Welcome to Witch Hazel Lane...
It's Christmas-time, and the ladies of Witch Hazel Lane are going all out. Caroling, bonfires, Christmas parties, not to mention the decorating! But in the midst of all the fun, Birdie Devaine is given a gift she can't seem to get rid of - the presence of her old flame, Lucifer.
Yes, that Lucifer. He's come to do some bargain shopping himself... for souls.
And when the town's fake Santa is found keeled over only days away from Christmas, the whole town is left in a wintry shock.
Will Birdie be able to stop her ex from collecting on his contracts? And the ladies of Witch Hazel Lane want to know... who poisoned Santa's hot cocoa!?
This book contains plenty of southern sass, friendship, some delicious comfort food, and a little bit of magic along the way! FREE RECIPES INCLUDED!
Perfect for readers of Charlaine Harris, Joanna Fluke, and Leighann Dobbs!
J. L. (Jerri) lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, with her family and feisty canine. She loves delicious southern food, dogs, Carolina sunrises on the beach, shopping on King Street, and curling up with about twenty different books on the weekends. When she gets the rare chance, she also likes to go exploring and learning more about Charleston's rich history.
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Feel free to contact J. L. Collins here: jlcollinsbooks@gmail.com
This one seemed to meander all over the place whilst the death of cranky Santa got very little time. It is more about the way she and her friends spend Christmas, the presents and a renewed acquaintance with Lucifer. A good read but not a brilliant one. Plus for all the talk about help others - a sick girl is left on her own for days. Frankly a bit disappointed.
Santa is dead, but from what? And Birdie's ex is the devil! Wow! I liked but not as much as the frist I think all the background about Birdie and the devil mildly entertaining but didn't add to the story it's more of an afterthought could be built up as a book itself but had no business in this. A review copy of this book was sent to me by the author. All of the above opinions are my own as I voluntarily choose to reveiw.
This is book 2 in the Witch Hazel Lane Mystery series and you don’t necessarily have to read book 1 before reading book 2, but I’m telling you, these stories are fun to read. This time around Birdie is on hand helping Cinda with her tent at the winter festival and happens to meet “Santa” just before he’s found dead. With a new mystery on hand, gifts to purchase and exchange, the continued remodeling of her house, plus having time to hang out with her new friends, Birdie doesn’t have time for an old flame. Especially since that old flame is Lucifer. When he tells her that he was in the area because of an unknown energy spike, Birdie doesn’t believe him. I mean he’s Lucifer after all, who’s actually going to believe that he’s not there taking souls? Trying to figure out who killed Santa is a bit trickier, his widow had the means and opportunity, especially when we find out what she got not to long before his demise. You don’t ever root for the victim either. The consensus was that he was a lazy jerk, and the only reason he’d even stepped up to be Santa in the first place was to fulfill terms of his father’s will. I wasn’t all that happy with the killer, when you find out what happened and why, it was a little disappointing. Not enough for me to stop reading, but we now have an overall mystery to solve. What’s going on in the area that piqued Lucifer’s interest? Who’s looking for birdie and why? I can’t wait to step into the next mystery!! I’m loving the friendships Birdie is made, this group of women is a fun, loving group, the kind we all wish we had in our lives. **I read this story using my Kindle Unlimited subscription
I enjoyed the book, but not as much as the first of the series. This book seemed to stretch on and on with little being accomplished as to solving the murder. Also time seemed too fluid. She celebrated with her friends and days later she referred to a ad or broadcast about getting ready for Christmas. Time in a book that is supposed to be a flashback or memory is usually very clear. However this was not a flashback.
While I enjoyed the trip to the underground witches market and the snow sequence, both felt like they were page fillers, and not essential to solving the murder. I think Birdie was lacking the drive she had in the first book. Even so, the book was enjoyable and the author is extremely creative with her witchy ideas!
This is definitely a series that must be read in order for understanding. Even then I had a hard time keeping up with who did or didn't know Birdie was a witch!
Christmas-time finds Birdie helping her friend Cinda at her tent at the winter fair. Bad Santa (son of Good Santa) keels over dead after visiting Cinda's tent for hot cocoa. As police investigate, Birdie also does some sleuthing. She also wants to find out why Lucifer has come back into her life saying he was concerned for her well being. She does all this while also celebrating the holidays with Geena, Cinda, Frannie, and TJ. Was Bad Santa killed or did he die a natural death (given his unhealthy lifestyle)? If he was killed, who did it? His wife who was seen arguing with him on the street, Scott Klaus who had hoped to become the next Santa after Good Santa (father to Bad Santa)? And what motivated his murder, if it was murder? Birdie inadvertently exposes her magical self to another friend in the course of her investigation. Will her secret be safe now that 3 of her friend group know her truth?
This book was actually a mess. It started off interesting with a witch and a Christmas fair. Then it was about 100 pages of nothing actually related to story happening. The point that Birdie is a witch and her ex is the devil, does nothing for the story. It's the equivalent to Birdie being a lefty, like her being witch doesn't matter and it wouldn't change the story at all if she wasn't a witch. The end was so bad. It's like 75% in the book, the author remembered that this is supposed to be a murder mystery. "Oh yeah, some guy got murdered a hundred or so pages back. Better wrap this up in the cheesiest and most obvious way possible." Sorry, not sorry. Would not recommend.
Witch Hazel Lane is busy with the spirit of Christmas in the air. The witches are full of decorating and enjoying the festivities. Birdie Devaine gets an unexpected gift that she cannot seem to get rid of her old boyfriend Lucifer.
He’s in town to collect some more souls to add to his never ending collection. Mayhew will occur as the two cross paths. A fake dead Santa is poisoned as Birdie must stop Lucifer from getting Santa’s soul as she looks for who poisoned Santa.
Birdie is opening up more, which is great for the character; however, it's looking like she needs to remain vigilant to maintain control over who she's exposed to. The bit about the ex is intriguing (more so than the mysterious death) and offers the barest snippet into Birdie's backstory. The editing is simply appalling, though, and I wondered about the "Bobby and Whitney" comment. Since I do enjoy this author I look forward to what's next in the series.
Birdie returns in her 2nd installment of her new life on Witch Hazel Lane. Christmas is coming and all the ladies are shopping, working at the fair, and planning for more festivities. When an old flame of Birdie’s better know as Lucifer shows up, memories of her past life surface. While working at the fair, Santa turns up dead. Now the ladies have one more thing to do – solve a possible murder.
I love Hazel and her friends and look forward to the next book.
I have been enjoying this series for the most part. I like the characters and their interactions with one another. This installment didn’t focus enough on the mystery in my opinion. Figuring out who killed the cranky Santa seemed more like an afterthought rather than the focus it should have been. The book also could have benefited from another proofreading. There are missing words, wrong tenses used and awkward sentence phrasing that could have been corrected with another proofing.
Be in that I'm a Carolina native, that has lived all over! I can definitely say not only are many sayings common there. They are just as uncommon in other area. I don't know if I giggled because of the sayings or the looks I would get when I said them. Lol, and boy is it funny to me now that even ONE inch of snow was a lot to me. If it gets below 50 I think I need to bundle up!
Entertaining supernatural cozy mystery series. Great cast of characters and an entertaining storyline. A very eclectic group of older women on a neighborhood street in a small town in Mississippi. Follow along as this group of friends including one which stumbles upon mysteries trouble and other issues and then figure it out. Very entertaining. Check it out
Really enjoyed this second book in the series. The characters are awesome, the story is well written. It’s hard to put the books on this series down, you want to keep going to see what happens. I loved the introduction of the Lucifer character, I look forward to seeing how he fits into the ongoing story with the main characters.
It’s Christmastime on Witch Hazel Lane. Birdie is settling into her new home and new group of friends, both those among the living and those who have passed on. Unfortunately, her ex...the devil himself shows up on her doorstep. I did enjoy this story and I really like learning more about Birdie’s past. Looking forward to the next book in this series.
I did not find this story as good as Grits in the Graveyard Book 1. J. L. Collins spent more time on giving you Birdie's love life history than on the mystery. Don't get me wrong I don't mind getting Birdie's history but I felt the mystery part of the story was an after thought. I really love the mystery part. I got the feeling this is a set up for the next book. I read on Kindle Unlimited.
Another fun read about the witch and ladies on Witch Hazel Lane. I enjoyed getting to know the characters more and seeing friendships flourish. But I did feel there was too much back and forth between Lucifer and the past then the actual story taking place.
Too many typos all of which caused distraction from a very good book. It seemed to get worse towards the end of the book. I hope future books in this series are better edited.