Secondhand Spirits

A Witchcraft Mystery, Book 1

By: Juliet Blackwell

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Lily Ivory hopes for a normal life when she opens Aunt Cora's Closet. With her magical knack for vintage fashion - she can sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry - her store becomes a big hit. But when a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area, Lily may be the only one who can unravel the crime.

She tries to keep her identity a secret while investigating, but it's not easy - especially under the spells of sexy "mythbuster" Max Carmichael and powerful witch Aidan Rhodes. Will Lily's witchy ways be forced out of the closet?

©2009 Juliet Blackwell (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Lily Ivory is a 21st-century Samantha Stevens, minus the nose wriggling. The story combines fun and seriousness for an entertaining read." ( Romantic Times)

Definite potential

Lily Ivory had wandered aimlessly around the globe has decided to put down roots in San Diego Bay area. Not wanting to fall into the stereo type of being a witch and opening her own magick store, Lily decides to launch a vintage clothing store. One day, one of her clients child goes missing and it's not the type of investigation the police will consider.

I really enjoyed how this story and was a great start to the series -

Relaxing brain candy

Characters are endearing and the narrator has a gentle lyrical voice. This book is light and lovely. I’ve listened to all of this series as well as two others by Blackwell and I’m enjoying listening to them again.

It was cute.

A fun story. Doesn't require a whole lot of thinking, but over all a fun read. I didn't struggle with the narration, but I do recommend trying the sample first. I can see how her voice could be a challenge for some people. If it doesn't bother you and you are looking for an easy listen, it's a good choice. A little magic, a little mystery, good for multitasking without being bored.

good

good, fast, and very fun. well written and perfect vacation reading. look forward to more.

I want the rest of the series NOW!

I really enjoyed this paranormal cozy mystery. Lily is a witch who owns a secondhand store and hopes she can just live a normal life without using witchcraft, but things don’t quite work out for her. While buying a collection of clothes from an elderly lady a child goes missing and Lily feels like Mrs. Potts’ life is in danger and her premonition is right on the money and the next day she is found dead. Lily tries to find out what happened to the little girl and Mrs. Potts.

There is also a mythbuster, a male witch, a ghostly spirit and a goblin that turns into a pig familiar who are all interesting characters in their own right with the pig being my favorite! San Francisco and the area of the Haight were kind of a character too, you really get a feel of the bay area and I felt like a tourist discovering it all.

This was the best of two genre’s I enjoy, paranormal and cozy mysteries, it was a great first book in the series and will definitely be a series I continue reading, however I so enjoyed the narration by, Xe Sands that I want to wait till I can listen to the rest on audio so I hope Tantor Audio will get them all recorded soon!

If you enjoy a good cozy with magical elements I highly recommend this series!

The audio production of this was great Xe Sands does such a wonderful job and she is well on her way to becoming a favorite narrator!

4 Stars

OK but not great!

This is the start to a series. I love a good series but won't be buying this one. It barely kept my interest, but I did finish it. The reader almost puts me to sleep. The characters were OK, the only humor was the gargoyle. A book about a witch needs some humor to make it work. I geuss the one word I would use to describe this book is "Forgettable"
I won't remember it by next week.

Took a few chapters but....

Where does Secondhand Spirits rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very very high!

What did you like best about this story?

Hard to pick between content and narrator....and so I won't! I liked everything about this book. AND that there will be more too.

What does Xe Sands bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Love her easy style

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I like to stretch out a good story.

Any additional comments?

I've been looking for a good series for a while now. So glad I found it!

Good story, unpleasant narrator

I have to agree with several other reviewers, story starts slow then picks up, however the narrator is just HORRIBLE. she has a whimpery kinda voice and a bit too whiny which really doesn't suit the story and makes it quite difficult to focus on the storyline.

Loved it !

This was a wonderful book! I happen to think the narrator XE Sands was fantastic.. she had a nice sexiness to her voice and it was very fitting.. I will definitely be reading the next book!

Good light listen

Any additional comments?

I liked the book. A little bit of mystery, humor, and romance. it just doesn't have the same detail as longer books that I normally purchase. The narrator isn't horrible but by no means even close to being a favorite. Liked her reading and the book enough to get the second and third book of this series.