A Spell of Trouble

Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Leighann Dobbs, Traci Douglass

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

When town troublemaker, Louella Drummond, drops dead in front of Isolde Quinn's pet store just minutes after threatening both Issy and her cousin Graeme, the police in the small lakeside town of Silver Hollow assume it's from natural causes.

Until it's discovered that Louella was murdered.

Not just any murder, though. Murder by paranormal means. Dark magic that could only have been performed by a powerful witch. And every law-abiding paranormal knows that dark magic is forbidden and carries strict punishment at the hands of "the committee" - the mysterious entity that provides law and order within the paranormal community.

Being witches, Issy and her three cousins fear they are at the top of the suspect list. To make matters worse, a secret division of the FBI has gotten wind of the happenings in Silver Hollow and sent two agents to ferret out paranormal activity. Even worse than that, Issy is annoyingly attracted to one of them!

Armed with their unconventional posse of familiars, Issy and her cousins dodge the efforts of the police and the special FBI agents while following a twisty path of clues that lead to a shocking betrayal.

©2016 Leighann Dobbs (P)2017 Novel Audio Inc.

A cute story about witches in a small town

Any additional comments?

I have received a copy of this book in audio format from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Isolda Quinn and her cousins are what they call paranormals, a group of people with special powers: some are witches, others are werewolves and such. They live in the small town of Silver Hollow and they are very protective towards themselves and about keeping their powers secret, to avoid attracting the eyes of the FBPI, a department within the FBI specialized in witch hunting. This is why when Louella Drummond drops deed just in front of Isolda's pet shop, clearly with signs of black magic, the cousins decide to investigate the murder by themselves and try to convince the authorities that Louella's death was a simple accident. But none of them imagined that some of them were going to be considered suspects, and the FBPI alerted. They will need to find the culprit without being caught by the FBPI and avoid being killed.

I am picky when listening to fantasy, since I need to find the idea original and the premises somewhat believable. I loved the atmosphere of this book, the little shops each of the cousins had in Silver Hollow, and the wonderful names they had. The main character here is Isolda, and even though this character is not completely developed, we get a clear image through descriptions and her attitude towards animals and her family. The rest of the characters were quite plain, and the distinctive marks were their appearances and the kind of each's business. It was enough in this case, since I would imagine this book targeted to a younger audience.

And talking about that, I think this is the reason to include the sudden romance scenes and the impulsive thoughts of the characters involved in them. This romance did not add anything of importance to the story, but helped Isolda during the investigation. I tend to dislike romance without a solid reason in books, but fortunately this one was brief. There are no sex scenes, as it would no be appropriate in a book for younger readers.

I liked how the plot was build, and there is a twist almost at the end that increases the interest of the story. What did not work for me was the reasons for having Louella killed. It was all a bit vague and did not get me completely invested in the story.

I have to point out that Isolda, who owns a pet shot and has exotic animals in his charge, mentions that salamanders are reptiles, when they are not. They may look like reptiles, but they are in fact amphibians. A little investigation would have prevented this mistake.

I enjoyed Amy Rubinate's narration. Her soft voice and characterizations were very pleasant to the ear, and the character's voices were different enough to be able to follow conversations.

I think this would make a great book for teenagers, even though I am not sure if the motives for Louella's murder would be interesting enough for this age group.

One of my favorite witch mystery books

One the best audible witch mysteries I have listened too. The voice was nice, no ridiculous rules for paranormal books and no very intimate sex which is not my thing.

whimsical and humorous

This is a clean whimsical story that has some unexpected humor. I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun change of story for me compared to my typical preferred genres. I was voluntarily provided with this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, narrator, and publisher.

A fun easy listen!

Really enjoyed the different kinds of familiars, including a plant! Looking forward to the next book!

Disappointing

For such a short book, the heroine spends an inordinate amount of time speculating on the romantic viability of one of the investigators, as he does when the story is told from his point of view. Add to it the unbelievable world, the ineptitude of the government agency (serious, the ones always accompanied by exotic pets are the witches, guys), the predictable villain, and all-too-perfect family and the book just doesn't work. Plus the plotting and assumptions by the villain show a genius level of thinking, except they don't think through all the holes in the result they are looking for. Sloppy.

Amy Rubinate does a generally good job of narrating, though she doesn't inspire me to look for some of her other narrations. That could be because of the material.

Cute book for teen girls

Went in open minded, am a fan of multiple genres....but this was just too cliche, too simple, too predictable...too young for me. Perfect choice for the perky early teen girls.

very enjoyable!

The story was very entertaining, I am looking forward to the next book. Well read!

Wonderful magical mystery

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book. It is full of colorful characters I loved the narration of each as well. I was immediately drawn into the story and the who done it. Each family member had there own quirks that made the listen fun. The forbidden romance added even more funny situations. I recommend this book for a fun paranormal mystery listen. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Fun cozy!

Where does A Spell of Trouble rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It was a good audio, the narrator did a great job. I have listened to too many to rank it.

What did you like best about this story?

Witches, I love witch cozies!

Have you listened to any of Amy Rubinate’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to her before and so I knew this was going to be a good listen.

Any additional comments?

Izzy and her family are witches and are not the only paranormals in town, but non-paranormals don't know about them and they like it that way. Then Louella a witch dies and they know another witch did it so they have to be careful. Izzy and her cousin Grey are suspects but didn't do it. Izzy must find out what happened and keep themselves from getting in trouble not only with the police but the Paranormal police as well.

They find out that Louella had taken photos of some rare salamanders that are on some property that is for sale. She might have been going to tell about them which would stop the sale, or it could be because she knew some other things. There could be paranormal or non-paranormals wanting her dead.

A Spell of Trouble was a cute short paranormal cozy mystery and my first by the authors. It has a good mystery and lots of colorful characters. Izzy and her family seem pretty cool and I love cozies with witches as they are always fun ones. :)

Good Book

I liked the book, the story held me captive. I only wished the the main characters would have more romance. I loved the talking cat.

Good paranormal mystery

A good mystery, I thought I had the murderer sorted but was caught out, Characters are good and the story well told. Narration was fine but could use a little more depth. Worth getting further books from this author

Amazing book

Enjoyed this audio book very much
Hopefully they will be more books
Must read on your list

Mystery romp

Fun story, great setting and characters and well narrated - a bit samey in the romance department (The "He's SO big, and strong, and handsome, and irresistable" trope) but at least he isn't all powerful and arrogant so it wins on that front. The murder mystery element is nicely convoluted, without being overdone.