A Wish to Die For

by C.A. Phipps

My name is Patience O’Reilly and I grant people their last wishes.
I promise it’s not as macabre as it sounds, and If asked I'll say that I facilitate happiness.
Of courser people aren’t always clear about what they want or need and it’s my job to sort through all the drama and find the thing that will make them smile.
It’s not a bad job at all. Though I am terribly nosey and a mystery can be so much fun. When you’re in the mood.
My Terrier, Lucky agrees with that, so it must be right.C. A. Phipps is a USA Today best-selling author from beautiful New Zealand. Cheryl is an empty-nester living in a quiet suburb with her wonderful husband, 'himself'. With an extended family to keep her busy when she's not writing, there is just enough space for a crazy mixed breed dog who stole her heart! She enjoys family times, baking, and her quest for the perfect latte.

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Cozy, Fantasy

204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2025

About the author

C. A. Phipps is a USA Today best-selling author from beautiful New Zealand. Cheryl lives in a quiet suburb with her wonderful husband of more than four decades.

With a large family to keep her busy when she's not writing, there is just enough space for a crazy mixed breed dog who stole her heart!

She enjoys family times, baking, rambling walks, and her quest for the perfect latte.

You can find her at www.caphipps.com

C. A. Phipps also writes romance as Cheryl Phipps at www.cherylphipps.com.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this fun new cozy mystery. Patience O’Reilly can grant wishes. She and her canine familiar, Lucky are trying to make a sweet elderly lady’s wishes come true, but her family is pretty dysfunctional. When someone accuses Patience of theft this is just the beginning of her entanglement with the police.

This is an entertaining concept of wish granting and Patience is an interesting character. Patience is intelligent and is loyal to her clients so along with her pup Lucky, which only she can hear, are a great team to solve the mystery. The mystery is a quick read and moves at a fast pace, but still has plenty of twists and turns. Great start to a series looking forward to the next one.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

[Cristina Neves · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful cozy paranormal mystery, first in a new series.
Fun, full of twists and wih a loveable duo: Patience and Lucky.
I always finish Ms Phipps books with a smile on my face and wishing for the next installment!

[CL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy feel good story about Patience, a white witch and her terrier familiar, Lucky, about how they grant wishes to make people's lives better. First read by this author and it was an enjoyable story.

[Bernadette Cinkoske · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wish To Die For is deliciously twisted, charming start to a new series! I really enjoy Patience’s character and love her canine familiar, Lucky. Patience’s current client is a sweet, older lady with the most obnoxious family. Patience’s talents will be tested trying to grant this lady’s wish - especially after someone is murdered. Patience meets a police officer who wishes she would quite trying to solve the murder. I love Patience’s and Lucky’s “talks”. This well plotted mystery kept me engage for its entirely. I am eager to read book two!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate to call a murder mystery fun, but the dynamic duo of Patience and her familiar, Lucky, sure make for an entertaining story. This cozy mystery has a touch of magic to go along with plenty of family drama. Enjoyed the hint of romance between Patience and Officer Robard. I look forward to seeing more of them in the future.

[Tanvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooh this was such a new concept and I loved the plot, and the magic system. I love Cheryl's writing and how she brings out the characters. Plus this series has a talking dog!!! Bonus points 😉

I felt the ending was a little rushed and came out of nowhere, but everything else was great and I would definitely follow the series.

[Bernadette Cinkoske]

A Wish To Die For is deliciously twisted, charming start to a new series! I really enjoy Patience’s character and love her canine familiar, Lucky. Patience’s current client is a sweet, older lady with the most obnoxious family. Patience’s talents will be tested trying to grant this lady’s wish - especially after someone is murdered. Patience meets a police officer who wishes she would quite trying to solve the murder. I love Patience’s and Lucky’s “talks”. This well plotted mystery kept me engage for its entirely. I am eager to read book two!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good detecting pair with a touch of magic!🐕

This cozy murder mystery, first in a new series, lays out an interesting concept: Patience, a magicker whose life's work is to grant final wishes to her clients (magic unbeknownst to them), and her faithful familiar dog Lucky. I particularly liked Lucky's confabs with her and how the others in the room find it cute that, with the sounds he makes "it's almost like he's talking" (which he is!). Also, Lucky has a bit of attitude to him; I like sidekicks with a touch of snark.

The field of murder suspects isn't huge but there are enough questionable attitudes and actions by almost everyone in the small circle of characters to throw some misleading trails into the hunt for the killer to keep a nice tension and unpredictability going.

And, yes, there is an investigating cop but Patience and Lucky are the driving forces to solving the case.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

[Kayleigh Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patience O’Reilly is a witch who makes wishes come true. She has made a career out of granting people their final wishes, while disguising her magic as more mundane things such as companionship and gentle guidance. Her current job is starting to look impossible, thanks to her client’s bratty adult children, when things go from bad to worse. Someone is murdered in the client’s house and Patience has to do some amateur sleuthing if she’s going to have any hope of granting Mrs. Griffen’s wish to mend her broken family.

This is the start of a wonderful new paranormal cozy mystery series, and I can’t wait to see what Patience gets up to next! Patience is relatable as a character despite her witchy powers and her dog (and familiar) Lucky is snarky and fun while also being the voice of reason. This story will keep you guessing even when you think you know who the murderer is.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young witch named Patience grants the last wishes of the elderly. She and her familiar, a cute little dog, are currently working for a nice lady who just wants her children to come round and have them be a « family again ».. but her children seem self adsorbed and jealous of each other. And the son has a rather rude fiancé who seems to spend more time Checking out the art and family silver then getting to know her potential family. Another young woman is working to catalog the art in the house and arrange for its cleaning etc. When she is late to breakfast one morning, Patience goes to check on her and finds her dead. A rather complex mystery of hidden relationships and motives. A good read.

[Belinda Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a good cozy mystery, and I enjoyed it a lot. Patience is a witch who can grant wishes and helps people who need something very special and deserving. She has a little dog named Lucky, who talks to her, and they are taking care of an elderly rich lady who needs help getting her family back together before she dies. Some jewels come up missing and a handsome cop comes to investigate and is very suspicious of Patience. Someone is found dead, and Patience and Lucky are determined to find out whodunit in spite of Officer Robards telling her to stay out of the investigation. "A Wish to Die For" is a great read, you will enjoy and can't put down.

[Miss W Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wish to Die for by C.A. Phipps is the first book in a brand new series.
I absolutely loved this book!

The concept was new and fresh!

Patience is someone with magic who grants final wishes to people, unbeknownst to them.

I really enjoy Patience's dog Lucky! The conversations between the two are hilarious and I love Lucky's snark!

There is a murder and Patience and Lucky are investigating.

I loved the characters in this book.

The mystery was well written with clues to follow along with.

I really loved the story and look forward to more books in this series.

[Monie Prosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I wish I could have Patience come and help me with my wish. This book has you thinking about how people behave sometimes and why they do the things they do. With the help of her gorgeous dog Lucky Patience helps a family who have lost their way as she works on helping them someone gets murdered and she has to find out why and who done it. She also meets a charming Police Officer who gets annoyed when she can't stop looking at who the murderer is. This is a charming book you can easily get lost in it.

[Alicia Kozak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story really sounded familiar when I started and upon looking, yes, this must have started as a novella in the Luck of the Irish anthology. Some details were changed and additions made to bring it to a full-length book. I'd enjoyed the story before so I think it will fun to explore more of Patience's world and abilities.
I also really like Lucky, her canine familiar. Her moving from wish to wish should keep things fresh and lend a never ending supply of crimes and perpetrators.

[Alyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a cozy mystery. I actually wanted it to be a bit longer so that parts of it could have been fleshed out more, like her spell work and how the wishing actually works with her clients. The ending felt a bit rushed; all of a sudden it was like “oh, we’re doing this now, it’s the big reveal.” That said, the characters were lovable and there was good banter with the romantic interest. Those might be the more important aspects of a cozy paranormal mystery :)

[Kathy Wortham · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if your only wish was for your family to be together?

Patience is a white witch who grants wishes. Sometimes you should be careful what you wish for. Right now her kindly customer is getting old and wants her family together again. Because recently the children have been distant and arguing about money. Money that won't be theirs until their mother passes. Sneaky shenanigans, hurt feelings and greed threaten to make a happy ending possible.

[Antonia Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a deliciously delightful mystery that teases your mind as you try to fathom who did what. The story caught my interest right from the beginning. Patience and Lucky make an interesting pair and I enjoyed their interaction with the other characters. This book is double YUM good and I can't wait for the next one!!!!!

[Raksha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patience is a wish-granting witch and has a familiar - cute dog called Lucky. Together they pretend to be a companion for the elderly Mrs Griffen to grant her wish of mending the Griffen family.
But a mystery ensues when a member of staff is murdered. Patience works alongside the handsome cop to solve this mystery (whether he likes it or not)...an easy and entertaining read

[Emily Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cast of characters in this paranormal cosy mystery really made this story! I loved the idea of a witch whose power is to grant wishes, and who can resist a talking dog?! My only wish (pun intended 😉) is that this story was longer to allow for more character interactions and develop characters further, but for a short and quick book I enjoyed it!

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming and funny start to a new series. I love the premise of a witch granting people's last wishes and the banter between Patience and Lucky (her cat familiar) is very funny at times. Very entertaining and highly recommended. Roll on episode 2!

[Margaret lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable

What a great read for anyone who loves a good cosy mystery it full of clues and red herrings, the storyline and characters are great a well deserved 5 stars

[Joanne Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read

It is a pleasure to read a mystery that doesn't have goury details and swear words and thrown in with a little humor.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wish to Die For by C.A. Phipps is a must read cozy mystery. Patience is a witch who had the gift of granting wishes. She does tend to get involved in her "clients" because it helps to get to know them and what they really want! Patience also seems to find herself trying to solve a murder! Yes, there is a handsome policeman and a talking dog.

I enjoyed reading this book and it kept me guessing who committed the murder. I was wrong! If you enjoy paranormal cozy mysteries, then this is one for you. Enjoy.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can Patience grant her client's wish? I love magic mixed with mysteries to solve. A wish, a mystery, and a family feud are just the start for Patience and her dog Lucky. Their banter - Patience and Lucky's - was so funny. Once ending I didn't see coming.