Book 1 - Murder Any Witch Way - Brimstone Bay Mysteries

I have just gotten into the cozy paranormal genre! I was not disappointed. The first book of the series set us up for what is to come in subsequent books. Loved how the characters were developed. Love Mrs. Brody as the stern though with a loving landlord who happens to be a witch to four young witches who play at witchcraft within their own home, unless it means using it for good while keeping it secret. The fourth witch River Halloway, who came to live with Mrs. Brody and the other three came from the big city to the small town of Brimstone Bay, Maine as a journalist to the small local newspaper. She also has a background in forensics. The traveling paranormal show called The Shadow Festival set up in a house in town that was vacant and made a great haunted house show which the regular residents thought was a show and not real magic. Of course, in the course of going with the mayor, sheriff and other dignitaries into the show first, River discovers a REAL non-magical body of a young girl and then an older couple....and so goes the mystery solving. Do we have a witch hating serial killer in our midst? The characters are a good mix of fun and serious and the mystery moves along at a good pace so you are not sure until the end who exactly the murderer was although I did narrow it down to the correct two suspects before the end. I am excited now to get to the second book of the series to see how some things begin to work out.

A new author to me. An interesting story line that I thoroughly enjoyed. River is a witch living in Brimstone Bay with 4 other witches; 3 young ones like herself and an older one who is their landlady. River is also a journalist on the Brimstone Bay paper; which is not a very exciting job as nothing really exciting happens. That is until the body of a young girl is found with the lips sewn shut and curse markings carved into her back. Then two more bodies are found again with lips sewn shut and markings. Now River and her friends have to find out who the murderer is before people start blaming witches and black magic. River begins to suspect Jordan, a friend from Boston of Ryan who works at the coffee shop with his father. I did not suspect the actual murderer and his reasons for the murders until the actual denouement. Looking forward to the next books in the series, in fact I have already pre-ordered them.

River Holloway only wants a new life as a Newspaper reporter in Brimstone Bay. The paper is a startup and is published weekly.

River loves her home. It is an old Victorian home (heat needs lots of maintenance) owned by Mrs. Brody. River’s fellow boarders are Bailey, Jane and Rory, all of whom are witches.

When a series of murders start to occur during the Shadow Festival, they grab River’s attention, especially since she found the first body.

The festival, which spans a full week, celebrates the various types of supernatural beings, beginning with a haunted house. When the first body is found, the town folk become worried and concerned that the Festival players (participants) may be responsible for the death and they are afraid that more will follow.

Fortunately, River is lucky enough to be working with the police on the investigation, which is an advantage not many reporters enjoy.

Can River find the murderer before another body is found? Can the witches keep their secret nature from the general public? Will the citizens learn the real secrets of the Shadow Festival players?

While the story is interesting and has lots of special people, there is no graphic sex or bad language.

Kindle Unlimited

I liked this book. I really did but there were some pretty big holes in the plot/story line. I don't want to give anything away so if you don't want any kind of SPOILER then please stop now but know that I've already downloaded the next in the series.
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Seriously. Gonna mention stuff. You might want to stop now.
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Ok. Jessica's last memory was being in the car with her mom going to Brimstone Bay. Why wasn't her mother questioned about this or any reference made to this. In fact there was only a brief mention of her parents at all even though they had to come pick up their child's body?
There wasn't much mention or interaction with the festival people at all. Strange. Not even much mention of the festival itself.
The older couple who were murdered were also on their way to Brimstone Bay. What happened to their car?
Finally. Jessica was going to be just happy as a clam to be this couples ghostly daughter. She had no concern for her grieving family?

Those were some little things that bothered me about the story. I'm not trying to be mean to this author as I did like the story. I'd just like to see gaps like this made smaller.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. This is the first book I've read by this author. I will be reading the other books in this series because I am hooked. I love witches and the paranormal. River is a witch who moved to a small town called Brimstone Bay to get experience working as a journalist. She lives in a 100+ years old run down Victorian with 3 other young witches and the old witch landlady. The young mayor believes in the paranormal and to liven things up and bring some business to town, arranges for the Shadow Festival a supposed fake paranormal spooky show (but really real), traveling show to stop in town at the beginning of October. But with it comes murder and the finger is pointing to witches or the guests from Boston!!! How could this be happening? River and her witch friends take it upon themselves story find the real killer before more people (like she and her friends) become the victims!! Who could it be? And why? I hadn't a clue and I'm usually pretty good with mysteries but this one had me stumped!! Loved it!!

A solid story with believable characters that are easy to like right from the start. Read it straight through because, well, I just had to keep turning the page! Looking forward to discovering more of N. M. Howell's work.

I received a copy for Story Cartel for honest review. They sent me a email telling me it was time to review. I have been busy and no time to read, so I gave it a 4 star for cover, title and story premise. I intend to read and the story sounds interesting and fun Its still on my reading list when life settles back down.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were easy to like even though a few were very strange. The story was a little spooky without anything being terrifying. I liked how well the story flowed and how fast paced it got after the introduction to the characters.

I have just gotten into the cozy paranormal genre! I was not disappointed. The first book of the series set us up for what is to come in subsequent books. Loved how the characters were developed. Love Mrs. Brody as the stern though with a loving landlord who happens to be a witch to four young witches who play at witchcraft within their own home, unless it means using it for good while keeping it secret. The fourth witch River Halloway, who came to live with Mrs. Brody and the other three came from the big city to the small town of Brimstone Bay, Maine as a journalist to the small local newspaper. She also has a background in forensics. The traveling paranormal show called The Shadow Festival set up in a house in town that was vacant and made a great haunted house show which the regular residents thought was a show and not real magic. Of course, in the course of going with the mayor, sheriff and other dignitaries into the show first, River discovers a REAL non-magical body of a young girl and then an older couple....and so goes the mystery solving. Do we have a witch hating serial killer in our midst? The characters are a good mix of fun and serious and the mystery moves along at a good pace so you are not sure until the end who exactly the murderer was although I did narrow it down to the correct two suspects before the end. I am excited now to get to the second book of the series to see how some things begin to work out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first in a series book. The story had just the right amount of action and suspense. The characters are introduced and I quite liked them. I will read others in the series. The author has corrected any typos that were in the first edition but they did not bother me. I mentally corrected them and continued reading. I do agree with the author that the new cover is more appropriate for depicting the main character.