A Charming Menace: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery

by Freya Fey Diehl

Secrets from the past. Powers hidden from sight. To save her future, she’ll have to trace the pint-sized pawprints.Willow Harper struggles to scratch out a home of her own. After burying her adoptive parents, the lonely barista trades in her microwave meals and dead-end espresso gig to follow a pair of fast-talking felines who claim to serve her birth relatives. But the raven-haired outsider fears her newfound curiosity may get her killed when her family reunion is cut short by a fatal poisoning.

Accused of the dastardly deed and forbidden to leave the enchanted town unless her name is cleared, Willow sniffs out clues from an ever-growing list of suspects while battling to control her awakening magic. And between ghostly encounters, running the local bustling bakery, and the well-intentioned antics of her fuzzy familiar, this witch-in-training stirs up a cauldron of trouble.

Can Willow prove her innocence and catch the murderer before the next deadly brew boils?

A Charming Menace is the spellbinding first book in The Silvermist Hollow cozy mystery series. If you like quirky characters, whiskered rabble-rousers, and small-town shenanigans, then you’ll love Freya Fey Diehl’s paranormal page-turner.

Buy A Charming Menace to wave the wand on a magical whodunit today!

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 30, 2022

Reviews

[Merry Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book in a VERY promising series that I can't wait to read more of. The main character, Willow, has just become an orphan, since her adoptive parents are dead. But she gets an very unusual summons from two talking cats that just appear in her apartment. This freaks her out in the beginning, but she felt she had nothing to lose in her dead end job but to find out what this strange thing is all about. She never knew she had an aunt or cousins, and now with a little trepidation she goes to Silvermist Hollow, an enchanted town, to find her biological mother died and left her a bakery and that she is a witch and the two cats are her familiar, the older cat having been her mother's. Magic, really? Is it all in my head? Is it really? This really is too much for her to accept at first and goes to the local diner where she has an argument with a man there who keeps trying to hit on her. When he is found dead, Willow is the likely suspect. So she can't leave town and with her new found cousins, she investigates trying to clear her name. Will Willow sell the bakery and leave town? Will she be able to solve the murder? Can she get into any more trouble? This is a fun first book in the series and I can't wait for more! I received and ARC of this book but the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book often seemed like a rough draft. Incomplete sentences and lack of cohesion mar the potential of the story. Proof reading and editing were badly needed. "There", "their", "they're" are not interchangeable and "your"/"you're" have very different meanings, but were misused with abandon in this book. Reading a work with such juvenile mistakes is like reading someone's semi-literate texts. One sentence even had: "Around ele 11 a.m…". I kept reading because it was like a wreck - I couldn't look away. The grammatical errors just continued with misuse of "then" and "than" and "its" and "it's" and more. The biggest mistake was with "Aunt Charlene" or was she "Grandma Charlene"? Apparently the author couldn't decide. Aside from the horrible grammar, the timeline was off and full descriptions of plot, characters, setting, etc. were missing.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Charming Menace is book #1 in the Silvermist Hollow Mysteries series by Freya Fey Diehl.

Willow Harper is barely making ends meet working as a barista. One day a couple of cats show up with a note and her life changes.

I really enjoyed the story. The kitten, Charming, is adorable. I like the premise of the story and the characters of Willow, Emily, and Elizabeth. I read it in one sitting. The problem with this book was the editing. There were typos and character names being switched like Charlotte and Charlene. And Charlene kept switching between Aunt Charlene to Grandma Charlene. Hopefully the next book will be better edited.

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

[Barbara Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprise you’re a witch

Willow gets a letter stating that her mother has died a mother she didn’t even know was still alive since she was abandoned and given up for adoption.. she’s inherited her mother’s bake shop and she has an aunt and cousins that she didn’t even know she had. As soon as she gets into town and they tell her she’s a witch she thinks she’s come to crazy town and then she’s accused of a murder of a man she didn’t even know. The book was cute little long but it was cute.

[Mom2three · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in what I think is going to be a fun series. I liked Willow and her slightly crazy new family, and I really loved the cats. I love the quaint town of Silvermist Hollow and the quirky characters that live there. The mystery was fun and lighthearted, while still being suspenseful, and everything moved at a nice pace. It's not a long read, I finished it in one sitting, and made for a very enjoyable afternoon. I'm excited to see what's next for Willow, her cousins, and her cute cats.

[Janina M. Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

cozy

Three stars for a sweet story , world building and charming sidekicks. The writing only 2 stars: phonetic spelling, wrong verb tenses, dictation writing., grammar. It Lacks continuity: is it a diner or a bakery ; an aunt or a grandmother…. Author needs beta editors. I would love to read the next book if it is well written.

[Malinda Kester · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

Not horrible, but just too many typos and I'm not a fan of tales told in the first person. The story was cute, but as a teacher I itched to correct the narrative into an actual story, not a minute by minute relating on what came next. The characters are good.

[Beverley Turnquest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

This was a quick and charming read and I look forward to book two in this series. I love the author’s style of writing and the main character was likable and memorable.

[Jodi Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willow's life is about to change drastically. After losing her parents, she is struggling to get by. Then she is visited by talking cats! Finding out about her other life is well life changing. This was a fun read and I really liked the story line. I am excited to start book 2.

[Mary Heiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a excellent book to read. You won’t know who the suspect is until the end. You’ll like it.

[Catha Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book

If you love supernatural reading then this book is for you. Great characters and great story, you got a fan. Catha Watkins Reese

[debb · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok story line

ok story line.Editi

Story is ok, but the mispellings, incomplete sentences, etc. etc need to be reviewed and repaired asap.

[Carmela F. Alfonso · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Meh book

Too many typos and tense errors. Characters kept getting mixed up. Is it aunt or grandmother? Done with this series.

[Paul Leverell · Rating 4 out of 5]

good mystery

I think this book is a well written mystery that keeps you guessing. In my opinion it is well written and the characters are well developed.