Where There's a Witch, by Madelyn Alt

Summary: This book is #5 in Ms. Alt's "Bewitching Mystery" series. The series protagonist is "Maggie" who is a Sensitive (apparently she can sense supernatural beings, as well as being Empathic). The series is set in a small town in Indiana, called Stony Mill. This book takes place in the summer, and Stony Mill's local Baptist Church is having a carnival to celebrate their expansion. The Groundbreaking ceremony is brought to a halt when a hidden room is discovered. A ghost that was in the room also escapes. The next day or so, the body of a young woman is found in the location of the groundbreaking. One of the construction workers, her (former?) boyfriend, is immediately suspected. The rest of the book revolves around Maggie and her fellow Sensitives trying to Solve the Mystery of The Murdered Woman as well as the Mystery of the Hidden Room.

Review: I picked this up mainly for the mystery, but also because it looked whimsical. It failed, unfortunately, on both counts. The Mystery takes a far, far distant second to the Main Issue - which is essentially Witchery. How the local Witches / Sensitives / Psychics / Whatever get along with the rest of the locals. Obviously the locals in Small-Town Indiana aren't real happy about Witches, etc. in their town. The mystery itself is given bare lip service and definitely takes a back seat to the Spooky Stuff. Oh, and Maggie's personal life.
Given the way the mystery was treated, (and since i knew from reading the back that someone would be murdered somewhere in the book) I had a pretty good idea who was the murderer even before there was a murder. Within a chapter of the murder I'd figured out who was the murderer, what was up with the Mystery Room, who the Ghost was, and why the Ghost Existed - along with What The Ghost Was Trying To Tell Them. I finished the book hoping there would be a twist at the end, but alas, no twist. I'd really figured it out halfway through the book. Had this been Ms. Alt's first or second attempt, it would've been forgiveable and I would've tried again, but since it's #5 in the series, I'm going to give it a miss. Don't get me wrong - I finished the book because it's got good characterization, and I was interested in the characters, but for me, that's not enough to carry a really weak, half-baked mystery.

If you like characterization and storyline and don't care whether the mystery is weak or not, then this is the book and series for you. For me, I give it 2.5 out of 5 bones.

The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison

I just finished this last night and I'm still blinking my eyes over it.

Let me say off the bat, it's a GOOD book. It isn't one that you just can't put down, but it's a very good book.

Actually, that I COULD put it down made it a better book for me. I was able to digest some of the action and dialog that was going on throughout the book.

The plot was engaging and you learn quite a bit about Rachel, her Mom and even her brother in the course of the story. Ivy and Rachel start coming to terms with their relationship and even Ceri has a surprise in store for you. Rachel makes a new friend as well but...alas...we don't get to know much about them in this book.

The parts I had problems with were the reintroduction of Marshall, a bunch of the Demon stuff and the ending revelation that Rachel has. For me, it sort of smacks of Anita Blake...starts out as a normal everyday whatever and over the course of the books becomes SUPER ANITA! *G* I do have to say, it makes SENSE, but...I can't help wishing that it hadn't come about...yet.

But I do like Rachel much more and the way Ms. Harrison is bringing the changes about is MUCH better than Ms. Hamilton's never ending sexcapades.

All in all, I'm giving this book a 3.75 out of 5 berries. It is a 4 in most places but the problems I had with it made me want to give a 3.5. So I'm compromising. *G*