Welcome to Golden Hope, where the whole town will cast you under its spell…
Weather witch Storm Bancroft has never been afraid of ruffling a few feathers, even if it means occasionally being pecked at. So, the local mayor trying to kill her after she exposes him as an embezzler in the local paper? All in a day's work. But when the mayor in question is found stabbed to death the next morning, Storm quickly realizes she's suspect number one, and that's a problem.
Knowing she has to do some investigating before she ends up doing hard time instead, Storm rounds up a rag-tag group of other local witches who all have something to gain from the murder being solved, and voila—the Witches Murder Club is born.
With the help of her new friends, and her snarky cat familiar, Storm sets about clearing her name. But Storm has her own secrets, and as she delves deeper into the investigation, she also finds herself digging into her own past. Is this a blizzard Storm is going to be able to weather, or is she about to get snowed in?
Samantha Silver lives in British Columbia, Canada, along with her husband and seventeen-year-old dog named Terra.
When she's not writing cozy mysteries, Samantha loves travelling (she's most recently been to Egypt, Jordan and Florida) skiing, eating Dairy Queen, and complaining about how hard running is.
Cursing up a Storm is the first book in a BRAND NEW series by Samantha Silver.
WOW was this a great book. Samantha Silver is one of my favorite authors and she doesn't disappoint with this new series.
Storm Bancroft is a weather witch who has a big problem.
She is a reporter and she exposed the Mayor for embezzling LOTS of money. He tries to kill her unsuccessfully and then turns up dead the next day and of course she is the prime suspect.
She doesn't have much faith in the local Sherriff so she gets together some of her witchy friends and creates the Witches Murder Club. Lets not forget her hilarious familiar.
The characters are so well written and full of snark. I absolutely love the concept of the Witches Murder Club, its so creative. The setting of Golden Hope is so fun.
They mystery was fantastic and I never saw that ending coming. Such a fantastic story I cannot wait for the next book in the series.
If it weren't from a prompt, I probably wouldn't have pick this up because the cover isn't pretty enough.
But the story is decent and I am interested enough to continue with it. Although I wish the MC would have use her detective skill instead of the aha light bulb moments and then suddenly she knows who the killer is. I am also not a fan of the love interest doctor Logan sprang out of nowhere. I guess I am just used to the love interest playing more of a role during the investigation and their relationship progress from there but I mean its cool, perhaps we will see more of Logan in the next book . There is also the case of the demon following Storm and the mystery of Storm's family murder so that actually make me interested enough to read on the next book
Storm is a reporter (the only reporter) for the local small-town newspaper. So she can easily stir up angry readers or the subjects of her reporting. So now she's the number 1 suspect in the mayor's murder. She gathers a few friends who are also witches and they work together to solve the murder and save Storm from being jailed. Ths was a very enjoyable book with some great characters and an intriguing murder mystery. I am gabbing the next book in the series!
Amazon synopsis: Weather witch Storm Bancroft has never been afraid of ruffling a few feathers, even if it means occasionally being pecked at. So, the local mayor trying to kill her after she exposes him as an embezzler in the local paper? All in a day's work. But when the mayor in question is found stabbed to death the next morning, Storm quickly realizes she's suspect number one, and that's a problem.
Knowing she has to do some investigating before she ends up doing hard time instead, Storm rounds up a rag-tag group of other local witches who all have something to gain from the murder being solved, and voila—the Witches Murder Club is born.
With the help of her new friends, and her snarky cat familiar, Storm sets about clearing her name. But Storm has her own secrets, and as she delves deeper into the investigation, she also finds herself digging into her own past. Is this a blizzard Storm is going to be able to weather, or is she about to get snowed in?
✍️ In a town called Golden Hope, many buried secrets abound, and Storm Bancroft has moved there to unearth them. I really enjoyed how Ms. Silver crafted this main character and her community. She gives the characters an interesting depth with slowly revealed backstories and secrets, as well as fairly complex personality struggles without losing any of the lightweight feel of a cozy small-town mystery.
✍️ It was such an easy and enjoyable read that I found myself zipping through all five fairly quickly, but I have to say this first one was just as enjoyable as all of the ones that followed. You know this is not always the case! Some authors take a while to get their footing, or they need to grow in their prose, so the following books in the series tend to be better. Ms. Silver, however, is consistent with this series, which makes sense, considering that she has published, to date, no less than 48 books!
✍️ The first five in this series are available now, and book 6 will be available January 25, 2023, making this the perfect January binge. I can’t wait for book six to come out, and I have a reminder on my phone to grab it on day one.
As usual, it's poorly edited, and continuity errors are dotted about. It's written in a style more reminiscent of a teenager than a published author.. weak dialogue, over explaining the obvious and lacking clarity when things do require more detail. Silver doesn't manage to paint in enough background about the places she writes about.. there's a really unclear description of River Road, which apparently forms the main street alongside both sides of the river with pedestrian bridges.. how are the vehicles traversing this? How can two toads either side have the same name? The description is so poorly written it's hard to fathom how it works.. apart from everything being alongside the river..
Maybe I'm struggling with the place names because it's an American thing, but seriously, Golden Hope sounds like a Chinese restaurant.. and everything around it has the same name.. Golden Hope river, Golden Hope mountain.. too much..
Cursing Up a Storm is the first book in The Witches Murder Club series. I am familiar with the author’s writing with the Spellford Cove series. I read the first two in that series and really liked it, so I decided to give this a try. I am so glad that I did. My favorite cozies have witches and cats, and this had both.
Storm Bancroft is a witch/reporter who lives in Golden Hope, Washington. The story opens with the mayor trying to kill Storm only to have him murdered the next day. Storm becomes the prime suspect after she exposes the mayor for embezzlement. She gathers a group of witches together to clear her name and find the real killer. This is how The Witches Murder Club gets their start.
The backstory of how Storm came to be and the curse on her family made me a little sad, but it was just enough to know what is going on without going into too much detail. I am not one to usually guess the killer but this time I did, and I was right! The author did a great job of keeping me guessing and even had me second guessing myself. I liked how the possible love interest for Storm showed up towards the end. Logan seems very interesting, and I can’t wait to see how that plays out in the next books.
This was an entertaining paranormal women’s fiction series. A great cast of characters and an entertaining storyline. A young which living in Seattle with your parents ends up finding out that her family is cursed first her father is killed and then one of her aunts is killed and then when her and her mother are about to leave town her mother has gone to the store to get supplies so they can leave her mother is killed outside the store. So what is she to do. She takes off and changes everything in her life. Read on to find out the story and what happens and how the witches murder club is created and why. It is an exceptional story and wildly entertaining and a fun read. Check it out. Looking forward to many more in this series.
It meets all my criteria for a pleasant read. No gratutious sex 10 minutes after meeting each other, name dropping of brand names, cars, etc. Just a nice enjoyable book. She doesn't leap up after an injury and suddenly gain the ability to ignore her injuries and fight on. Her friends are nice. Just a great group to spend to spend time with. They support each other as friends should. The plot held my interest and I did not guess the real culprit until it was revealed. Since my brain is currently out to lunch, I wasn't in the mood for great literatire or convulated plots, just a good interesting book that left me looking forward to the next one and spending time with characters that I would want as friends.
Storm has lost her whole family and someone or some thing she is sure is coming to kill her next. In order to hopefully prevent that from happening, she has changed her name and moved back to the small town where her family had fled years ago. She landed a job on the town's newspaper and had recently written an atricle detailing the embezzling of 2 million dollars that should have been spent on needed projects in the town. Soon enough, the rather dim-witted chief of police believes Storm not only wrote that article but murdered the mayor. Storm gets three good friends together in order to investigate the murder and find the real culpret. I will likely read at least one more book in this series but I did think the solution was abrupt.
I was going for something light to read and this one looked good. I was right and happy about my choice. There were passing mentions of current athletes that I only know because I read a couple articles on them, but the plot itself was cute and easy. It may have been an outline book, but I liked it. Storm was not too bad of a female character to follow through her attempt at investigating. The passing mentions about eco-friendly things may have been descriptions or an attempt at eco shaming. Don't know, don't care. Two slight hang ups: background description was lax. Oh, there are mountains and in the middle is the suburbs. The second, what was the definition of the auras? It was never explained. Maybe in the next book.
When Storm is almost killed by a man, she is startled to discover that he was murdered just a few hours after his arrest. When she becomes the prime suspect, she decides it’s time for the witches in town to investigate the case themselves.
This is a cosy paranormal mystery, with a weather witch heroine, her chatty familiar, and her witchy friends. There is plenty of mystery solving, a little magical action, and towards the end of the book, a hint of romance. It’s an enjoyable read, lighthearted and fun, with an overarching background story playing out alongside the main story. Recommended for those who love cosy paranormal mystery books.
A fairly compact little story. Enjoyed the opening (with its rather unique way to introduce a main character) and how the author just kept the momentum going until the final sentence. While not an absolute favourite, these characters do have a certain charm, and this is one of the few cozy mystery books where the police have played a very small role in the story - and it worked in this case. Will definitely be picking up book two as it looks like more information about Stormy’s mysterious family curse will be unearthed and I’m becoming invested in this overarching plot point.
Storm Bancroft is a weather witch. She moves back to the town where she was born after both of her parents are killed. Someone put a curse on her family and she needs to find out who before she is also killed. After receiving some anonymous emails, she puts an article in the paper showing the mayor has been embezzling a large sum of money. He tries to kill her, but after he's arrested, his lawyer gets him out only for him to be killed on the way home. Now Storm is the primary suspect.
This was a really fun opener to a new series by Sam Silver. There are developed characters, a solid plot line, and a good bit of humor.
I loved that they made themselves a Club. Storm, A journalist and investagater is the main character and they all have to help her find out who murdered the Mayor otherwise she is going to jail for it. Storm is a witch and her familiar is a black cat. The murderer could be a number of people. Just when you think they have it figured out the murderer is in Storms house trying to kill her. It was a good story and it was hard to put down. I recommend reading this if you like a good mystery with a little magic.
A protagonist with lots of secrets, an adorable familiar, a magickal aptitude, a hard-nosed reporter attitude, and, luckily, the ability to make good friends. When the Mayor of her town is murdered, hours after the expose' she wrote for the local paper exposed him as a thief, she's marked as the perpetrator by many in the tight-knit small town, she and her new friends form the Witches Murder Club and save the day. This book included lots of fun and a hunky werewolf along the way. Enjoy!
Mayor Murdered Knowing she has to do some investigating before she ends up doing hard time instead, Storm rounds up a rag-tag group of other local witches who all have something to gain from the murder being solved, and voila—the Witches Murder Club is born. The culprit is the mayor's Assistant. She took the money that he took. I borrowed this book from Kindle Unlimited. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.
I want Jay! He's so sassy and cute! Storm is a very competent MC and I enjoy her antics and her inner monologue. I love her group of witchy friends and I really love how she involved all of them to help her, but to be able to lean on them and have them lean on each other also. I look forward to the next book!
Very fun first book in a new series. Minus one or two grammar mistakes this was a very enjoyable read. The background on the main character is very interesting. The seed is planted early for the murderer but you can catch it. Still very fun paranormal cozy mystery.
I gave up about halfway through this book. I had wanted to like the series. All the right ingredients were there for a typical cozy, which is not really a recommendation when the ingredients usually come together such that all cozies start to read the same. However, in this case, the writing was just poor in too many spots. Just could not finish.
Fun new series, with magic and snark! Storm Bancroft is an investigative journalist, who also happens to be a witch hiding in the mundane world. Her entire family was murdered by a curse. She's exposing embezzling and fraud, while trying to find out how to defeat the curse before she's murdered, too...
Great story - The town mayor is murdered and Storm is the number one suspect. She knows SHE didn't do it so she gets some of her witcjy friends and forms a Witches Murder Group to try and find the murderer. This will keep you guessing-Who was the Killer? Highlyrecommend.
Storm is a terrific character in this new series. I like the Witches Murder Club. Ashley, Montana and Holly are wonderful friends to have on your side. Looking forward to seeing more of Logan and Storm becoming a couple.
I enjoyed this book very much! Great mystery, focus on friendship, and just a bit of romance that I hope will be explored further in the next one. Women (witches) supporting each other. Love it!
This is a great book, I really enjoyed it! There’s a mystery to solve, and another mystery about Storm’s past which is pretty interesting. I love all the characters, of course especially Jay. I’m on to the next in the series.
This was a great light read. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. I especially liked Jay. It’s a very fun read. I would recommend it to anyone who likes witches, mysteries, and/or cats. Great job! I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
Unless you’re a weather witch and can use a lightning bolt to stop someone from trying to kill you with their car. I’m a sucker for talking cats and I truly enjoyed this book.
The fact that Stormy is a witch and the supernatural aspect of the book is great. But the story itself, The Who done it, is terrific. Couldn't put it down. Great Read.
I liked that there wasn't a lot of unnecessary banter between the characters. I will definitely let others know that there is another good book by Samantha Silver
Really loved this book and understand the reporter trying to find her history. Getting involved with a mayor that is a criminal leads to exhausting excitement
There are some good ideas here but the writing and character depth are not great literature. If all you are looking for is a simplistic escape for a few hours this will probably work for you. Hopefully, that the writing matures in book two.