Review: A Witch Worth Praline For by H.Y. Hanna

A Witch Worth Praline For (Bewitched by Chocolate Mystery #8)
by H.Y. Hanna

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Caitlyn Le Fey is savouring autumn delights like hot spiced cider and gooey toffee apples as she helps with preparations for the upcoming Samhain Festival. She’s also looking forward to sweetening her budding romance with the dashing Lord James Fitzroy and meeting his family at last. But the cosy atmosphere is shattered when a guest at Huntingdon Manor is found dead, murdered for an ancient grimoire that once belonged to the Widow Mags.

Determined to find answers and retrieve the stolen “book of spells”, Caitlyn sets out to do some witchy sleuthing, and she soon uncovers a bittersweet assortment of from James’s sister’s glamorous friends to a mysterious retired academic—who might just be Caitlyn’s long-lost mother in disguise!

Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in the village as superstitions simmer and hostility bubbles over towards the Widow Mags’s chocolate shop. Caitlyn soon finds herself smothered by conflicting loyalties and hidden agendas—and just when she thinks things can’t get worse, clues start pointing to James’s sister as the killer…

With the help of her toothless vampire uncle and her mischievous kitten, can Caitlyn solve the mystery, find the missing grimoire, and finally uncover the truth about her mother?

Dive into a bewitching mystery filled with quirky humour, delectable treats, and a dash of chocolate magic—it’s a cozy concoction that’ll leave you spellbound!!

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

A Witch Worth Praline For is book eight in this paranormal cozy mystery series that follows witch Caitlyn. I have enjoyed this series so far and was excited to see how the author would wrap up this series when I heard books 8 and 9 would be last books in this series. And I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s an engaging read and it kept me reading, eager to see how everything would play out. This book reads like half of the last book, it also ends on a cliffhanger ending which makes me eager for book 9.

Caitlyn has another mystery to solve in this one and there are some interesting suspects. She also thinks her mother is hiding somewhere in town disguised as another person. There are people who lied about their alibi and suspicious behaviors, as well as a mysterious hidden grimoire that the murder victim found shortly before his dead which disappears afterwards. And the town is preparing for Samhain festival and there is some unrest and fear about witches and magic. So there is a lot going on and it made for an engaging read. The mystery isn’t solved yet as book 9 will continue the plot, but there have been some interesting twists and reveals already.

I like reading about Caitlyn and her dedicating to figuring out who killed the victim. There are some parts that don’t always work for me like how she can sometimes jump to conclusions, but this often does serve to move the plot along. Same goes for some of the side characters, they can be quick to jump to conclusions or act in a way that moves the plot along. I thought it was well done how some of Caitlin’s stubbornness gets addressed by side characters toward the end and how she changes her behavior in a situation after that. I liked seeing that.

The focus on the occult, magic and witches is even stronger in this book with the mystery involving a grimoire as well as a magic stone used to locate objects. Then there are the preparations for the Samhain festival and several side characters with an interest in the subject of magic. It really added to the witchy magical vibe in this book and I thought that worked well here.

To summarize: I had a great time reading this book. It’s an engaging read and I wanted to keep reading and see how it all plays out. This book is the first half of the series finale and does end on a cliffhanger ending, which makes me look forward to book 9 and the conclusion. The mystery is an interesting one with plenty of suspects, there are some twists and turns already, but the murderer isn’t revealed yet as that will happen in the next book. I liked following Caitlyn along as the tries to solve the mystery. The witchy atmosphere of this book was well done and the magical vibe and focus felt even stronger in this book. I look forward to the last and final book in the series!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.