Witch Way Out

by Cate Conte

Overview

Charmed meets Murder, She Wrote in this fast-paced, quirky cozy mystery series with a paranormal twist, featuring a fledgling witch who owns a crystals shop, her magickal family, and rivaling enchanted realms. Sure to appeal to fans of Heather Blake and Traci Wilton.

THE NEW PARANORMAL

When Violet Mooney’s coworker and fellow witch calls to say that their Connecticut crystals shop, The Full Moon, has been selected as a vendor at the Spring Equinox Fair, it’s welcome news. Ever since she learned about her magickal ancestry, Violet has been struggling to learn her craft while staying out of trouble. It’s no easy feat when her family seems to be the target of a power-grab within the realm, putting the entire magickal community on edge—and setting Violet on a mission . . .
 
With her investigation conjuring more questions than answers, Violet tries to focus on the Fair, which is being run by one of her personal heroes. Horatio Hale is a proponent of ethical crystal mining, but apparently not everyone is a fan. Violet is shocked when she goes to attend a meeting and finds Horatio dead—with an axe stuck in his chest. To uncover the motives behind the mayhem in both the mortal and magickal worlds, Violet is going to need more than a crystal ball. And it’ll take all the powers she’s been honing—plus some she didn’t know she had—to save herself . . .
 
Praise for Witch Hunt

“Zippy and fun, with an otherworldly hook that’s further enhanced by characters with a little magic of their own.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496732729
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	03/28/2023
Series:	A Full Moon Mystery , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	98,715
File size:	732 KB

About the Author

Cate Conte serves on the Sisters in Crime New England board and is a member of Sisters in Crime National, Mystery Writers of America, and the Cat Writers’ Association. She currently lives in Connecticut and is also the author of the Cat Café mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Cate Conte’s
 
“Zippy and fun, with an otherworldly hook that’s further enhanced by characters with a little magic of their own.” —Kirkus Reviews on Witch Hunt
 
“Cate Conte casts a winning spell with Witch Hunt, summoning a bit of magic to offset the mysteries and murder at hand. A cozy setting, charming characters, and moments of comic relief all conspire to keep pages the turning; further, the otherworldly elements are handled with subtlety and reverence rather than over-the-toppedness. Consequently, I’m conjuring up a positive prediction for this series: that it will beguile readers for years to come.” —Criminal Element on Witch Hunt
 
“Witch Hunt gives us a terrible crime, off-page, and then leads us on a journey filled with red herrings, twists, turns, and startling revelations. It is a real page-turner filled with complex characters who have oddly relatable problems.” —Frolic Media on Witch Hunt
 
“A delightfully charming tale with a quirky cast of characters.” —Dru’s Book Musing on Witch Hunt

From the Publisher

2023-01-12
A fledgling witch with a family legacy has to solve a mystery. Then another one. And another.

Even though she’s something of a witch noob, Violet Mooney is powerful in ways she’s only starting to understand, because until recently she had no idea she was part of both the Ravenstar and Moonstone legacies. Suddenly, she’s searching for whomever’s "genied" a leprechaun named Mac Finnegan, and she’s almost as lost as series newcomers will be in a story that seems to start midway. Todd Langston, who Violet thought was her boyfriend, may have been in on a plot related to the missing Mac, fighting within witch dynasties, and maybe the sudden death of Grandma Abby, Violet’s closest confidante during the absence of Fiona, her recently returned mother. The lengthy exposition strains at the seams, particularly when an invitation to sell her crystals at the Spring Equinox Fair leads Violet into a second mystery, this time involving a murder. Given all the hubbub around pressures of ethical mining and Violet’s recent history concerning the availability of moldavite, she can’t help wondering whether the murder is related to natural resources or, as old storybooks say, it’s something more personal. Lawyer Blake Alexander is surprisingly helpful in Violet’s quest for the truth, which is also a path to the more interesting story of where she came from. As Violet tries to unravel the ties that connect the worlds of mortals and magic, she can’t always tell who’s a real witch and who’s just a wannabe. With a character list this long, readers may feel the same.

This entry, which might read better in the context of the series, is tough to follow as a stand-alone.

Kirkus Reviews