Enchanting Murder

by Elizabeth Clover

After being fired from her sister’s magical resort for some unknown—but mysterious—reason, Coral Lake opened her own coffee shop, Magic Brew. With the help of a cranky talking crow, everything seemed to be going well. Until a man drops dead in Coral’s magical coffee shop, and she has to find the murderer—before she’s the one accused!

Now, with a murder to solve, a cursed resort, and an enticing Event Planning Manager with chocolate eyes to die for, Coral needs to whip up a potion coffee. Only with a heavy dose of caffeine and magic will she be able to solve this mystery…

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Cozy, Paranormal

142 pages, ebook

Published October 19, 2020

About the author

Hey there! I’m Elizabeth Clover, and I write cozy mysteries full of sunshine, laughs, and pups.

I like to slather on fun and adventure like I put on sunscreen. (Don’t get me started on sunscreen! Ask any other redhead about this topic–we’ll go on for hours!).

Check out my newsletter for a super special reader bonus novella that you can read for free. It’s a complete mystery you can finish with your morning coffee. You can also connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, all at @elizabethcloverwrites

Well, I gotta go refill my coffee to get back to work on a mystery that will surprise and delight you.

Reviews

[Fly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author went to the trouble to write this and publish it, but didn't bother to have it edited. I really don't understand why people do this... it could have been a cute, funny little book, but without editing it was a nearly unreadable mess.
Pros: it was free
Cons: it was worth what I paid for it

[Paranormaly Romantic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed at Paranormal-y Romantic

Welcome to the small town of Desert Spell, California. A place where the residents are magical, the town charmed (or cursed), the people unique, and the possibility of murder… strong. Enchanting Murder begins the Magic Brew Cozy Mystery series with a delightful cozy mystery full of everything that draws me to this genre.

Coral finds herself fired from her job at her sister’s resort as a barista. When she comes into some money it’s only natural to open her own coffee shop, Magic Brew, where she creates enticing coffee with a touch of charms, has a talking crow, Raven, helping out when she needs to leave to solve mysteries and a family dynamic that is going to be fun to puzzle out as we go along in the series. This entire magical town caught my attention and I cannot wait to return, soon I hope.

There are a few idiosyncrasies of the Lake family siblings that were annoying until I fell into the rhythm of the story. I’ll let you discover that for yourself and make up your own mind. One, rather nasty, wannabe magical man falls over dead in Coral’s coffee shop, and while her brother might be the detective on the case it’s become a challenge between siblings to figure out whodunit first never expecting the trail to lead to their sister, Mel and her resort.

I enjoyed this world and will definitely continue the series. While I’m not one that needs to figure out a cozy mystery’s villain before the reveal, I did enjoy the twists and turns it took to get there. If you enjoy your murder mysteries with a touch of magic, then you’ll want to check out Enchanting Murder soon.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

[Joy Ribar · Rating 4 out of 5]

If real life is dragging you down, take a fanciful escape to Desert Spell, a small Southern California haven for practitioners of magic and those who wish they were. Here, you’ll enjoy the friendly rivalries within the Lake family and among the other peculiar residents and visitors there. Coral Lake runs the Magic Brew coffee and tea shop --- that is, when she’s not off on the trail of murder suspects after someone drops dead in her shop. Luckily for Coral, she has a bewitched crow, Raven, to run the place while she’s off chasing leads. The competitive Coral will jump through fire to beat her detective brother, Felix, to the finish line in the case, and that makes for a fast-paced romp around multiple suspects, magical potions, and hidden motives. Enchanting Murder is a merry debut novel by Elizabeth Clover.
---- Joy Ann Ribar, Deep Lakes Cozy Mystery Author

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay story. When a man drops dead in Coral's coffee shop, she is determined to find the killer. The dead man had lots of people who hated him and lots of motives for killing him. It didn't make sense to me that a private company--which would have no legal authority-- did the health/permit inspections of the local businesses. I didn't like the way Coral and Felix called each other Lake. It was weird that Coral always had a pair of binoculars and was looking through them at things other people would have simply looked at. I found it strange that Raven could handle the coffee shop on her own--even with magic. I never understood the differences between potions, charms, and spells and why a witch tended to use only one of them. There were other things I found perplexing or odd but this will do.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coral Lake is living in a town where witchcraft is not only open, but actually marketed to the tourists. She owns a Café, that she started after her sister fired her for mysterious reasons as a barista from a coffeeshop at her expensive resort.
One day a little liked man collapses in her café and dies - the verdict is poison. In competition with her brother, who is part of the local police, she tries to uncover, who the killer was and why he did it.
I am not sure I am persuaded to think that she is a good detective, as all she seems to be doing is asking everyone if they were the murderer. Still an entertaining story with unusual family dynamics and quirky townsfolk.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Judy Gittleson Hendrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coral owns Magic Brew coffee shop and works it alongside her pet talking crow, Rraven, who can stand in for her when she needs to be gone for a bit. A man dies of poisoning in her shop and her brother is the detective on the case. She and her sister are prize suspects and she needs to figure out what is what. The characters have great banter, emotions and problem solving skills. There is so much action and adventure, twists and turns, and emotional outcomes. You will not be able to put this book down.

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

[Kim Loomer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book rather confusing and it felt to me like it just kept jumping from thing to thing. The story itself wasn't bad, but I felt it didn't read smoothly and "Lake" was the last name of three of the characters but I wasn't always sure which one they were talking about. It rather surprised me how the story was put together as I have read other books by this author that held my attention frombeginning to end. I just felt this one needed a little more buffing up and it would be a very good read as well. When the book ended I felt rather befuddled but understood what had gone on.

[Jodi Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The characters were fun and the mystery was interesting. What I didn’t like was that some of the book was confusing and a little hard to follow. It was like the editing wasn’t as thorough as it should have been and the sentence just didn’t make complete sense because of it. But I did really like the story. It kept me entertained the whole way through. Raven was my favorite character!

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

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well written and the characters are hilarious. At times I was a little hard to keep up with especially when Felix would call his sister by her last name and they would compete to see who could find Mason's killer first. I can't wait to read next book.

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

[M.K. Stabley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was a fun who dunnit, with twists and turns that kept you guessing. The characters were entertaining and fun. I loved the description of The Enchanted Resort. I believe there should acyually be such a place. I look forward to the next book in this series.

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

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book. Mystery was interesting. Romantic aspect was not overdone. MC was kinda flaky, but alright. The only thing that was really great was the ending. There's another mystery brewing, having to do with the MC being the target of some payback it seems. Be interesting to see if it plays out as well as it started.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super fun paranormal cozy mystery! I loved it! It is cute, clever and sassy... Can't wait to read more of these stories!

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

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

First novel.in series about a.coffee shop owner who likes to solve mysteries before her.cop.brother. It was kind of confusing and difficult to figure out the character interactions. Will try the second to see if the characters become more developed.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 3 Lake siblings

The 3 Lake siblings: Melody, Felix, and Coral: are all involved in the mysterious death of a patron of Coral’s shop. The path is twisted with magic, charms, and potions. Who will solve the mystery first, you or the Lake siblings?

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is somewhat entertaining. It seemed to have had a lot of words that did not need to be included just to get the correct number of words in the book. The premise was interesting though. I probably would not read the next book if I was offered it. Sorry!

[Cyndi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute story

While the story was cute and entertaining the editing was below par. I will probably read at least one other book in the series to see if the editing improves. I would’ve read it in a three star if the editing was better.

[bree guerra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lord have mercy !

This book is a mess from front to back. So many things to dislike about it . Why did she keep calling her parents by their first names ? Won't bother reading any more from Ms. E. Clover.

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing

There was just too much unexplained stuff going on, especially in the beginning of the books. I finished the book to find out who the killer was. The author is talented but needs to take time at the start to give some background.

[Rebecca Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting Murder

A wonderful book by author Elizabeth Clover. This is the first book I have read by this author but it won't be my last. I loved all the awesome characters and loved reading. I highly recommend reading it...A wonderful book...

[Mai · Rating 3 out of 5]

3++. Very cute little cozy magical mystery!

[Darlena D Doak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely

Loved it. Raven is so cute. And the family rivalry and love is wonderful. Really enjoyed and would recommend. Lovely.

[Matthew Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed

I have enjoyed this first book of yours the characters and the story line are fun to read and I enjoyed.

[holly gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really care for it.

The book seemed kinda of all over the place and was hard to follow. The characters didn't really grab me. The town sounded pretty interesting though.

[ambergen87]

DNF at 38%

[Kassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main character seemed like able and smart but the writing was too rushed and messy. I was confused a lot because it was being rushed and it felt like I was missing major parts of the story.
There’s not enough time to get to know the characters because it’s so quick. It makes it hard to get into the story
This book could have used another 100 pages to really develop the story.