Review: Familiars and Foul Play by Beth Dolgner

Familiars and Foul Play (Crones of a Feather #5)
by Beth Dolgner

My Rating: 4 stars

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

Blurb:
An unrepentant bride, a magical murder, and a Bigfoot in hiding. The outside world has its eye on the witches of Foxfire Haven.

When Hazel Underwood and her coven of middle-aged witches stumble on a dead body in the woods, it sure looks like the work of dark magic. Unfortunately, the case falls under the jurisdiction of a non-magical town, and the sheriff there is looking at the witches a little too closely.

Meanwhile, the coven has to protect the town’s resident Bigfoot, Barry, when a Bigfoot hunter rolls into town. Is it a coincidence that the hunter has ties to the murder victim?

While the residents of Foxfire Haven struggle to protect their magical secrets from being discovered, Hazel also has to deal with the growing energy vortex inside her home. As the energy grows, more and more witches’ familiars are being drawn into the chaos…

The Crones of a Feather paranormal cozy mystery series is about starting over at midlife, magic, and building a sisterhood with strong, inspiring women. Practical Magic meets The Golden Girls in this fun, lighthearted series.

My Review

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

I really like this series and was excited to return to Foxfire Haven for another mystery. And this book was another great read. I really like reading about Hazel and her coven and how they work together to solve these mysteries. This one also has a touch of romance for Hazel as well as some progress on the overarching mystery of the energy vortex.

This time the mystery features a man who got murdered in a way that hints to witches, but Hazel and her coven notice the witchcraft doesn’t quite make sense. The sheriff of the next town who is handling the investigation believes it’s someone pretending to be a witch who killed the man and has his sights set on the coven.

So this mystery shook things up a bit with it not being sheriff Wyatt who investigates the mystery. The paranormal aspect was also interesting, was it a real witch who did the murder or someone trying to frame witches? There were plenty of suspects and I liked how more hints and clues come to light as the story progresses. I guessed who the murderer was just seconds before Hazel figured it out, which was satisfying. I also liked how Hazel is the one to figure things out. I did feel the ending and wrap up was a bit rushed I would’ve liked a bit more time to see it all get wrapped up.

Besides the mystery there are a few more things going on, like the Bigfoot Hunter who is in town. And then there is the overarching plot line with the energy vortex, which is progressing a bit in this book. And this book has a bit more romance for Hazel with things developing between her and Wyatt, which was fun to see. I also liked seeing more of the magic and spells the coven does. And reading about the coven and seeing them be there for each other is one of my favorite parts of this series. It also was fun to see more of the familiar side characters like Barry, Gnorris, Wyatt and more.

To summarize: I really liked this newest installment in this series. I really like reading about Hazel and her coven as well as this paranormal small town. The mystery was a solid one and kept me guessing and I figured things out shortly before Hazel did. I like how Hazel was the one to solve the mystery and how there were plenty of suspects. The wrap up and reveal felt a bit rushed to me. This book has some other things going on as well like the Bigfoot Hunter that’s in town, the overarching plot line with the energy vortex and some romance development for Hazel. I really liked reading more about Hazel and all the side characters again. I look forward to the next book!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.