REVIEW: A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt

Title: A Charmed Death (A Bewitching Mystery, #2)
Author: Madelyn Alt
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: December, 2006
Paperback: 289 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating: 7/10

Description: Some enchanted evil...

Maggie O'Neill was just a small town girl, stuck in a dead-end job --- until she started working at Enchantments, Stony Mill's finest mystical antique shop.

Now Maggie is Indiana's newest witch. Learning to cope with her newfound powers is tough enough, but add to that keeping the stock at Enchantments organized and remembering to tape reruns of her favorite show, Magnum, P.I., and Maggie's got a full plate.

But when she witnesses an altercation between a local teenage princess and another customer in Enchantments --- and later the girl turns up dead --- she feels compelled to investigate. Though the police are at a loss, Maggie has some tricks up her sleeve, or to be more specific, some spells, charms, and mystical intuitions. And with the help of her boss (and favorite witch) Felicity Dow, Maggie is spellbound and determined to get to the bottom of this murder.

My Thoughts: Though I am enjoying this series, the ending of this story seemed sloppy to me. I didn’t get the feeling that Maggie solved the crime as much as falling over the obvious conclusion. The uncertainty of Maggie’s relationship with Deputy Fielding and her attraction to Marcus make Maggie come across as very wishy-washy and confused me even more. I’m led to believe that Marcus and Felicity are a couple (according to Maggie), but I’m given the impression that Felicity’s feelings toward Marcus are not of the romantic variety. So, this leaves me with more questions than answers. I’m hoping these issues are resolved in future books.

I enjoy watching Maggie’s curiosity and interest in learning the Craft and am looking forward to seeing how she develops her knowledge. My favorite character remains Felicity Dow. She is the kind of woman people are drawn to instinctively, like a moth to a flame. She demonstrates a sincere compassion for the people around her.

Overall the story, though not intense, was a decent story that I hope will develop into more in time.