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Muffin & Magic
When her friend Alicia Kincaid comes into Lottie’s coffee shop in a distressed state, Lottie is only too happy to try and help. Alicia’s marriage to handsome and charismatic magician Dylan Kincaid is on the rocks and Lottie’s friend is in a difficult position.
But when Dylan dies in bizarre circumstances, scared and vulnerable Alicia suddenly winds up right in the middle of a murder investigation with her as the chief suspect!
Determined to prove her friend’s innocence, Lottie looks into the events surrounding Dylan’s death. Before long, the amateur sleuth is confronted with Alicia’s troubled past and delves straight into Dylan’s many murky secrets. As she looks for suspects, she soon finds plenty of people who wanted to do Dylan harm, from an angry and brutish father to an embittered, failed magician.
The more the case twists and turns, Lottie uncovers some weird cryptic clues, surprising secrets, sinister conspiracies and finally learns that not everyone is who they appear to be. Lottie will need all her wits as tricks and terror dodge her every step on the way to the truth.
But when Dylan dies in bizarre circumstances, scared and vulnerable Alicia suddenly winds up right in the middle of a murder investigation with her as the chief suspect!
Determined to prove her friend’s innocence, Lottie looks into the events surrounding Dylan’s death. Before long, the amateur sleuth is confronted with Alicia’s troubled past and delves straight into Dylan’s many murky secrets. As she looks for suspects, she soon finds plenty of people who wanted to do Dylan harm, from an angry and brutish father to an embittered, failed magician.
The more the case twists and turns, Lottie uncovers some weird cryptic clues, surprising secrets, sinister conspiracies and finally learns that not everyone is who they appear to be. Lottie will need all her wits as tricks and terror dodge her every step on the way to the truth.
- GenresCozy MysteryCozy
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 6, 2017
58 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 9, 2017
I was disappointed by several aspects of this novel, but it had an intriguing murder mystery, so it gets 2 stars.
A preliminary word on the length of the novel: it only takes up 75% of the kindle publication. The last 25% is another novel. So, I was disappointed in its shortness.
The plot was there, but there were serious holes. The characters were undeveloped and often irritating in their stupidity. (If you’re involved in a police investigation, you don’t leave evidence with other people. You turn it all into the cops and let them decide if it’s pertinent. The main character didn’t know what else was on the cell phone. There could have been other information that would have helped the investigation. Irritating.)
The intriguing murder mystery kept me reading past all the disappointing glaring editing errors. Words were misused (e.g., collaborated instead of corroborated), and while this story was supposedly set in the United States, the author used her native British/Australian vocabulary (e.g., plaster instead of bandages). If an author is going to take the time to write a novel set in another country, it behooves them to find a native beta reader to check things like that. It makes a huge difference in how the book is read and imagined by readers. Also, there were so many spots where the wording simply didn’t make sense that I'm guessing this was a first draft, edited, but not cleaned up. Sentences change direction in the middle or repeat themselves, indicating that there may not have been any beta readers to catch the discord.
Aside from the grammatical and punctuation issues, the mystery was undeveloped. Yes, there are the standard alternate explanations or leads that were supposed to lead to a dead end, but those were dismissed too soon by the characters for this to be considered a serious investigation. Rather, the investigation was the quality of a ten year-old’s inquisitiveness. The ending was predictable, and only 1 of my guesses regarding people who were involved was incorrect.
I almost put this novel down several times because of the sloppiness of the editing, and after finishing the novel, I wish I had done so the first time the urge struck me. I know this was a cozy (spelled in America with a Z) mystery, but it’s possible to give the mystery some depth and still maintain the cozy descriptor. I give it 2 stars because it actually had a plot and an intriguing mystery, but beyond that this novel was a flop for me.
A preliminary word on the length of the novel: it only takes up 75% of the kindle publication. The last 25% is another novel. So, I was disappointed in its shortness.
The plot was there, but there were serious holes. The characters were undeveloped and often irritating in their stupidity. (If you’re involved in a police investigation, you don’t leave evidence with other people. You turn it all into the cops and let them decide if it’s pertinent. The main character didn’t know what else was on the cell phone. There could have been other information that would have helped the investigation. Irritating.)
The intriguing murder mystery kept me reading past all the disappointing glaring editing errors. Words were misused (e.g., collaborated instead of corroborated), and while this story was supposedly set in the United States, the author used her native British/Australian vocabulary (e.g., plaster instead of bandages). If an author is going to take the time to write a novel set in another country, it behooves them to find a native beta reader to check things like that. It makes a huge difference in how the book is read and imagined by readers. Also, there were so many spots where the wording simply didn’t make sense that I'm guessing this was a first draft, edited, but not cleaned up. Sentences change direction in the middle or repeat themselves, indicating that there may not have been any beta readers to catch the discord.
Aside from the grammatical and punctuation issues, the mystery was undeveloped. Yes, there are the standard alternate explanations or leads that were supposed to lead to a dead end, but those were dismissed too soon by the characters for this to be considered a serious investigation. Rather, the investigation was the quality of a ten year-old’s inquisitiveness. The ending was predictable, and only 1 of my guesses regarding people who were involved was incorrect.
I almost put this novel down several times because of the sloppiness of the editing, and after finishing the novel, I wish I had done so the first time the urge struck me. I know this was a cozy (spelled in America with a Z) mystery, but it’s possible to give the mystery some depth and still maintain the cozy descriptor. I give it 2 stars because it actually had a plot and an intriguing mystery, but beyond that this novel was a flop for me.
June 30, 2018
Now you see me, now you don't
A good little read but just missing that extra little oomph. Also at only 71% of the actual page count - felt slightly cheated. A magician, a trick gone wrong, a fraudulent scheme, a contract killer and enough illicit affairs to turn your hair grey. Was it suicide, murder or an accident? Can the real solution be uncovered? A good little read but where was the feisty senior? It just needed him to perk things up a bit.
A good little read but just missing that extra little oomph. Also at only 71% of the actual page count - felt slightly cheated. A magician, a trick gone wrong, a fraudulent scheme, a contract killer and enough illicit affairs to turn your hair grey. Was it suicide, murder or an accident? Can the real solution be uncovered? A good little read but where was the feisty senior? It just needed him to perk things up a bit.
June 12, 2018
Good ideas needs better execution
There were several grammatical errors and missing words that distracted from the story line. It needed to be proofread and fixed before allowing readers to purchase it.
There were several grammatical errors and missing words that distracted from the story line. It needed to be proofread and fixed before allowing readers to purchase it.
August 7, 2017
Good read
Easy read, easy to follow. Prefer Joann Fluke she put recipe's in her mystery books. Love mystery books with recipes
Easy read, easy to follow. Prefer Joann Fluke she put recipe's in her mystery books. Love mystery books with recipes
August 26, 2017
Great read
I'm so glad I found Cynthia Tarts books great stories and characters you will love now I'm getting book four now
I'm so glad I found Cynthia Tarts books great stories and characters you will love now I'm getting book four now
January 7, 2018
Just finished this one and loved it! Characters are great, you'll love Doris. Cynthia Tart hits the target again, as always, keeping us in suspense. Great read, you'll see.
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July 14, 2017Amazon - 10/07/2017
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews