There's a New Witch in Town

The Holiday Hills Witch Cozy Mystery Series, Book 1

De: Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Narrado por: Jaimee Moore

Welcome to Holiday Hills, where the coffee’s fresh and there’s magic in the air...

I have a perfect life. I recently rented the most adorable little apartment on top of my favorite bookstore coffee shop on Main Street in Holiday Hills, the charmingest of charming small southern towns.

I spend my days ghostwriting a cozy mystery series for a well-known author, and maybe just a minute or two crushing on the town’s police chief. But of course, I’d never let that cat out of the bag. I'm still dealing with my recent divorce, and no matter what my bestie says, I'm so not ready for anything in the romance department.

Speaking of cats, my little Burmese Cooper follows me around like he’s my guard dog. Thankfully, Holiday Hills is animal-friendly. Everyone’s got a cat or dog, and that crazy old woman on the back end of town has the funniest talking parrot.

Oh, that crazy old woman...she’s a local celebrity, which can be a lot of trouble for her daughter. How do I know? Because that’s me. I’m the crazy old woman’s daughter.

The good news is everyone loves my mother, including me. The bad news is she recently died, and when she did, she opened up a whole new world for me - one I’d always thought was fictional. The magical world.

Now, I have witchy powers, a talking cat, and a knack for finding dead bodies in my quaint little town. Ones that haven't died by accident.

My name is Abby Odell and I’m a witch. Who knew? I sure didn’t. Thanks for that, Mom.

There's a New Witch in Town is the first book in the Holiday Hills Witch Cozy Mystery series by best-selling author Carolyn Ridder Aspenson.

©2020 Carolyn Ridder Aspenson (P)2020 Severn River Publishing

Another superb story from Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Aspenson combines two of my favorite genres, paranormal and mystery. In this witchy new series, Abby discovers she is a witch, has a talking cat named Cooper, and a murderer hot on her heels. This fast-paced new series has me hooked. Cooper steals the show with his snarky cat attitude. There's A New Witch in Town is classic Aspenson.

Jamie Moore is great as the narrator! I love her laid back impression of Cooper the cat. I hope she will continue to be the narrator on the remainder of the series.

Welcome to Holiday Hills, Y’all!

Cozy mysteries aren’t something I would pick out for myself. But I really enjoyed Abby and Cooper and this world of magic in holiday hills. Full disclosure. I did receive an audiobook code for an honest review.

Love the premise of the Main Character being an author. As someone who writes, All the tidbits there hit dead on target for me.

Fun, snark, and magic abound! Throw in some classic rock and I felt right at home!

Narration is sublime! The narrator is a fabulous actress and I found myself crying right along with Abby as the frustration of new witch powers and fear for her life took their toll. I was never uncertain who was speaking and was amazed as each new character showed up with a brand new voice. Such talent!

But this one. You’re getting your money’s worth with a clever book and fantastic audio production.

Summer fun

Listening to a good book needs a good narrator. I’ve never found better than Jaimee Moore. She makes the book complete.

Bought on sale - luckily

Perhaps if this book had a different narrator I might have been able to listen longer, but I barely made it through 1/3 before quitting. The narration is fairly monotone and choppy, with the actress not knowing how to end a sentence or take an appropriate pause between paragraphs.

Now, I’m a big fan of witches in books, but this book feels like a creaky and poorly edited first try. I could feel the bones of the author’s ideas, but they needed a firm hand of a caring editor.