A Familiar Tail: A Witch's Cat Mystery (Witch's Cat Mystery, #1)

by Delia James

Magic and meows meet in the first enchanting Witch’s Cat mystery!
 
Unlucky-in-love artist Annabelle Britton decides that a visit to the seaside town of  Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is the perfect way to get over her problems. But when she stumbles upon a smoky gray cat named Alastair, and follows him into a charming cottage, Annabelle finds herself in a whole spellbook full of trouble.
 
Suddenly saddled with a witch's wand and a furry familiar, Annabelle soon meets a friendly group of women who use their spells, charms, and potions to keep the people of Portsmouth safe. But despite their gifts, the witches can’t prevent every wicked deed in town....
 
Soon, the mystery surrounding Alistair’s former owner, who died under unusual circumstances, grows when another local turns up dead. Armed with magic, friends, and the charmed cat who adopted her more than the other way around, Annabelle sets out to paw through the evidence and uncover a killer.

• ISBN10: 0451476573
• ISBN13: 9780451476579
• Publish Date: 2 February 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: New American Library
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451476579

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

Not a bad start for a new series.  Nothing really new here, but the characters are fleshed out and likeable, the setting vividly created and the plot was unbelievably twisted (in more ways than one) and labyrinthine.  I wasn't entirely clear what was going on until the end and even then I'd have liked to have known a few more details.

Artist Annabelle Britton decides to visit her best friend in the seaside town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. But when she stumbles upon a smoky gray cat named Alastair, and follows him into a charming cottage, Annabelle finds herself in a whole spellbook full of trouble.

Soon, the mystery surrounding Alistair’s former owner, who died under unusual circumstances, grows when another local turns up dead. Armed with magic, friends, and the charmed cat who adopted her, Annabelle sets out to paw through the evidence and uncover a killer.

Alastair is awesome; in spite of his obvious magic, he still just acts like a cat.  There isn't a moment of romance in this book, but the author is obviously toying with a stupid love triangle, which diminished my appreciation for the story, but I'll definitely read the next book and see what happens next.

[Mystereity Reviews]

4.5 Stars

A great start to a new series. There wasn't much I didn't like about it; likeable characters, a great plot that spanned the book without getting bogged down and a cat. A cat that can disappear. Oh and witches. I know, totally irresistible, right?

Annabelle Britton arrives in Portsmouth, NH for a 2 week visit with BFF Martine. Right after arriving, she encounters Alastair, a cat belonging to a recently deceased witch named Dorothy who died under mysterious circumstances, and Annabelle (Anna to her friends, A.B. when she's talking to herself) is drawn into solving the mystery

The plot was well written, it had a good balance between the paranormal and the mystery. Actually, now that I think about it, most of the sleuthing was done the old fashioned way, not by using spells and so on. But it was well-paced with a lot of twists and turns. And just the right number of characters to keep you guessing without being confusing.

The only thing I didn't like was that there were a few plot lines that were introduced and dropped. A little annoying, but not terrible.

A solid start and a great read. I'm looking forward to revisiting A.B. and her friends.

[Silvara]

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I received this book for free from Obsidian in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


There were a lot of twists and turns in this book. But it never strayed into the 'too many plot twists' territory. It was just about the perfect mix of twists and reveals. There are Pagan practitioners in the book, and they play a large role. But the book itself never delves far into the how-to of it. You just get the little things like the Three-Fold-Rule, that they use wands, have Familiars, and are a coven. So for anyone who doesn't like to read about non-fantasy type witches, there really isn't anything all that objectionable in this book.

I loved Anna and Alistair! It amused me how Alistair kept pulling the 'now you see me, now you don't' trick. As well as how he got Anna to do what he wanted her to do most of the time. For being a magical cat familiar, his magical qualities seemed to be mostly limited to his vanishing act. And being smarter than your average house pet. But he was a very believable cat character as well.

As for Anna, she fell into the mystery and people in the town quickly (the way most characters in cozy mysteries do), but it was also fairly believable. Mostly for her reactions. She didn't believe in actual magic and witchcraft until she landed right in the middle of it and had no other choice but to believe. Even though she had her own brand of strange happenings. She's stubborn, and curious, and has a good dose of morals.

The coven was also fun to meet and learn about. I especially liked Julia and Valerie. Martine and Anna's friendship was fun, and their interactions together helped show the years they had been friends.

I really enjoyed this book and will most definitely be grabbing the next one when it comes out!

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon