This is book fourteen of the Witching After Forty series and it starts with Ava and Drew having to cut their not quite as peaceful as expected honeymoon short, to fight off another giant tentacled sea monster, since Luci seems to be too busy to deal with it himself! They don’t even get to really settle in before the Viking necromancers are back, wanting Alfred to join them. They had agreed to give them until the end of their honeymoon and seem to take the early end of it meaning they can turn up early as well. Alfred has no wish to join his former colleagues from his long ago past, or to be part of a spell that could make him and them fully human, knowing it would take a human sacrifice to do so. Ava finally manages to get them to leave but has been rattled. When everyone is busy with their own lives and businesses the next day, Ava thinks she will have the perfect quiet day to do some writing, and Alfred says he is going for a walk. Ava gets distracted by her friends visiting and doesn’t notice that Alfred hasn’t returned. When the next day rolls around and she realises she is up before Alfred and even beaten him to the kitchen, the first hint of concern hits. She ends up calling together all of her friends and family and they try everything they can to figure out where he is.
They even try to trace his path through town, getting a close up of all the good deeds he does for others, that none of them even knew about! It brings about a surprising side of the large Viking friend and butler, who is trying to make up for the events of his past apparently. A scrying spell can’t locate him, nor can the power of Luci himself. Ava even calls the Viking necromancers in and uses the truth stone on them, but even though they are the most likely suspects, they had nothing to do with Alfred’s disappearance. Even the full coven can’t trace Alfred and Winnie is left beside herself as time goes on. Even the extra powers her bestie Olivia is managing to learn to control from her father’s side of her family, are not enough to help. It comes from the unlikeliest of sources and will bring a surprising new development in the powers and lives of Ava, Olivia and their families. Another short story in the series, with bits and pieces of events for the main characters and a nice look at the man Alfred truly is, as he helps those in Shipton Harbor, as he loves to help Ava and her extended family and friends through his love of cooking. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.