The Witch and the Dead (Wishcraft Mystery, #7)

by Heather Blake

The national bestselling author of Gone with the Witch returns as wish-granting witch Darcy Merriweather uncovers dangerous skeletons in the closet—and the garage....
 
When Darcy moved to Salem, Massachusetts, she never expected her life to change as drastically as it did. But within a short time, the Enchanted Village has become her home, its mystical residents have become her family, and As You Wish, the personal concierge business formerly run by her Aunt Ve, has become her calling. Still, the time has come for change—and for Darcy to move out of Aunt Ve’s house.
 
Darcy’s belongings are stashed in Aunt Ve’s garage, alongside a mess of memories, forgotten possessions, and, to both Ve and Darcy’s horror, a pile of old bones. It turns out they belong to Ve’s long missing second husband. Now Darcy must unpack old secrets to solve a cold case—and make sure her aunt isn’t looking at a spell behind bars.

• ISBN10: 1101990139
• ISBN13: 9781101990131
• Publish Date: 4 October 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781101990131

Reviews

[Baroness Book Trove]

Moving to a new home for Darcy Merriweather isn’t as simple as she thought it should be.

The Witch and the Dead by Heather Blake is another excellent book by this fantastic author. Sure I waited almost two years before reading it which was my bad. I am still delighted to have read it now even though Darcy had me wanting to drink hot drinks that usually work in the fall and not right now in the 100+ degree summertime heat.

What I liked about this book:

• Darcy and her friends are back in this book 7 of A Wishcraft Mystery series, and it’s fantastic just like the first six books. As with the rest of the books in the series, this is also in the first-person point of view, and that is of Darcy’s.


• I love how Mrs. Blake makes us feel in each book like we are with the characters learning about these murders and trying to solve the mystery with them. It doesn't matter whatever season we are in it with them. It’s a great thing when it’s scorching to feel the coolness of the fall season even if you aren’t in the fall season.


• Another thing that I loved about The Witch and the Dead by Heather Blake is that it was terrific to catch up with Darcy and her friend and refresh my memory before reading To Catch a Witch this winter (on my schedule for November or December).  I am very excited to get back into this world.


• Another thing that I love is the dynamics that each story has especially for the people that have loved ones that are being a bit difficult to handle.


• I also love the little tidbit about the acorns.

What I disliked about this book:

It’s also a bit hard to do this part in any book review. I didn’t like that everyone was so judgmental about Ve’s involvement in the murder of her missing second husband. I also didn’t like the fact that Dorothy is still so mean to Darcy even more so in this book than those before. The other things I dislike happen to be spoilers and I try my hardest not to spoil anything for anyone.

What I am curious about for the next book:

I am curious about a lot of things for the next book, especially how everyone will like it how Darcy is running “As You Wish” and about some other stuff. Spoilers and all, so I am keeping that to myself.

Five Stars

Like always The Witch and the Dead by Heather Blake is another five-star worthy book to me. It kept me guessing, and I didn’t know who did it until the end. It was so good, like the others books in the series. I am glad to have read this novel. I will so totally recommend this book to anyone that loves a cozy witch mystery books.

If you haven't had a chance check out the A Wishcraft Mystery Series, they are fabulously witchy.

Anyways until the next time enjoy this review brought to you by

Happy Reading!This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

[MurderByDeath]

These are always good fun: sweet without being sticky, sentimental without being sappy and the mysteries always well thought out.   As Darcy is moving out of her Aunt Ve's house into her own, Aunt Ve takes the opportunity to clean her garage out and finds a dead body: ex-husband #2 (Aunt Ve likes men) who disappeared the day after the elopement 30 years before.  Seems he never really left Aunt Ve (garage was used for storage, detached from the house, and Aunt Ve traveled extensively after he 'left' - for those wondering about the smell, flies, etc).   I'm not even going to bother touching on believability; the premise is a village full of magical witches so really, why bother?  But Blake does create believable characters; magic or not, these are real people and she makes it so, so easy to become invested in their lives. The mystery plot is well crafted too, and heartbreaking in its way.   It's a cute story and series, but it's a solid one and I'll keep on reading as long as Black keeps on writing.

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

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

This book was just as engrossing as the last one. I liked that we got to learn more about the way magic works in this book. Amulets and Seekers were the focus this time around.

The characters were easy to remember, even though it's been a while since I read the last book in this series, and have read a lot more cozies between then and now. I like how Darcy's relationships are growing and changing. Both with her family, and others in the community.

I had two guesses as to who the killer was. My 2nd one turned out to be right. But even having some idea of the who, didn't distract from the various plot threads. There were so many mysteries that came to light, and so many interesting twists and turns. I didn't want to put the book down until I had finished it.

I love the interactions between the familiars at the end of the books. I especially find it amusing that not one of the witches around them have realized that one in particular IS a familiar! I'm super curious as to where that particular plot thread is going to go, and will definitely be picking up the next book in the series once it's written and out.

If you like paranormal cozies, or books about witches in general, you need to try this series!

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon