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The Familiar Cafe
Unfamiliar Magic
Magic, familiars, murder, and more!
Jade Owlens' quiet life shatters when one of her best friends is arrested for murder.
The murder stinks of negative magic. As the owner of the local feline café, dedicated to witch familiars, Jade knows magic. Her friend doesn't use negative spells.
When her familiar café becomes the target of a curse, Jade knows she must find the real murderer not only to save an innocent woman but to save her own life.
With only the help of her feline familiar, Mason, Jade vows to leave no stone unturned to untangle the threads of evil that are infiltrating the town.
Jade Owlens' quiet life shatters when one of her best friends is arrested for murder.
The murder stinks of negative magic. As the owner of the local feline café, dedicated to witch familiars, Jade knows magic. Her friend doesn't use negative spells.
When her familiar café becomes the target of a curse, Jade knows she must find the real murderer not only to save an innocent woman but to save her own life.
With only the help of her feline familiar, Mason, Jade vows to leave no stone unturned to untangle the threads of evil that are infiltrating the town.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2021
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Bonnie Elizabeth
111 books14 followersBonnie Elizabeth wrote her first story when she was 8 years old. Fortunately, that story has long since been lost. Since that time she has worked a variety of jobs including veterinary receptionist, library assistant, bookstore clerk, cemetery administrator and as an acupuncturist.
In addition to writing novels, she has written extensively about acupuncture. She writes acupuncture books at Bonnie Koenig, LAc. She also blogs as her cat Chey as Chey at mysiamese.com.
You can find her books at her publisher's website, MyBigFatOrangeCat.com or at her own site, BonnieElizabeth.com
In addition to writing novels, she has written extensively about acupuncture. She writes acupuncture books at Bonnie Koenig, LAc. She also blogs as her cat Chey as Chey at mysiamese.com.
You can find her books at her publisher's website, MyBigFatOrangeCat.com or at her own site, BonnieElizabeth.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 13, 2021
Jade Owlens runs a cat café in Waverton, Kentucky. Or rather, she runs a familiar café. Jade is a witch, and Waverton is a witch town. There's a specialty library for witches, breeders of a wide variety of familiar animals, not just cats but dogs, birds, horses, sheep, goats--any familiar a witch might find best suits them. There's also a shelter, and Jade's café, taking in familiars who have lost their witches, and are looking to be adopted by a new witch.
Jade's café only handles cats, making it look quite normal for "ordinaries" who don't know that much of the town, including the police force, is populated by witches. One fine Tuesday morning, Jade and two friends--Trinity, the senior library assistant at the specialty library, and Natalie, the manager of the local hotel--are having their weekly "long break," at the café where they have good coffee and good pastries, and the presence of the cat familiars. One of the local police officers comes in, but before he can get his coffee, he gets a call, and leaves. The Jade's own familiar, Mason, howls loudly in distress, and instead of wondering what's going on with the cop, Jade is soothing her cat and asking him what upset him. Mason has seen a spirit, a very distressed spirit, probably murder victim. Mason helped the spirit transition. He doesn't know who it was, but it felt familiar. Maybe someone he'd met.
Eric Boyd, the head librarian, has been murdered, and Trinity quickly becomes the prime suspect. Many people disliked Eric, but a rare book is missing, and Eric had accused Trinity of stealing it. There's also a witness who claims he saw Trinity do it--a very disruptive eight-year-old boy named Isaac, visiting Waverton with his mother, Fiona, and an older woman whom people keep looking right past and not quite getting her name. Fiona says they came to Waverton because she's worried about a problem with her familiar, a parrot. She did visit the familiar veterinarian, and says she was doing research at the library. Because Fiona insists on her son's honesty, and that he be believed, Trinity is arrested, at least for now.
There are some other seemingly strange visitors in town. Mrs. Ainsley says she's looking for a new familiar, and has two other women with her. Mrs. Ainsley seems like a sweet, older woman, but Mason says she has negative energy. Maybe that means she's ill; maybe it means she's using negative magic. That question seems to be answered when, on being told that someone else has already applied for a cat she has decided, a day after meeting, that she wants, she actually threatens Jade with her own magic.
Then there's the group of six college students, all but one of whom seem to be ordinaries. The sixth one, a young woman whose name is Flori, has very strong magic, but seems not to be aware of it. They come into the café, assuming it's an ordinary cat café, and want to spend time with the cats. But Flori is very pushy about wanting to handle a cat who doesn't want to meet her, and with no apparent awarenss of what she's doing, tries to use magic on Jade to get her way. That doesn't work, and gets her kicked out--but she went to the specialty library, too. Could she be the killer?
Jade, Natalie, and Trinity's brother and lawyer, Tyson, have to figure out this tangled situation, and are not helped at all by the fact that there seems to be just enough uncertainty about the moment of Eric's death that Trinity could have done it. It's a nicely tangled mystery, with interesting characters, human and feline. Waverton seems like an interesting town, and this is a potentially very nice cozy mystery series. I really enjoyed it.
I bought this book.
Jade's café only handles cats, making it look quite normal for "ordinaries" who don't know that much of the town, including the police force, is populated by witches. One fine Tuesday morning, Jade and two friends--Trinity, the senior library assistant at the specialty library, and Natalie, the manager of the local hotel--are having their weekly "long break," at the café where they have good coffee and good pastries, and the presence of the cat familiars. One of the local police officers comes in, but before he can get his coffee, he gets a call, and leaves. The Jade's own familiar, Mason, howls loudly in distress, and instead of wondering what's going on with the cop, Jade is soothing her cat and asking him what upset him. Mason has seen a spirit, a very distressed spirit, probably murder victim. Mason helped the spirit transition. He doesn't know who it was, but it felt familiar. Maybe someone he'd met.
Eric Boyd, the head librarian, has been murdered, and Trinity quickly becomes the prime suspect. Many people disliked Eric, but a rare book is missing, and Eric had accused Trinity of stealing it. There's also a witness who claims he saw Trinity do it--a very disruptive eight-year-old boy named Isaac, visiting Waverton with his mother, Fiona, and an older woman whom people keep looking right past and not quite getting her name. Fiona says they came to Waverton because she's worried about a problem with her familiar, a parrot. She did visit the familiar veterinarian, and says she was doing research at the library. Because Fiona insists on her son's honesty, and that he be believed, Trinity is arrested, at least for now.
There are some other seemingly strange visitors in town. Mrs. Ainsley says she's looking for a new familiar, and has two other women with her. Mrs. Ainsley seems like a sweet, older woman, but Mason says she has negative energy. Maybe that means she's ill; maybe it means she's using negative magic. That question seems to be answered when, on being told that someone else has already applied for a cat she has decided, a day after meeting, that she wants, she actually threatens Jade with her own magic.
Then there's the group of six college students, all but one of whom seem to be ordinaries. The sixth one, a young woman whose name is Flori, has very strong magic, but seems not to be aware of it. They come into the café, assuming it's an ordinary cat café, and want to spend time with the cats. But Flori is very pushy about wanting to handle a cat who doesn't want to meet her, and with no apparent awarenss of what she's doing, tries to use magic on Jade to get her way. That doesn't work, and gets her kicked out--but she went to the specialty library, too. Could she be the killer?
Jade, Natalie, and Trinity's brother and lawyer, Tyson, have to figure out this tangled situation, and are not helped at all by the fact that there seems to be just enough uncertainty about the moment of Eric's death that Trinity could have done it. It's a nicely tangled mystery, with interesting characters, human and feline. Waverton seems like an interesting town, and this is a potentially very nice cozy mystery series. I really enjoyed it.
I bought this book.
April 7, 2025
“Unfamiliar Magic” has a decent plot but the book is so fuzzy around the edges to be anything other than run-of-the-mill.
There's information on all sorts of things that didn't interest me in the slightest - how to run a café, the local flora and fauna, etc.
Jade Owlens is a witch and café owner in the mostly magical town of Waverton, Kentucky.
When the local librarian is murdered Jade's best friend, assistant librarian Trinity Lyons, is arrested.
The kicker is that Jade knows she can't be guilty because the two were together at the time.
Proving her innocence proves far trickier, not helped by an eyewitness who positively identifies Trinity as the killer.
Suddenly it seems the magical business community is under attack. There's an outbreak of burglary, arson, and attacks.
The book meanders at a leisurely pace until the final chapters when it escalates to a fast walk.
It's not a bad read but it is eminently forgettable.
2 Stars.
There's information on all sorts of things that didn't interest me in the slightest - how to run a café, the local flora and fauna, etc.
Jade Owlens is a witch and café owner in the mostly magical town of Waverton, Kentucky.
When the local librarian is murdered Jade's best friend, assistant librarian Trinity Lyons, is arrested.
The kicker is that Jade knows she can't be guilty because the two were together at the time.
Proving her innocence proves far trickier, not helped by an eyewitness who positively identifies Trinity as the killer.
Suddenly it seems the magical business community is under attack. There's an outbreak of burglary, arson, and attacks.
The book meanders at a leisurely pace until the final chapters when it escalates to a fast walk.
It's not a bad read but it is eminently forgettable.
2 Stars.
November 16, 2021
I wasn't a fan of this book. For my taste, much of the story (the first 7% of the book, for example) contained too many details (mostly about coffees and the schedules of employees) that just didn't warrant inclusion. Personally, I think the same story told in a quarter the number of words would be much more engaging.
At the same time, I'm so glad others enjoyed it!
At the same time, I'm so glad others enjoyed it!
October 1, 2024
Unfamiliar Magic is a pretty good story, funny, and mysterious at the same time. Love the cat familiars. If I run across more books in this series, I'll be happy to read them.
April 4, 2021
A Great Weekend Read
The characters intrigue you from the very start, with Mason as the most fascinating of all. Would love to see this as a series.
The characters intrigue you from the very start, with Mason as the most fascinating of all. Would love to see this as a series.
August 28, 2021
Fun read and I never saw the ending coming!!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews