Cozy Mystery Monday - Spell Booked

Cozy Mystery Monday is back after a bit of a break for mundane muggle stuff (the semester of homework ended yesterday). I debated whether to continue with the Ophelia and Abby Mysteries or to introduce another series. I've decided to alternate. Today I'm introducing the first book in a new series. Next week I'll go back to Ophelia. Then another new or new-ish series and back to Ophelia until I've reviewed all seven. The paranormal cozies have exploded onto the scene and there are so many new authors and series I want to explore. At the same time, I don't want to neglect the long running series that got me hooked in the first place. Now, to the new stuff!

This week I'm reviewing the first book in the new Retired Witches Mysteries, "Spell Booked" by national bestselling author couple Joyce and Jim Lavene. They've been writing cozies individually and as a couple for at least fifteen years, so they seem to do well. This is also the first of their books I've read so far.

The basic plot on this is a small coven of older witches, comprised of Olivia (the diva), Elsie (the ditz), and Molly (the practical one), are looking to retire as their powers are waning. The witches need to find replacements to inherit the coven and their book of shadows. They have one witch in their sights already, a librarian named Dorothy. Before they can make contact, Olivia is murdered. Naturally, the remaining witches and their new protege must find out who killed Olivia (with help from her spirit) without letting on to anyone (including Molly's husband who is a cop) they are witches.

From here the story gets a little iffy for me. The particular version of "witchdom" presented seems patched together in order to further the story without much cohesion or forethought. It's part modern Pagan and part Hollywood witchcraft. The women seem intelligent one moment and completely flighty the next. I think my biggest problems with this were the new witch, Dorothy (who is a blithering idiot most of the time), and the "Witches Council" that comes across as useless or adversarial by turns. Oh, and the idea of a witch losing her powers as she gets older. As someone heading into her Crone years, I was bothered (read insulted) by the idea that age meant weakness or loss of power. The women could no longer perform the most basic of spells without the spell backfiring on them. And the waning of power was not balanced by the wisdom we gain with age. It also included my biggest pet peeve when portraying modern witches; the instant spell. This is not Harry Potter. We don't wave a wand or light a candle and POOF! Spells take time, patience, and much more effort on the part of the caster. And the outcome is not guaranteed simply because we want it.

I didn't care for the constant need for absolute secrecy about the magick for fear of reprisal. Not from the muggles. From their own council. Yes, I know it's mainly to protect the witches from ignorance and prejudice. But a witch should be able to confide in her spouse about her magick. That aspect felt contrived to create conflict between characters that would otherwise have no drama. Not even the cat familiars could elevate this story for me. All in all, I'm not sure I'll bother with the rest of the series. And I'll have to think long and hard before I decide whether I'll try anything else by the Lavenes.

 for a whodunit that tried to keep you guessing. The who in the whodunit, while unexpected, had no lead in for the reader to even hazard a guess.

Two brooms for a magick system that might improve as the series progresses *crossing fingers* here. Though I'll never care much for the insinuation that old witches should just give up and retire to Boca.

Holding onto Anger

I recently had a discussion with a relative about holding onto anger. I know everyone says that's a bad idea, it's harmful to my own psyche, it lets the other person win, and all that jazz. And with the class I'm taking, a semester learning about the Holocaust, I am torn. I'm learning in detail what hate, blind hate that ignores ethics and morals, can do to people. It reminds me of a line from Theoden in "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. When the people of Rohan are losing the battle against the Orcs and the Uruk-hai, Theoden asks, "So much death, what can men do against such reckless hate?" And there is no easy answer. Though I never want to feel the kind of anger that would push me to take a life or stand aside and let it happen, there are times I don't want to let go of my anger. There are individuals who've made me so angry or taken something so important that I don't feel that forgiving them is the right thing to do. Is this childish? Selfish? I'm not sure and frankly, I don't think I care. I will say that it has to be something EXTREME for me to be willing to continue to be angry or even hate a person. I don't wish to hold onto negativity for something simple.

Amanda

Five years ago something happened that I can never forgive and forget. I will NEVER stop being angry about it. In the early morning hours of 2 Jan 2010, my oldest niece (who would've been 24 that April) was driving home from visiting a friend. Her car ran out of gas on the Dallas North Tollway, a freeway with no shoulder. In the minutes it took her to text someone for a ride a drunk driver, one Khary McWilliams, slammed into her car, killing her instantly though we wouldn't know for certain until they got her body temperature up to check for brain activity. That is enough to make anyone furious but that isn't even the end of it. Two years later, it was decided by the courts that the man who did this, the man who drank well beyond his limit and got behind the wheel of his car, the man who took my niece's life was given probation as his punishment for taking a life. His attorney said this about putting McWilliams in prison, "with all due respect to the Richardson family, sending Khary to the penitentiary is not going to bring their daughter back. … At some point he's going to get out and is he going to be a different man than he is today? I submit to the court the answer to that is yes. I don't have to educate the court on how hard being in prison would be on someone like Khary McWilliams." Is that not the point of prison? To be hard on someone who committed a crime, who took someone's life, so they don't do it again? Why be soft on the criminal when the victim got no such consideration? And at the time of sentencing, the criminal admitted "to having driven after drinking on other occasions. He also admitted to having drank alcohol in the time since the accident." Unfortunately, it'll take the death of another innocent motorist before my niece receives any justice.

So hell yes I'm still angry. I want to be angry. Someone has to be angry for the sake of potential victims. He's living his life, celebrating holidays, and being with his family. My niece will never have that chance and our holidays are all bittersweet. I'm willing to say I HATE the man. Always will. I know it won't bring my niece back but neither will forgiving the killer of his crime. He doesn't deserve it. He'll never earn it. Nothing he can do will change the fact that he killed her and got away with it.

Reading Challenge Witchy Style

I've already posted my plans to read 50 books this year. Goodreads tells me I'm currently 3 books behind schedule. This doesn't surprise as I'm in the middle of three textbooks for my class on The Holocaust and creating a workshop piece for my writing class. After the spring semester I should be able to kick it into high gear before the fall semester. I'm going to combine my Goodreads challenge, the one I found on someone's blog (see previous post), and this new one:

The 2015 Witches and Witchcraft Challenge also goes well with my Cozy Mystery Mondays since most of my cozy choices have a witchy theme. I also have several galley titles I need to review for Llewellyn for being kind enough to share them with me. Updates coming on my many reading challenges and a new Cozy Mystery Monday review will be here as soon as possible.

Oh, and I almost forgot to include the challenge rules and my goal of Maiden level.

Challenge Rules:

• This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2015 – Dec 31, 2015. I will be posting a place to link up a sign-up post (below), reviews and a wrap-up post. (Note: You do not have to review the books to participate, but only those who link up reviews will be entered for the prize)
• Grab the reading challenge button (code & button below) and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate- you could track your progress and post reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, etc.
• Any full length book that includes a witch as a main character or includes major witchcraft elements counts. They may be fiction or non-fiction. However, they should not be reference books which are not read cover to cover-I will leave this to your discretion.
• Books can be any format (bound, eBook, audio).
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
• When you sign up in the linky put the direct link to your post about joining the 2015 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge, not just a link to your blog.
• You can move up levels, but no moving down.
• Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2015, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
• Have some Witchy Good Fun !!!

The Levels

Initiate: Read 1 – 5 Witchy Books
Maiden: Read 6 – 10 Witchy Books
Mother: Read 11 – 15 Witchy Books
Crone: Read 16 – 20 Witchy Books

A Challenge with a Twist

http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458

Because I'm apparently a glutton for punishment and don't have enough on my plate yet, I found this challenge and decided to combine it with my Goodreads challenge of reading 50 books in a year. One book for one challenge. No cheating and applying more than one category to one book. Not one to do things the normal way, I want to choose as many of my cozy mysteries as possible to fill the requirements. It might be a stretch for a few since I generally don't care for romances. Last week's cozy will fill the slot of "A book you can finish in a day" as it only took me a few hours to read it (again). That will probably be the only book that isn't new to me. I've read it a couple times so far.

A few of the categories will have to be something other than a cozy since none that I know of are based on a true story, published more than 100 years ago, or are considered non-fiction. I also have yet to come across one with more than 500 pages. I want to use Pagan titles to complete the tougher categories. I am also open to suggestions from my readers. I already a book in mind for "a book that scares you". I started Heart-shaped Box by Joe Hill a couple of years ago and haven't finished it yet. The creep factor is much higher than my usual but the story is well written. I just need to clear some reading time during the day. Reading a quality ghost story at 2 a.m. leads to very little sleep and I need my sleep.

Cozy Mystery Monday - Witch Way to Murder

Welcome to the first installment of "Cozy Mystery Monday." As I mentioned in my previous post, I love a good mystery and like them even better when not bogged down in detailed accounts of sex or violence. That tends to get in the way of the whodunit. My intention here is to introduce my readers to as many of the witchy/paranormal/magickal cozies as I can find. I'll discuss each book in a series separately as the writers worked hard on each and deserve proper recognition for every story they share.

I've decided to start with Witch Way to Murder, the first book my all-time favorite witchy series, the Ophelia and Abby Mysteries. It is a seven-novel series about Ophelia Jensen, a small Iowa town librarian and reluctant clairvoyant, and her grandmother Abby McDonald, a wise woman with powers passed down through many generations. They use their gifts to solve crimes and protect those they care about. In this first story, Ophelia is still emotionally crippled by a tragedy from four years past, shutting out everyone for fear of hurting someone or getting hurt herself. That all changed when Rick Davis strolls into town claiming to be a chemical salesman, asking tons of questions about several recent petty crimes, including theft of anhydrous ammonia. Shortly thereafter, Ophelia stumbles onto a dead body and the investigating begins. I don't want to go into too much detail because every part of this story was a joy to discover without having it spoiled. What made this stand out for me over other series was the protagonist's struggle with her abilities and her trust issues. She never once shows disrespect for her grandmother's magick. She only fears letting herself embrace what she can do after she feels her gifts failed her (as she believed it did in the tragedy four years earlier). The story never felt forced and all of the secondary characters were believable and (mostly) likeable. It's also nice when law enforcement is not portrayed as bumbling idiots, forcing the protagonists into action.The answer to whodunit was well-plotted and not immediately obvious, at least not to me. Most importantly, the magick was handled very well. No silliness, no gimmick, no wand waving and shooting out a spell. Just respect. I appreciate when an author can pull that off.

Favorite quote: When asked if she is not Wiccan then what is it, Abby responds, "It's hard to explain. Some might call it sympathetic or white magick, but I think that's too simplistic. It's a seeing in your mind, looking beyond the physical. It's an understanding of nature and the world around you. Every thing, every place, has energy, a power--some more than others. I'm just a conduit for that power, to pull it inside me and send it back out. The power isn't me. It's there with or without me."

Five smoking guns for a great plot and five wands for the respectful magick. Oh, and a bonus for Ophelia's cat Queenie and her dog Lady and not making romance a huge factor in the story. (the ratings system will have handy icons soon)

Cozy Mysteries of the Magickal Variety

I’ve always been an avid reader and mysteries were my first love. I started like most kids, with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Then I found the best (IMO) mystery series for young adults of the time, the Three Investigators Series. The three boys from working class families were easier to relate to than Nancy’s upper class lifestyle. They were smart, resourceful, and expected to be home for dinner. They were my kind of protagonists. Over time, my reading tastes expanded to include science fiction, fantasy, and the occasional literary title. Then a co-worker introduced me to the Cat Who Series by Lilian Jackson Braun and my obsession with cozy mysteries was born. They have a slow-paced, charming quality I need after hours of retail work.

For those who aren’t aware of them, cozy mysteries “are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.” --definition courtesy of Wikipedia. The main character is usually not in law enforcement and the murder doesn’t happen on-stage. The most popular series have a theme of some sort, such as Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries, Monica Ferris’ Needlecraft Mysteries, and the aforementioned Cat Who Mysteries. Name a hobby and there is probably a cozy series to go with it. There are also lots of them with magickal or paranormal themes. These are my preference right now. Well, that and cats. I'm a sucker for cats. One fairly new series (6 books since 2011) combines the two with a pair of magickal cats. One can walk through walls and the other becomes invisible in the quest to find out whodunit. Naturally, those are high on my list of favorites. Next week, I start a regular series of posts talking about magickal/paranormal cozies, one book at a time. So join me on the 19th for Cozy Mystery Mondays where I'll introduce you to "Witch Way to Murder," the first book in the Ophelia and Abby Mystery series.

Do or do not. There is no try.

Gotta love that quote. For a fuzzy green muppet, Yoda was a pretty smart guy. :)

Every new year I make resolutions; blogging more, getting the online business in order, getting past roadblocks in my genealogy, writing my cozy mysteries. And every year I fail do any of it. Bragging about all of my big plans seems to just make me feel like a loser when I can't follow through. My results from NaNoWriMo 2014 are a prime example. I committed to 50k words knowing that much writing is beyond my capabilities for now. It'll take more experience as a writer to be that prolific that quickly. I don't intend to quit trying. The blog still needs posts. The stories must be written. Ancestors are waiting to be found. I simply won't make public proclamations about my intentions. Better to do what needs doing than talk it to death. I look forward to reporting my many successes instead.

The first thing I've done is merge my two blogs back into one. Trying to separate business and personal only made it twice as hard to accomplish either. And it made me feel like I was trying to be two different people. My spirituality informs everything in my life, so I don't really need to keep things separate. I only need to be myself and accept that not everyone will agree with my opinions. Second, I managed to survive another holiday season in retail with my sanity intact. The key was to stop letting the day job be so important to my self-worth, to stop letting it occupy so much of my life away from work. I don't plan to be at that job forever, only until I create something better for myself. In the meantime it pays the bills and gives me access to lots of books. My roomie recently helped me realize a way I already express my spirituality without even knowing. I have ancestor magick. Not in the aspect of literally speaking with the dead but through my genealogy. I've been working on improving my affinity for finding lost family hidden in historical records and honoring them properly. Goddess helps me in unexpected ways, such as the aforementioned access to books. Just last week we got in this book I can't wait to read. "Discovering more about our forebears and identifying inherited traits can help us realise our potential and assist us in overcoming obstacles that may be holding us back. As we learn about our ancestors, we can reclaim who we are, discover our creativity, and find our true soul path." This sounds absolutely fascinating and right up my alley. It was my need to connect with someone like myself (and a huge album of old family photos with names and dates) that started the search for my roots. It would be even better to connect on a spiritual level, to feel a connection beyond names, dates, and locations. Why do I feel an immediate connection to my maternal great-grandmother? Do we have more in common than basic genetics? Why don't I sense any real connection to my paternal line?

Okay, enough for tonight. I'll be back when I have progress to report. Or something important I need to share or vent. You never know what the day holds.