Wicked Witch Murder
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
With Halloween around the corner, and a mysterious murder close to home, Lucy’s Stone’s fall is off to a sinister start . . .
When the bewitching Diana Ravenscroft comes to quiet Tinker's Cove and opens Solstice, a quaint little shop offering everything from jewelry to psychic readings, Lucy Stone writes her off as eccentric but harmless. Even after Diana gives her a disturbingly accurate reading, Lucy can’t help but befriend the newcomer. But not everyone in town is so enchanted. And when Lucy stumbles upon a dead body near her home, she can’t shake the feeling that something ominous is lurking in the crisp October air . . .
Convinced Diana is an evil witch, prominent businessman Ike Stoughton blames her for a series of recent misfortunes, including Lucy’s gruesome discovery and his own wife’s death, and rallies the townsfolk against her. But after Lucy learns the murder victim was a magician and close friend of Diana’s, she starts to wonder who’s really stirring up a cauldron of trouble. By Halloween, her suspicions lead her to a deadly web of secrets—and a spine-chilling brush with the things that go bump in the night . . .
“The warm, small-town ambiance and the persevering Lucy Stone make this a winner for cozy fans.”
—Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wiccan shopkeeper Diana Ravenscroft and her cat familiar, Piewocket, stir up trouble in Tinker's Grove, Maine, in Meier's clever 17th Lucy Stone mystery (after 2009's Mother's Day Murder). Soon after Lucy, "a hardheaded reporter" for the town's weekly newspaper, receives a reading from Lady Diana, high priestess of the Silver Coven, warning her of approaching danger, Lucy and her Labrador, Libby, stumble over a burned corpse during a woodland walk. The victim turns out to be the Silver Coven's Malcolm Malebranche, a magician whom Diana believed to be in England. Later, Lucy's two teenage daughters, Sara and Zoe, and Abby, the daughter of Lucy's new neighbor, religious zealot Ike Stoughton, become entranced by the bewitching Diana. When Ike's ill wife dies, Ike blames the high priestess. As Abby sickens, Lucy feels increasing pressure to find out what's going on. The intrepid journalist uncovers no magic in the dark heart of murder in this neat little cozy.