Grits in the Graveyard

Witch Hazel Lane Mysteries Series, Book 1

By: J. L. Collins

Narrated by: Tiffany Morgan

Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

An escape - that's exactly what Birdie Devaine needs when witches around the world publicly announce their existence.

Instead of performing for the sold-out crowd at her world-famous magic show in Vegas, Birdie runs away from the dazzling lights to her hometown in Mississippi. Back to the town she swore off over a century ago.

She thinks she has it all planned out - keeping busy with renovating an old beautiful house and eventually fading away from the spotlight. But the house has its secrets, including the haunted cemetery that Birdie is now responsible for. It doesn't help when her nosy neighbor catches on to Birdie's big secret - that she's a true witch with real magical powers.

But when the busybody turns up dead on Birdie's new property, the former southern debutante becomes the prime suspect in the case. Cue the ladies of Witch Hazel Lane - a group of women who've stuck together for 40 years. With their help, Birdie is on the hunt for the real killer. Will they help get her off the hook? Will Birdie's true nature stay secret? And what is she supposed to do with the stray dog that refuses to leave her house?

©2019 J. L. Collins (P)2020 Tantor

Not bad for a first in the series.

J.L. Collins has crafted a story that’s not bad for a first in the series. I’m hoping for more in the second book. Tiffany Morgan, as always, gave an above average performance as she brought it all to life. I’m about to start the next in the series.

3.75 Stars 🌟

I've been on a pretty strong "new author" phase, and this was another book that I decided to give a try because of the summary. I alternated between reading and listening, and I didn't have any problems with the narrator.

This series was a fairly short introduction to the female MC - Birdie Devaine - who is a performer in a Las Vegas show but is really a Witch. A rogue group of Witches go public and Birdie decides public life is too iffy at this point, so she escapes to her hometown in Mississippi. She buys an old historic home sight unseen and the rest of the book deals with the circumstances of her new home and the women that live on her street. There is also a murder, a ghost and an unusual dog.

The world building is not great, but it is interesting enough with enough nuggets thrown in to build some interest in the characters and the situations surrounding her new life.

I think there is enough here for me to continue onward with this series - it seems like there is a lot of mischief that is still to come......

A Fun Beginning to A New Series

I really liked this quick, fun beginning to a new series. I have been looking for a new series to start while I wait for my favorite authors to put out new books and, being an exceptionally picky reader/listener, it has proved to be challenging. First and foremost, a book has to keep my attention from the beginning. This book did that! Fun, clean and entertaining, and for once, the main character isn't poking her nose into a police investigation, thinking she knows better than everyone else! I recommend you check it out.

Out of the Vegas Broomcloset into Small Town South

This was a great start to a new paranormal cozy mystery series. Light, easy listen, with some laughs, a great small town setting with a decent cast of locals. Birdie flees her popular Las Vegas job after hearing that the word is out that witches exist. She goes back to a small town in Mississippi she left a century ago and is looking to hide away in a gorgeous old house she remembered. Of course murder and mystery soon follow and a few ghosts to boot but more than that the beginnings of a great little circle of women becoming friends as Birdie tries to settle in and navigate her secret witchy life in a town that doesn't allow for secrets. The story has set the scene for more over arching themes that can clearly be drawn on as the story continues: Birdie's stage life she left behind, the politics of witches going public, the history of the woman who last owned the house Birdie now inhabits. I am excited to return to this small town in Mississippi and check in on Birdie and her budding community. There is not any romance in the story so far as you often see in other stories in this genre but a great little listen as you are working around the house.

I stopped after 3rd chapter

the narrator needs more than one voice- just droning on and on with a mint julep voice

Why

I had high hopes for this book and then nothing happens. For loooooooong stretches of time nothing happens and then the MC does a ritual gets some info from a ghost and AHA mystery solved 🙄😒😒😒