Hallowfest, an outdoor pagan festival held in upstate New York, attracts all kinds of people. When a local resident is mysteriously murdered, Bast finds that her suspects include several modern-day witches, a ceremonial magician, a survivalist, a dominatrix, an ex-boyfriend, and even a few would-be Klingons. Can she discover which witch dunit--before the entire festival falls under a cloud of suspicion?
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Those wacky Wiccans return in the third Bast mystery (after Speak Daggers to Her and Book of Moons). Bast (aka Karen Hightower) has to sift through a cast of suspects?mostly witches and assorted neopagans?when murder mars the annual HallowFest, a pagan weekend held at Paradise Lake in upstate New York. Accompanying her is ceremonial magician Julian Fletcher, Bast's "lust-object" and co-worker at The Serpent's Truth, an occult bookstore in New York City. They plan to attend some workshops and sell store merchandise, but all that changes when Bast discovers the body of Reverend Jackson Harm, a universally unpopular anti-pagan fanatic, near the campsite. Harm's murder appears to be part of an ancient ritual. But is one of the pagan attendees responsible or is someone being framed? Edghill relays necessary background on the Wiccans and keeps a smooth pace. But the real entertainment here comes from the characters, including Klingons in full regalia, the knife-selling Ironshadow and local police Lieutenant Wayne, who salutes his famous namesake (think Bruce) by sporting a bat pin. While the murderer is a disappointingly easy pick, Bast's personal dilemmas, from love life to coven choice, give texture to the tale, which rides along on the eccentricities and quirks of the characters and setting.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Ever wonder how Witches feel about the commercialization of Halloween? Surrounded by cheesy costumes and candy corn, New York Witches betake themselves to the annual HallowFest at Paradise Lake Campground in lovely Gotham County, where they share fellowship and spells with other NeoPagans, and where Bast, formerly of Changing Coven, finally enjoys a tender passage with Ceremonial Magician Julian Fletcher. In fact, it would be a perfect weekend if it weren't for the ritual murder of Rev. Jackson Harm, a fanatic who's come to picket the Festival (``Satan's Handmaids!'' read his handouts) and remains, even in death, to threaten its harmony. Bast finds herself at odds with some of her most obvious allies--former swain Lark, Festival organizer Maidjene, and Wyler Pascoe, a local cop's son who wants to be a Witch--before stumbling over the obvious solution. The most tightly focused of Bast's three adventures (Book of Moons, 1995, etc.), though in every way the least mysterious. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't buy this book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Bowl of Night: A Bast Mystery (Hardcover)
For less money, you can buy "Bell, Book, and Murder" instead, which is a compilation of all three Bast books (including this one). Wish someone had told me before I bought all four!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, but not her best,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Bowl of Night: A Bast Mystery (Hardcover)
As with the previous two Bast mysteries, this one is a rollicking good read. Edghill has a talent for moving the story along with nary a lull in the action. And I must admit, I have a soft place in my heart for the Bast books because they focus on My People. :) However, this particular book was a tad disappointing in that the killer's identity is ridiculously obvious from the moment the body is discovered. For some reason it takes Bast until the end of the book to figure it out, leaving the reader to think, "Well, DUH!" Also, a few loose ends were left hanging, such as who shot the townie? The character of Bast herself is not as strong in this book as in the previous two. She seems a bit lost as she drifts between Lark and Julian, struggles with whether to start her own coven, and generally just gets pushed around by various other characters in the book. Still, it's a good read, and the descriptions of the HallowFest attendees is hilarious. Edghill nails the neopagan community as closely as Sharon McCrumb nailed the sci-fi fan community in Bimbos of the Death Sun.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the stereotypical female detective,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Bowl of Night: A Bast Mystery (Hardcover)
I enjoyed the three Bast mysteries I've read and wish there were more. The author isn't the greatest mystery writer (that honor goes to Robert Barnard) but the book is interesting to the last page. In fact,it was so interesting it kept my mind off the fact that I was reading it in a small airplane flying in the dark over some pretty high mountains.
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