Hello, world! It’s been a while. Recently, I stumbled upon A Little Bit Witchy, a free kindle e-book that was mind-blowingly good. Written by A.A. Albright, it’s the first book in the “A Riddler’s Edge Cozy Mystery” series. If the first book is anything to go by, the series blends a great balance of humour and mystery.
Minor spoilers ahead.
Synopsis
Aisling (Ash) Smith is stuck writing classified ads and obituaries for a job with a questionable supervisor. She gets calls for writing ads for places that she’s never heard of. However, she takes a visit to those strange places as she takes on a job writing for a paper she’s never heard of. A journalist at heart, she ditches her old job and hops on a train to Riddler’s Edge, a small town with bizarre occurrences. However, Aisling feels right at home.
The train hasn’t even pulled into the station, and a woman is already murdered. Aisling is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery as there’s more to meets the eye with the town’s inhabitants. But even if she solves the mystery, Aisling might not become Daily Riddler’s newest reporter. She must pass a mysterious test placed upon her by the newspaper owner, a test that doesn’t entirely involve her abilities as a journalist.
A Little Bit Witchy’s Brownie Points
If you’re a fan of fantasy, mystery, and a witty female protagonist, you’ll enjoy A Little Bit Witchy. Riddler’s Edge is a place where people wear sunglasses after dark and creatures howl in the woods. However, Ash befriends pretty much all of the residents as the book progresses.
Ash is a spunky, stubborn, go-getter protagonist. From befriending vampires to almost getting killed by one, escaping with her life by nearly annoying it to death with her thoughts, she’s a comedic and fun character you’ll instantly love.
She was doing that whole arm-touching and hair-tossing thing. The sort of thing you read about in articles on how to flirt. Obviously I have never tried to put such advice into action.
Ash
Though she gets into a spat with the handsome Detective Quinn, they form an alliance, and he’s the one who initially helps answer most of Ash’s questions about the strange, little town.
The book focuses on the mystery and learns more about Ash and the town. We learn that she is an orphan and has jumped from family to family throughout her childhood. Surprise, surprise, she is also the only human in the entire town.
So far, it sounds like a typical urban fantasy. A human girl gets “thrown” into a fantasy world of vampires, werewolves, and the like. She meets a handsome detective who she spats with on more than one occasion. How will she survive?
One thing I love about this book is the sprinkle of “romance” rather than getting the large bowl of sugar that’s usually dumped into the mix. A Little Bit Witchy is written in the first person, so we’re always reading on Ash’s thoughts and actions. While she fangirls over Detective Quinn, it’s done in a very natural and comedic way that doesn’t distract from the problem, situation, and most importantly, the plot.
Maybe Detective Quinn was in there now, looking through a telescope (he had everything else my sexy lighthouse-fantasy man had, so why not that?)
Ash
Is there even romance in the book? No, not really. In the end, Ash and Detective Quinn are on good terms. While it could escalate to romance in future books, it’s far too soon to say.
Other characters also have depth, even though it’s written in the first person. Everyone has a unique personality which shows how Ash came to bond with these characters.
The author also doesn’t take long to jump straight into the mystery, often times a good sign for pacing, which the book ended up doing well. Great twists and turns at appropriate times, and is definitely a page-turner that leaves you with more questions than answers at the end of every chapter. Who is Ash, really? Who killed the sweet old vampire on the train?
I’m telling you–no one on that train murdered Bathsheba.
Greg
To Read or Not To Read?
If it wasn’t obvious enough, I highly recommend A Little Bit Witchy if you’re looking for a good, little, fantasy mystery. The book is the first out of a seven-part series, and it’s free on kindle.
TLDR: A Little Bit Witchy’s spunky protagonist, Ash, gets caught up in a murder mystery on her way to a town she’s never heard of for a job as a newspaper reporter. Befriending great characters who are all a little strange, she gets to the bottom of the mystery and discovers the real reason why she’s really here with pacing that’ll get you turning pages faster than Ash’s thoughts.
evening tea musings 