A Cast-Off Coven

Witchcraft Mysteries Series, Book 2

By: Juliet Blackwell

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Students are spooked at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts, and Lily is called in to search for possible paranormal activity. In return she's been promised a trunkful of Victorian-era clothes recently discovered in a school storage closet.

But Lily finds something else: the body of a wealthy patron of the school. In between running the store and seeing her new boyfriend, Max - a "mythbuster" who is uncomfortable with her witchcraft - she uses her sleuthing skills to try to solve the murder. Soon Lily senses something from the school's vintage clothes, but it's not the smell of mothballs - it's the unmistakable aura of evil intent.

©2010 Juliet Blackwell (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Set in a vintage clothing store and starring a sensible and entertaining witch, this series will please paranormal fans." ( Romantic Times)

Pretty good

If I could give this 3 and a half stars I would. It is a pleasant story with solidly developed characters. The characters are the reason I liked this book. The plot was good and the story flowed nicely. All in all it's a solid paranormal story. I can't give it more than 3 and a half stars because the story lacks suspense. It is worth the credit.

Brilliant Fun!

What made the experience of listening to A Cast-Off Coven the most enjoyable?

The story line continues to progress, keeps you captivated and interested.

What other book might you compare A Cast-Off Coven to and why?

Juliet Blackwell has a very unique writing style. I have listened and read other books of the same genre, none compare to the way she coveys the story line. I am a big fan of the writing.

Which character – as performed by Xe Sands – was your favorite?

Oscar. You can really see Oscar in his different forms.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Great vintage clothes and witchy things, what more could a girl want.

Any additional comments?

Movies from the series would be wonderful.

Kindly Witch

Three and a half stars.  I think maybe I would have enjoyed this book more if I had listened to the first book.   It was kind of like Harry Potter meets The Good Witch, (a series on Lifetime).  

A light, good enough listen, it seemed to drag a bit through the middle but still enjoyable enough. 

Good 2nd book to series

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I love listening to this book while I worked on some projects. Its a lite listen, but has enough detail and intrigue to hold your attention from start to finish.

If you’ve listened to books by Juliet Blackwell before, how does this one compare?

This is only my 2nd Blackwell book, and compared to the first it was good. I think there will always be an extra special place in my heart for her first book in this series because it was the perfect listen for me at the time, but I really really enjoy this series because its so easy to become attached to each character.

Which character – as performed by Xe Sands – was your favorite?

I really dont have a favorite. I love her performance of them all.

Could you see A Cast-Off Coven being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I could see it being made into a TV series, definately! As for the stars -??

Any additional comments?

Xe Sands has the most perfect voice for Lily. Her soft honey Texan twang is so soothing and comforting, you forget you're listening as your pulled into the scene. It feels like you're really there with them.

Wonderful

Juliet Blackwell and Xe Sands put together the most wonderful listening times. The are light and just enough suspense to keep you guessing I always order at least 2 at a time so I know I always have another one when I finish one

Fun, brain-candy series

This is the second book in a really fun series. The characters are very likable, the stories are good, the little elements of witchcraft are interesting and the mysteries are good. The reader is good with the voices as well. The books are a fun listen and are excellent brain candy.

I'm doing a 24 endurance event in 5 weeks and I'm thinking I'll download a few more of this series to listen to during the race as they make for a great escape and easy entertainment.

light, entertaining, awful narration

This book is light and undemanding. It entertains without requiring thought. And as such I would recommend it. There are times when that is exactly what we are looking for.

However, the narration is not what one would hope for. Her voice is soft and the sounds are not differentiated so that I find I have to turn the sound up higher than for other audio books in order to understand it. Her character voices are not for the most part distinctive and, though occasionally distinctive initially, after a few sentences the new character sounds pretty much like all the others. I will just read the library book in the future to avoid that voice.

And just to nitpick a little as a Texan, I don't feel she has done her research to make her character a native Texan. She speaks frequently of the high humidity in the El Paso area where the humidity is so low it will chap your cheeks as well as your lips within minutes. Also, hokey texanisms sound more like Arkansas 50 years ago than west texas at any time. But this is just a nitpick and does not diminish the enjoyment of the story.

School has an unmentionable problem

A CAST-OFF COVEN is a fabulous second entry into the Witchcraft series by Juliet Blackwell featuring Lily Ivory, owner of the vintage clothing store Aunt Cora's Closet, located in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Oscar, Lily’s "familiar" given to her by a powerful male witch, is turning into an asset even if he does push the boundaries of being a goblin/gargoyle mix in private and a miniature pot-bellied pig everyone loves in public.

The School of Fine Arts in San Francisco has discovered a previously sealed off room on the second floor of the tower building, but all the students will not go there, swearing they hear noises and voices. An argument between Aidan, who gave Oscar to Lily, ensues in the cafeteria which is buzzing with activity on a Friday evening. Lily agrees to meet a friend employee named Andromeda at the school where she will help find the chest full of women’s unmentionables discovered when the closet was unsealed. Instead they find her wealthy father at the bottom of a set of stairs in a pool of his own blood.

Did he fall down the stairs? Was he pushed? Did a spirit from the closet do him harm? The possibilities are too great and information too slim. Lily wants to get her hands on those clothes and see what sort of spirits she's dealing with. When she gets to the closet, it is locked, by the spirits within. They try to scare Lily away with a windstorm, rain, heat, etc., none of which work. Lily finally leaves out of impatience, and the closet door pops open yet no one is there.

Another murder at the school occurs, and Lily goes to check it out. Plus, she figures she'll give that closet another try. Finding the closet unsealed means that one, some, or all those spirits might have gotten out of the closet, possibly to murder (again?) She enters the closet, and there is a mirror hung on the wall which Lily quickly avoids, since strange things happen to spirits in mirrors (there is a fuller explanation about mirrors in Blackwell’s next book).

Lily finds the trunk of undergarments which supposedly belonged to some French women, possibly nuns since they came to America with a group of nuns. Their behavior got them sealed into the closet, not opened until present day.

Ownership of the trunk, the identity of the owners of the garments, identities of who was murdered and their connection to the trunk, all must be sorted out to solve this conundrum. Lily brings the trunk's contents back to Cora's Closet, and staff and customers all began looking through them before Lily can do her usual clean, mend, wash routine on them.

What has happened to the spirits? What is the relationship between the murder victims and the victims to the spirits? Were the women nuns?

I love how Juliet Blackwell weaves in the history of the School of Fine Arts and the buildings it occupies and information about ghosts and spirits. Facts are woven through fiction so easily that I began to wonder what was true. Quite a tangled web was woven by the end of this wonderful book. Xe Sands’ narration brought it all to life with her voice, subtle nuances, and genuine sounding curiosity. Well worth reading.

Excellent series

Fun characters and interesting mysteries. it keeps my interest and has me wanting more. cant go wrong with a pig in the story.

I love this series!

This is the second book in the series that I’ve listed to, and I have to say the books are pretty addictive. There’s a hint of love, great friendship, and magic! The narration is awesome!