Lily Ivory's visit to a local Gem Faire is disrupted by
fire, murder and a runaway Vietnamese pot-bellied pig.
Before the brouhaha settles Lily will be entangled in an
investigation where her estranged father may be the prime
suspect. In a maelstrom of fire dancing, ancient methods of
torture and the distinct presence of demonic doings, Lily
must find her way to the truth, and discover the whereabouts
of a powerful artifact before a shift of power to the dark
side changes the world forever.
TARNISHED AND TORN is perhaps my favorite entry in Juliet
Blackwell's Witchcraft Mystery series. As we are led
through the twists and knots of a very well-plotted
whodunit, parts of Lily's past are revealed as well as
details regarding her father's connections to people she
knows now and the choices he made that led to their
estrangement. The revelation of the murderer came as a
complete surprise to me, despite, in retrospect, the clues
that had been provided.
The people in Lily's circle we have come to know and love
are also well-represented and integral to the story line;
Bronwyn, Oscar and especially Maya. The setting in San
Francisco is so well-drawn it might as well be a character
in and of itself. TARNISHED AND TORN is fifth in the
series. I highly recommend reading them in order, although
Blackwell does a fine job of unobtrusively providing enough
information each book can be enjoyed on its own.
As the owner of a popular vintage clothing store, Lily Ivory
can enjoy a day of antique jewelry shopping and still call
it work. But as one of San Francisco’s resident witches,
searching for hidden treasures can sometimes lead to
dangerous discoveries
When Lily arrives at an antique jewelry fair, her bargain
sensors go off left and right—but she also picks up a faint
vibration of magic. Could the hard-bargaining merchant
Griselda be a fellow practitioner? It certainly seems that
way when a sudden fire sends panic through the crowd, and
Lily discovers Griselda murdered in a way that nods to an
old-fashioned witch hunt
A crime that hits close to home turns into an unwelcome
flash from the past when the police bring in their lead
suspect—Lily’s estranged father. Though he may not deserve
her help, Lily is determined to clear her father’s name and
solve a murder that’s anything but crystal clear.