Where There's a Witch (Bewitching Mysteries, No. 5) [Mass Market Paperback]

Madelyn Alt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2009

Taking a break from her job at Enchantments, Stony Mill's finest mystical antique shop, Maggie O'Neill visits a carnival where she senses some bad spirits. And when a construction worker is suspected of killing a young woman, it's up to Maggie and the N.I.G.H.T.S. ghosthunting team to uncover the dark spiritual energy leaking into their town before it spoils everyone's fun.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A surefire winner."
-MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425228711
• ISBN-13: 978-0425228715
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Madelyn Alt, here. When it comes to The Bewitching Mysteries, I am a blend of creator, innocent bystander, and goddess divine. Which means, I am a writer, a.k.a. one of those strange people who sits staring at the walls for most of the day, sometimes glazed over, sometimes frowning, and sometimes giggling {madly!}.

Contrary to opinions expressed by some, being a writer does not mean that I sit down at the computer every day for a specific amount of time for a set number of days, effortlessly spilling forth the requisite number of words, until finally, POOF! A novel ready for publication. Writing is hard work. Hard, I tell you. Some days, the only way to get through it with your ego intact is with large quantities of chocolate.

But' that being said, it is all worth it in the end because that's when I meet you. The readers. The beautiful people. Your support has been overwhelmingly positive from the very beginning, and I can't thank you enough... Bless you again, and again, and again!


For those who haven't yet been initiated:

The Bewitching Mysteries feature small town single girl and fledgling empath Maggie O'Neill, her witchy boss, and her circle of ghosthunting friends, the N.I.G.H.T.S., as they investigate an increasing level of paranormal disturbance--not to mention a series of unrelated murders--in Maggie's hometown of Stony Mill, Indiana.

A base of mystery, a dash of paranormal fantasy, a smattering of romantic banter, all blended together to create a magical and irreverent cross-genre brew. Mysteries . . . with Hex Appeal!

Readers can contact me through my website at www.MadelynAlt.com. You can sample my personal blog at www.madmadly.blogspot.com, a fun combined blog I share with the Witchy Chicks at www.witchychicks.blogspot.com, or if you've joined the MySpace movement, you can visit me at www.myspace.com/madelynalt. Feel free to pop in and say hi ' I love the company. =)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Has the potential to do much better, August 27, 2009

By 

Praxidike (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where There's a Witch (Bewitching Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read all the books in the series. I like the paranormal themes and believe the characters do have potential. I'm having a lot of trouble with this one, however. It moves very, very slowly, and the identity of the murderer is obvious even before the murder is discovered. I actually peeked at the end because I couldn't believe it would be so obvious. When I saw that it was, I lost interest and it is still sitting on my night table, gathering dust. Now that I've read the other reviews, I may finish it just to see the resolution of the love triangle.

One of the reservations I have with this series is that Alt doesn't seem to know who her audience is. People who like paranormal mysteries don't need to be convinced that the occult isn't "evil". They're already with you. We don't need to be lead through five books of Maggie trying to work out in her own head that using her abilities is okay. The only reader who needs to be lead that way isn't going to be reading what is obviously a story with paranormal themes in the first place. Maggie also needs to grow up and tell her controlling mother to butt out. Five books of being trapped in someone else's dysfunctional relationship? No thank you.

Maybe Alt should write a book where Maggie leaves town and Lis becomes the main character. Maggie is just too consistently irritating to be a wholly sympathetic character.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars MY LEAST FAVORITE IN SERIES SO FAR---, July 18, 2009

By 

SJ - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Where There's a Witch (Bewitching Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was so looking forward to this book and was truly disappointed. It started out VERY SLOWLY and then continued in jerks and stops. The mystery was one that has been much overdone and the villain was obvious early on. The characters were only ghosts of themselves from the previous books, a little too see through this time and not enough substance. Too much time was spent on mundane details and not enough on adding a since of thrill to the story. Even the love-interest angle fell a bit flat, though I'm glad things worked out the way they did. My fingers are crossed that the next book will have a little more zip to it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, but..., July 25, 2009

By 

Mara Grey "Mara" (Langley, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where There's a Witch (Bewitching Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read three books in this series, and I like them, with some reservations, listed later. My main problem with this book is the mystery plot, which hides the killer behind a screen so flimsy that it seems the author expected little intelligence from the reader. Not a bad subplot to be revealed, just way too obvious practically from the beginning.

I like her characters, I like Maggie's struggles with accepting her own unusual gifts. The positive and negative sides of witchcraft, the pitfalls in using it, the need to grow in ones gift, are all presented well. I find Felicity, Maggie's boss, a bit too perfect for believability, but she works as a "teacher" figure, if you need teachers to be a bit beyond human frailty.

I get somewhat bored with Maggie's endless internal dialogs, however. They slow the action. Perhaps, if the author had shortened them, she'd have had more space for extra convolutions in the murder plot.

And it's hard to see why Maggie's agonizing over ditching Tom. What's not to like about Marcus? Yes, the intensity of the attraction is a bit scary, but, at this point, she seems simply wishy-washy. I feel a bit like the romance is strung out so far I've lost interest.

To summarize, I'd say this works as a story for those who love getting to know the characters, finding kindred spirits in their difficulties, but if you're looking for a good mystery, try another book.