard for me to know. I might just have a lower tolerance for this than most.

I love a good romance but this one just isn’t it. The squeeing and constant sexualization of the boyfriends just gets annoying. There’s very little chemistry beyond, “man is he hot. I’d really like to touch him.”

However all of that paled in comparison to the inclusion of neurodivergence. I just don’t know how to feel about it. Obviously autism is a spectrum so there is a possibility that it was an accurate portrayal but it still irked me. I am autistic myself and I found the representation stereotypical at best. The voice with a flat affect and isolated loner… I mean it makes sense but also is so basic. There seemed to be an implication that autism could be easily spotted in that way. And, yeah I don’t know. It bothered me in a way I can’t easily describe.

But that’s why I feel like there needs to be more representation in media and literature so that stereotypes like these aren’t the norm.

Anyway, the mystery was very little of one. And while the magic was interesting, the rest of the book just kind of meandered towards a conclusion. I bought the whole set tho so I’m guessing my reading this whole series.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a cozy, light read. This series kind of manages to check that box, but there are some problems that keep me from enjoying me as much as I could. The series reads like it was written decades ago not like modern literature. The relationship between the mothers and daughters is kind of toxic and definitely encourages archaic anti-feminist stereotypes with the hyper-fixation on women needing to catch a husband. It’s weird because with it being a predominantly female cast, I expected more support for independence.

The romantic relationships are impossibly shallow. Have no idea why the leading lady and her romantic interest would be actually heading towards a relationship. We know so little about him after two whole books and every glimpse that exists for them to possibly have something to connect or develop common ground on just isn’t explored or deepened. But he’s hot and she says so constantly. It’s almost like a weird little element of social commentary where the lead just reduces their potential love interest to their sexual identity and appearance, but it’s a woman doing it to a man, rather than the other way around.

The actual mystery was pretty interesting and power system has potential. So far it seems kind of under developed.

The neurodivergent representation in the book was a little problematic. Not wholly inaccurate, but felt almost like a token cliche rather than the inclusion of a nuanced well developed character.

[Jenntleh · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — “Ghosts, golf carts, and glorious chaos”

Treasure Witch by Tess Lake kicks off with magical NASCAR energy as Harlow and crew drift through a golf cart chase straight into a murdered father and daughter mid–mud run setup. Harlow’s slip witch powers are still on the fritz—ghosts and past terrain overlap in her vision, turning showers into tree trunks and roads into relics.

Aunt Cass continues to reign as queen of chaos, cursing anyone who disrespects her, hoarding family secrets, and sparking the occasional explosion just for flavor. Between her antics and the family drama, there’s never a dull moment in Torrent territory.

The emotional core belongs to Holly, a gentle ghost who wants nothing more than to find her father and stop the monster that killed them. Helping her takes patience, as any abrupt move makes her forget everything she’s doing—a tender, haunting touch to the comedy and chaos.

I’m only two books into this ten-book audio collection, but I’m hooked. Tess Lake blends mystery, humor, and heart into one big magical mess I can’t look away from.

[Quenya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok this book double-downed on my issue with the first novel. The FMC is not the heroine of this series. You follow her along, root for her, felt troubled when she gets close to dying but in the end someone else in the book is already three steps ahead of her in solving the crime. They just don’t step in until the FMC is about to get killed. This book also annoys me with the older witches not training or showing the younger witches how to manage, use and control their magic. It is just stupid as it seems to be just a way for the author to have things awry.

What does work is the characters and the family relationships. It draws you into their circle and you want to be with them at dinner, at work and wherever their craziness takes them. I am hoping the author will let Harlow grow in her magic and her website. She always seems to be several steps behind the town, her family and in maturity.

I do like the books and will probably continue with them to see how the author moves the series along.

[Kate Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The whole series is a bit intellectually LIGHT, but they are cozy, easy to digest, so far at least. The Holly, Molly and Ollie of it all is a bit cringe but I do enjoy Molly and Luce, Harlow’s cousins. It’s clear to me that as a “slip witch” Harlow’s powers change as she needs them in correlation with whatever mystery needs solving and what will serve that predicament, I just wish that Harlow knew that and didn’t complain so much about the unpredictable nature of her powers. I also wish there was a bit more everyday use of magic. Additionally it seems as if the understanding of magic is more accumulative rather than taught or learned with structure. The witches seem so human rather than like powerful witches. The difference between the inner monologue voice of Harlow and her spoken character voice is hilarious. I also enjoy how Luce always sounds a bit slurred and drunk.

[Angela Romera · Rating 1 out of 5]

The mystery part of the book is better than the previous one, but that's all that's better. The relationship between Harlow and Jack seems forced in my opinion. They'd barely interacted, we don't know anything personal about Jack or how he clicks with Harlow because all that happens is Harlow going "me horny, Jack hot, me in love". I mean, I promise you that I forget Sheriff Hardy's age because his chemistry with Harlow is way better. They certainly talk more to each other than Harlow and Jack. The characters are still plain and bland, no personality whatsoever. In this book it's also a mud run that seems to have been written only to bulk the book, knowing that it happens is not even a spoiler because it means nothing. Also, the writing becomes awfully redundant when we have six or seven characters in a scene and all the interactions are:
-Luce said.
-I said.
-Molly said.
-Aunt Cass said.
-Mom said.
Please, synonyms exist!!!

[Ida Fahlstedt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to love this series so bad, but how can I when it gives me content like this? This sentence pretty much sums it up: "As for a motive? It was still pretty unclear." What do you mean I read a book about a murder mystery where there isn't a known motive for the murders? How does that even happen?

How to continue? The fmc is annoying. She is mean and selfish and very childish for a woman who is supposed to be in her mid twenties. She keeps saying that she's happy that her cousins found love, BUT she is so jealous that she can't watch it. But she is happy for them, promise!! This girl's own love interest... two books and they've never had a full conversation? We know nothing about him? She knows nothing about him! How am I supposed to be invested?

The great aunt is defenetly my favorite character. I love a grumpy mean old lady, if only the fmc would stop acting like a sullen child around litteraly every member of her family

[Piotr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Treasure Witch (Torrent Witches #2) [audiobook] by Tess Lake

(3⭐) This book is a slight improvement on the last one. There is some charm and potential in the story, and even to the characters. However, it all goes a bit flat and boring. The main character is just dumb, lacking any intelligence or awareness. Inner monologues/thoughts which fill out most of the books are repetitive, usually fragmented and disrupted by other thoughts appeared and being disrupted by more thoughts. The main plot is weak, and secondary to the forementioned thoughts, and so is any romance. The main character is overtly s judgmental, often making snap judgements of people by their physical characteristics or some random facts she notices about them. There's not that much magic here and too much of her hungry cat.

I may try one more audiobook while going for walks or doing chores but at this point I'm not expecting much, so it may be the last from this series/author.

[Caitys.Pages · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was better than the first plot wise. I enjoyed the fast paced story as Harlow went up against her Slip Witch powers in another thrilling murder mystery.

This time around it felt more like the police force was actually the police force doing their job while Harlow and her cousins cousins meddled in the middle. It also seemed like there was some character growth for the girls but they still acted as teenagers in love.

I really had no big issue with the storyline, it was more still no clear path of growth in their magic with the moms keeping secrets or just not training them... Honestly I am a little unsure. I get there is 10 books to this series but I would like to see more growth and arc to the characters so I am hoping in the next installments there will be more.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, tak musím přiznat, že druhý díl téhle cozy mystery série mě bavil vlastně víc než ten první. Možná byl i trochu akčnější? Bavily mě interakce s mrtvou Holly a snaha dopadnout vraha. Určitě se pustím i do dalších dílů, i kdyby jen pro tu němčinu a jednoduchost. Nicméně to pojmenovávání podle "nějaká událost ve městě" je trochu vtipné, a ten starosta je vyloženě směšný charakter v už tak vlastně velmi jednoduchém příběhu, kde největší side story je že se dvě sestry hádají o barvě zdí v rekonstruovaném obýváku. xD Ale zas je to fakt oddech, a když od toho moc nečekáte, tak není být z čeho zklamaný. A vlastně se mi líbí, že to na sebe navazuje fakt jak nějaké seriálové epizody (a ano, jedna knížka je jedna 40 minutová epizoda. :D). Případ je jiný, dramata osobních životů zůstávají.