The long-running TV series Charmed was (and is --it's still in syndication, and she has all or most seasons on DVD) among my wife's top favorite TV shows, and I'm a fan myself (though not an uncritical one). I was looking for a short, quick-paced read that could entertain while filling in time as I waited to start a common read, and that's exactly what this book delivered. At 181 pages, many readers could consume it in one or two long sittings, and the brisk style invites that.
The primary audience for this and similar spin-off books is people who already like the series. But if you're not familiar with the latter, it could also serve as a good introduction. Staub imparts basic, barebones information about the premise early on in a quick, naturally-fitted sentence or two. The characterizations of the Charmed Ones are true to the series, and the sisterly camaraderie and wry humor that flavors the latter is here too. (This particular adventure spins off the earlier seasons, when the oldest sister Prue is still alive.) But for variety, this tale takes them away from their hometown of San Francisco to a well-realized southern Louisiana setting. (In the series, all of the sisters were known to cuss a bit at times, and none of them were 100% celibate before marriage; but there's no bad language or sex at all here --a point in the book's favor, IMO.) They may be a bit uncharacteristically slow on the uptake, though --I figured out some aspects of the mystery before they did, though the author also managed to throw me a curveball or two in the big reveal.
Staub is a well-credentialed, prolific commercial author and ghost writer of mostly genre fiction. Her success isn't a fluke; this book isn't deep metaphysical fiction that uses the supernatural as a springboard for serious theological or philosophical reflection, but it's solid, entertaining pulp supernatural adventure (like the series), with a workmanlike style and a trio of likable heroines who care about others, are committed to good as best they understand it, and are willing to take on well-defined evil head-to-head. While the author is a New Yorker, I'd say her descriptions of southern Louisiana are those of someone who's actually been there (and I base that on having been there myself, though not in New Orleans itself). I could also tell that she actually researched herbal and voodoo lore, so as to know what she was talking about in these areas (one doesn't, for instance, casually toss off reference to the use of John the Conqueror root in occult potions without having actually read about it --the average person has never heard of it). She also provides a very good literary treatment of the traditional zombie concept, which is more my cup of tea than the contemporary "zombie apocalypse" mutation.
Barb owns a couple more Charmed spin-off novels, which are also on my to-read list. They'll never rank as landmark genre classics; but I enjoyed this one, and look forward to reading the others someday.