How the Witch Stole Christmas (Witchless in Seattle, #5)

by Dakota Cassidy

Hollie Jackson (Narrator)

• ISBN10: 1541404513
• ISBN13: 9781541404519
• Publish Date: 6 June 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tantor Media, Inc
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 4 hours and 48 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

The holidays are upon Ebenezer Falls in this installment, which lends itself to hijinks and hilarity. Stevie has thrown herself into the local house-decorating contest with rather hysterical results that involve half naked singers, the Easter Bunny, and… murder. And to make it worse? Her beloved little bat familiar, Belfrey, goes missing.

I love a good cozy mystery, and Dakota Cassidy has created the perfect cast for this series. Stevie is strong and smart, still positive even after having to find a new normal in her life. Win and Arkady, once enemies in the spy world, are now best friends in the afterlife. Their banter is hilarious, even as they both care deeply for Stevie. And of course, Belfrey. I love his sense of humor! The townfolk are equally as delightful, each of them reminding me of someone I know in my own life.

The mystery in this book was interesting, just enough clues to keep me guessing. I appreciate that each book is a full mystery from start to end, but there are also threads of an overall arc to the series as a whole. A nice bit revealed in each novel to carry the reader to the next!

[Berls]

I know I said the last one was one of my favorites, but this one beats it for sure. First of all, it's just ridiculous, in the best way. If you love Christmas, like I do, you can relate to Stevie's excitement over the holiday and all her plans for the town's decorating competition. And when it gets sabotaged in the most ridiculous ways, I both felt for her and laughed so hard I could cry. Until the murder of course. And even that was kinda ridiculous though.

The mystery element was really good in this one and I liked the way it brought the paranormal more to the forefront. Belfry was absent for most the book which was hard, as he's a favorite character. I'm loving the addition of Arkady, his butchery of American sayings cracks me up and the narration really breathes life into his great character.

[kimbacaffeinate]

So our ex-witch is all excited about the upcoming holiday. Stevie is taking part in the local Holiday Home Decorating contest, and she's been cautious taking care to follow all of the rules. She even hired Chef Pascal Le June to make mouth watering pastries...only he ends up dead in her nativity scene. She comes home moments before the judges are scheduled to arrive, and her decorations have been replaced by half naked carolers, Mardi Grad revelers, a pooping Easter bunny and more. It was over the top hilarious. Of course, the judges are aghast, and Belfrey Stevie's familiar is missing.

Her roommates the ghostly Brit, Winterbottom, Arkady a former Russian spy (now deceased), and her dog Whiskey set out to help her find Belfry. Along the way, they will try to discover what happened to the Chef and uncover who sabotaged her Christmas.

This series is a lot of fun with character development and growth as Stevie begins to get some of her powers back. Within the story is a clever murder mystery whodunit and a missing familiar. Stevie has become quite the armature sleuth and is learning to trust her instincts. Her friendship continues to strength with Winterbottom. I loved their back and forth banter and his protectiveness. There is almost an air of romance, but of course, he resides on a different plan. The motley crew Stevie has surrounded herself with make me smile. 

The motley crew Stevie has surrounded herself with make me laugh. From cute names to advice they all care for Stevie but also add some humor and aid the investigation. The villain ties into the overall ARC, and I look forward to seeing it resolved. The current case was interesting with a few twists complicated by the paranormal factor. Stevie never has a dull moment, but she is growing on the town folks. I adore the name calling and snark between her and a certain local police officer.

Hollie Jackson continues to narrate the series, and aside from Belfrey's voice, I think she is perfect for this series. Her Winterbottom and Arkady accents are fun, and she nails Stevie. Belfrey is a little high pitched, but the little guy was missing throughout most of the story, so we got a reprieve. He is, however, a cute little fellow.

audio provided by the publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[EBookObsessed]

I think this series is adorable. Maybe it is just how the narrator plays with it. This was a much shorter story than the other and while it had fun aspects, there wasn’t much to it and yet it had a more convoluted plot.

This is a Christmas story which came out in December but the audiobook was just released and I do enjoy the narrator on this series so I waited.

In this story, our favorite magicless witch, Stevie Cartwright is looking forward to competing in this year’s holiday decoration contest. This is the first year in a long, long time that Christmas will be more than just Stevie and her familiar, Belfry. She almost has a full house with her dog Whiskey, two ghostly spy-guys in her heard and her parents coming in for the holiday. Stevie is really looking forward to Christmas this year.

That is until she gets home and finds all of her Christmas decorations have been replaced. Santa on the rooftop is now an Easter Bunny, shooting eggs out his butt, the carolers are not dressed in bikinis and singing Def Leopard, and why the hell are their scantily clad women on her balcony throwing Mardi Gras beads? As if this chaos isn’t enough, the very angry judges find something worse behind her trashed nativity scene…the body of the pastry chef who had prepared the treats for the judges.

Stevie is forced to keep to a budget set by the Judges so everything is fair between households. Stevie makes a paper mache nativity (in the snow?) but she has money for carolers?

Once more murder finds Stevie in the small town of Ebeneezer Falls, and it is up to the ex-witch and her two former spies to figure out who killed the pastry chef…and who is killing Stevie’s Christmas.