Happy Deadly New Year (Melting Pot Café Book 2)

Prudence, the queen of throwing the most lavish parties in the small town of Saltwater Cove, decides to exercise that gift on the eve of the New Year. All are invited, especially the girl she grew up with, Evelyn, and their aunt, Edith aka Eddie. Evelyn’s cat, Miss Saffron, is also present alongside all Evelyn’s friends: Jordi, Eli, Tyler, and Harriet. However, Prudence is murdered during the party, and Evelyn’s best friend is named as a prime suspect. Evelyn decides to use all her witch powers, with the assistance of her aunt, who is also a master witch, to find the real murderer and clear her friend’s name. What she does not know is that her journey to clearing her friend’s name sends more skeletons along her path that she has to flesh out to solve the puzzle at hand.

Of witches, the witch council, guardians, dark forces, and a cat who is also a witch, this novel offers a spectrum of threads that are tactfully tailored to produce a perfect meal for lovers of paranormal murder mysteries. Evelyn wows the reader with her abilities, especially how she embraces her journey of learning new things and pulling different characters together with subtle her gentleness. Although the romance thread in the novel adds a different facet to the reader’s mind, it does not feel realistic. The projection of the connection between the involved parties seems to be lacking a few elements. In addition, the disappearance of a character without any explanation would fall short of any reader’s expectations. Nonetheless, this is a unique character-driven novel that would strike a chord in the mind of any reader who enjoys cozy paranormal murder mysteries.

JM Lareen