Flashed To Death

by Crymsyn Hart

Hot Flashes, Murder, and... Tentacles?

Forty-three-year-old Ava discovers magic when her hot flashes start causing things to explode around her. Her best friend Pamela, a local funeral home employee, regularly attends yoga classes with Ava, but when their yoga classmates start dying, Ava thinks things can't get any worse.

Then Pam goes missing.

Ava's new upstairs neighbor, Garrick, is not only a jerk, but he declares she's a venefica. A witch. And like it or not, she's stuck with him for a teacher. Life only gets weirder when her betta fish starts talking and declares he's her dead husband reincarnated.

It's a crazy world she's stepped balancing magic, finding Pam, and dealing with her clown of a teacher... then something dark comes knocking on her door, out for blood. On top of everything else, she has to survive. How does a fledgling witch cope knowing she could be the murderer's next target?

304 pages, Paperback

Published February 27, 2026

About the author

Crymsyn is a multi-genre author of horror and paranormal romance novels.

Her experiences as a psychic has given her a lot of material to use in her books. She currently resides in Charlotte, NC with her hubby and her dog Briar. Her guilty pleasures are horror movies, peanut M&Ms, and cheesecake.

Reviews

[Charissa Wilkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book courtesy of Booksprout for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

Overview: When Ava starts having hot flashes, she assumes that it is just menopause. Unfortunately, her temper is coinciding with things breaking. When women from her yoga class start dying, and then her best friend becomes hard to find, she's not ready to hear that she as magic. What kind of monster leaves mummified corpses behind? What is going on with Pam? And her betta fish couldn't really be her dearly departed husband's reincarnation, could he? Let's find out.

Story Telling: This is advertised as a cozy magical mystery. I would call it a cozy magical rom-com with a slice of mystery. This can be important if, like me, you aren't a fan of rom-coms.

Dislikes: Ivy is rather pushy. Just because you wanted to learn on your own, doesn't mean that you are a master. Her ego is a big problem.

Likes: Pam did try to help where she could, even if there was little that she could do.

Marvin did manage to keep Ava from freaking out too much.

Conclusion: This book was okay. If you like magical rom-coms then this book is for you. Enjoy the read.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did I just read lol This book made me laugh out loud and also had me sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next. I found myself not wanting to put it down. I enjoyed the way the characters lives kind of intertwined with one another and the dialogue between them which could be rather snarky at times but I can definitely appreciate that. As I’m reading it i was thinking man I wish my hot flashes could do that lol. This book had everything from a dead husband reincarnated into a fish and then turned into a different animal, she didn’t know how she did it lol to a shadow demon, witches and a witch teacher. I liked how the characters came together despite their differences to solve who or what has been killing off the members in their yoga class.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Carinkla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I myself am experiencing midlife and like cosy mysteries I picked up this book. The title simply spoke to me.


There are a lot of books around about suddenly discovering certain gifts around midlife and dealing with that and I like the genre but this must be the most chaotic, dangerous and kind of tongue in the cheek funny one I have read until now.


The characters are believable and relatable, but also endearingly slightly weird. The story is paced nicely and not really predictable, sometimes putting you on the wrong foot, and has a kind of little sarcastic humor, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Although it's marketed as cosy you can also expect a lot of spectacle, either on purpose or accidental.


I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next part

[Lia Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the Atmosphere and the Wit!

I really enjoyed the atmosphere created in the book, especially the characters' sarcasm. Sometimes I laughed so hard I couldn't stop, it's a book well worth reading that completely delighted me.

[Victoria Reiby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly entertaining read. Absolutely loved it. Fun, light, and... it made me hungry. Chicken and goat’s cheese pizza.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book. The mythology and situations are clever--I dug the spider familiar, and the mysterious hunky neighbor.

But the book intermixed light rom-com vibes with serious stakes for the characters (people are having the life sucked out of them), which sometimes pulled me out of the story becuase it didn't make sense to me that the characters would just go along with life as normal while all this was going on. Since the characters didn't act like there were any real stakes, it didn't feel like any of it mattered.

The book could also have used another round of editing. There were echoes and repetitions across chapters, where characters reacted to news as if they were hearing it for the first time when they'd just been told the same thing two chapters earlier.

Still, a good light read if you're looking for something quick and enjoyable.

[Alicia Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up Flashed to Death because the title immediately caught my attention, and it turned out to be a really entertaining mystery. I liked how the story had a fast-moving feel right from the beginning, and it kept me curious about what was going to happen next.

One thing I enjoyed most was the way the mystery unfolded through layers instead of giving everything away too quickly. The clues were spread out well, and I found myself changing my mind more than once about who I thought was responsible. That always makes a mystery more enjoyable for me.

The characters were another strong point. The main character felt relatable and handled the investigation in a believable way instead of seeming unrealistically perfect. I also liked the interactions with the supporting cast because they added personality and kept the story feeling lively.

Overall, I thought this was a fun and engaging read with solid pacing, interesting twists, and enough suspense to keep me turning the pages. I’d definitely be interested in reading more from this author.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[M.V. Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

***I was given this book as an Author Swap, and I appreciate the opportunity for it, but this is a fair and honest review***

This book definitely had potential, I could see it between the lines! Unfortunately, there were a few things that made it hard to completely enjoy it.

First was the writing itself. There were some grammatical issues that I could get through but when the paragraphs and the sentence structures itself became very choppy, then it was hard to read. There were also some continuity issues that took me out of the story a lot.
Secondly were the characters. At first, they seemed interesting but the further I got in the story, it was easy to see they were flat-noted with little growth to them, making it hard to root for them in the long run.

All-in-all, not a horrible read, but it isn't my favorite

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 1 of the series. And a wonderful start it is! Look forward to more from this world.

'On top of everything else, she has to survive. How does a fledgling witch cope knowing she could be the murderer’s next target?'

The characters were very appealing and likeable and quirky and mysterious and complicated. Plot was intriguing and exciting and well paced. World building was excellent and solidly drawn. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

Grab a copy, kick back and enjoy!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ladnamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting story. The first half was more of Ava finding out about her witchy powers and the real action of the mystery came in later. It was a fun read with zany characters.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.