Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
Sharon Pape is busy touring her new book Magick & Mayhem with
Great Escapes Book Tours
so lead character Kailyn Wilde is dropping by for a visit!
Hi there! I’m Kailyn Wilde, proprietor of Abracadabra, the magick shop that’s been run by my family for centuries. By centuries I mean before this country was even a twinkle in the eyes of its creators. My ancestors left England seeking freedom from persecution as so many others have over the years. They settled in the wilderness of upstate New York in what eventually became the little tourist town of New Camel.
No one ever told me how hard dating can be when you’re a sorcerer and you work in the family business As you might imagine, a magick shop attracts a lot more women than men, so I figure the odds of meeting Mr. Right through my business are fairly low. I dated a number of guys when I was away in college, but the relationships all fizzled before I ever told them about my lineage. I wound up with a great education though, and a degree in botany. Sounds highfalutin, I know, but I use a lot of what I learned to create better products for my shop. In spite of what you may have heard, we don’t really use bats’ wings and newts’ eyes. Yuck! Those are just fanciful names for plants, names intentionally meant to sound arcane and awful to lay-people. You’ll never find a newt’s eye or a bat’s wing in my shop.
A nosy customer once asked me why I didn’t just conjure up the man of my dreams. Well, magick doesn’t work that way— at least not white magick. Although members of my family, including yours truly, may have tiptoed over the line into grayish magick a time or two, black magick has never been an option for us. So I’ll just have to wait and see what fate has in store for me.
Lately I’ve had something far more important than dating on my mind anyway. Murder has come to New Camel for the first time in its history. The police are on the case, but so am I. I’m determined to catch the killer before my best friend is arrested for the crime and before frightened tourists decide to pass us by for other quaint towns without our sudden notoriety. Between you and me, I jumped at the chance to investigate the case. I’ve been drawn to mysteries ever since I read my first Nancy Drew book. Drove my mom and grandmother crazy. While other kids dreamed of having magickal powers, I dreamed of solving mysteries and bringing killers to justice.
Oh by the way, now that I have too much else on my plate to think about dating, I’ve met a guy who might just be a keeper! Fate can be a perverse little rascal!
~Kailyn
Magick & Mayhem (An Abracadabra Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
New Series
Setting – New York
Publisher: Lyrical Underground (May 2, 2017)
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1516100569
Kindle ASIN: B01JWDZSQQ
What’s in a murderer’s bag of tricks?
Twenty-something Kailyn Wilde has learned to embrace her unpredictable life as a descendant of small-town New Camel’s most magickal family. She just didn’t expect to inherit her mother and grandmother’s centuries-old shop, Abracadabra, so suddenly. The surprises keep coming when Kailyn goes to finalize the estate at the local attorney’s office—and stumbles over the body of her best friend Elise’s husband . . .
As a brash detective casts the blame on Elise, Kailyn summons her deepest powers to find answers and start an investigation of her own. What with running a business, perfecting ancient spells, and keeping up with an uninvited guest of fabled origins, Kailyn has her hands full. But with the help of her uncanny black cat Sashkatu and her muumuu-clad Aunt Tilly, she’s closing in on a killer—who will do anything to make sure she never tests her supernatural skills again!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
This new series from Sharon Pape is off to a magickal start!
We meet Kailyn Wilde who has inherited the family business due to the unexpected passing of her mother and grandmother. Her Aunt Tilly operates the attached tea room and does readings by appointment. When they arrive at their lawyer’s office to tie up a few loose ends they are shocked to find the man has been murdered very recently. Kaitlyn and the attorney’s wife Elise are best friends and she can’t imagine what she will do without her husband. Then Kailyn realizes the detective on the case thinks Elise is his prime suspect. With Aunt Tilly’s help and a little assistance from Sashkatu, a very special black cat, Kailyn is on a mission to catch the real killer before you can say Abracadabra!
What an enchanting read. I liked Kailyn and Tilly from the beginning and when they are joined by a very special guest the story got even better. Kailyn also has some visits from her dearly departed grandmother and mother that were so funny. All the characters are cleverly written. They reminded me of characters created by the late Joyce and Jim Lavene‘s in their Renaissance series. Fun, quirky, unique and a pleasure to follow around.
The story is full of twists, turns, mystery, and comedy. When magick goes awry you need to be prepared for surprises and the author delivers plenty of those. The final reveal was dramatic and unexpected. As a fan of this author I expected no less. I have been entertained by every story of hers that I have read.
If you are looking for a lighthearted cozy mystery, you need look no further than Magick & Mayhem. For me the visit to New Camel ended much too soon. I can’t wait to go back again for That Olde White Magick coming this November.
I started writing stories as soon as I learned how to put letters together to form words. From that day forward, writing has been a part of my life whether it was my first attempt at a novel in seventh grade or the little plays I wrote for my friends to perform for neighbors and family. After college, when I was busy teaching French and Spanish to high school students, I was also writing poetry — some of it in French.
After several years, I left teaching to be a full time mom, and when my two children started school, I went back to writing. To my delight I found that the muse was still there, still waiting patiently for me to come around. My first novel, Ghostfire, was published at that time. It went on to be condensed in Redbook magazine (the first paperback original the magazine had ever condensed.) Then came The God Children and The Portal. Redbook also published my first short story, which was subsequently sold to several foreign magazines. With two great kids, a golden retriever and a loving, supportive husband (whom I’d met at the beach when I was fourteen — but that’s a story for another day), I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be in my life. But fate had another plan for me, and it went by the name of “breast cancer.”
Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was that the cancer was discovered at such an early stage, but at the time it was all very overwhelming. Once I was back on my feet, I wanted to help other women who were newly diagnosed, worried and afraid. I became a Reach to Recovery volunteer for the American Cancer Society and went on to run the program for Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. A number of years later, with the help of my surgical oncologist and two other volunteers, I started Lean On Me, a nonprofit organization that provides peer support and information to breast cancer patients. When Lean On Me celebrated its tenth anniversary it no longer required as much of my time, and I once again found myself free to pursue my first love — writing.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
This is a new to me series but I enjoy mysteries that include some “magic” in them and who can resist a mystery that also includes a cat. dbahn(at)iw(dot)net
New author for me. Exciting.
Nice cat silhouette on the cover
I love cozies with a touch of the paranormal – thanks for the review and giveaway opportunity.
I can’t wait to read this new series. Thanks for the great giveaway!
Sharon Pape is a new author to me. I really enjoyed the description of the book and I’m looking forward to reading.
You are new to me and I think I will enjoy your book very much. Thank you.
Sounds interesting. I’d love to read it. How did you come up with the cat’s name?
This sounds like a great book. I can’t wait to read it.
Sounds intriguing! Thanks for the chance to win!