WITCH UPON A STAR

A witchy librarian counts on books to help solve a baffling series of crimes.

Josie Way, who lives in an apartment above the library in tiny Wilfred, Oregon, is apprehensive about a visit from her younger sister. Jean is coming to Wilfred for a workshop for aspiring life coaches that their mother thinks is a scam. Their family has magic powers that Jean doesn’t know about, and Josie’s been warned not to tell her. Life coach Cookie Masterson seems nice enough when Josie walks Jean over to the workshop, but as she explains her Ready-Set-Go method to her new students—she calls them “crumbs”—Josie takes a quick dislike to her. While Jean is at the workshop, Josie heads over to the big reopening of the town cafe—which is ruined when the doors open to reveal a dead man slumped over the counter, a knife in his back and the words READY-SET-GO written on a place mat. Town sheriff (and Josie’s crush) Sam Wilfred is called, but he’s already busy with another death at the retreat center where the workshop is being held. Despite the unexplained death of the attendee Josie and Jean had overheard arguing with another crumb at the grocery store that morning, before they knew who they were, the workshop goes on. But now Josie’s more worried than ever about Jean’s safety even as Jean urges her to reveal her feelings for Sam. Josie uses her magic to get answers from books. The dead man turns out to have been Cookie’s husband, and it seems every death that follows is also related to her. As more people die, the case becomes ever more dangerous for the sleuthing sisters.

A complex mystery with some amusingly witchy touches.