A paranormal cozy mystery is usually not my cup of tea, but POTIONS FOR PUSHOVERS is the sweetest surprise! Tamara Berry is a brand new writer to me and one who has my attention. She tells a killer story with a ghost, werewolves, poison, and too many suspects to keep track of. I loved our heroine, Eleanor a.k.a. Ellie, Wilde and my new book boyfriend is Nicholas Hartford III.
Madame Eleanor Wilde is a potion-pushing eccentric who recently moves to this quaint English village trying to make a living acting as a medium. She casts spells and sells personalized potions. She was hired by Nicolas Hartford III to rid his castle of a ghost. Ellie solves a murder instead, becomes attracted to Nicholas staying on in the small town. Her plans: to live a quiet pastoral lifestyle, with her adopted cat, Beast, in her leaking thatched-roof cottage. Perhaps she can make a living as the town witch and also get to know Nicholas better?
Castle Hartford is home for Nicholas, his mother, and his young niece, Rachel. He travels often but this handsome chap is charming and seems "smitten: with Ellie Nicholas and Ellie are a pure delight together and such fun to watch as their budding romance blossoms. They are wonderful together!
When Sarah Blackthorne is murdered at the town's fete, no one seems to care. Could people dislike her enough to kill her? Poison her, in fact. Soon Ellie is on the trail to discover who-done-it with the help of two young apprentices, Rachel and Lenora. These young girls worship Ellie and follow her orders including doing research on werewolves. Are they responsible for all the animals being lost, including Beast?
So many colorful characters including Inspector Peter Piper who is the village watchdog. Peter can even chew gum, blow bubbles and with the help of Eleanor Wilde and her two young assistants, find the murderer. BEAST returns and what a sweet sub-plot for the evasive cat. She is a star!
I will be looking forward to the sequel to this one. Tamara Berry, you have a new fan. I would recommend POTIONS FOR PUSHOVERS for anyone looking for something different, funny, with a cast of characters that shine in this quaint countryside town. You hit the mark, thank you.
It may have been a ghost that led Eleanor Wilde to set up shop in a quaint English village. But now that she’s established herself as the town witch, Ellie’s contentedly casting spells on anyone desperate enough—or gullible enough—to request her mysterious potions… Selling mystical elixirs and tantalizing tonics is a pretty good way for a fake medium to earn a living. Or at least it’s Ellie’s main source of income—until a villager turns up dead. The cause? Murder by poisoning. And though Ellie’s concoctions don’t include anything worthy of a skull and crossbones, suddenly she’s the prime suspect. Her only recourse is to find the culprit who did do away with Sarah Blackthorne. No one liked the mean old battle-axe. But did anyone hate her enough to kill her?
It’s enough of a mystery to make Ellie hang up her witch’s hat and take millionaire beau Nicholas Hartford up on his offer to keep her afloat. Except Ellie is not the kind of woman to lean on a man—least of all a man she adores but whose place in her life is uncertain. Besides, Ellie’s taken on two young witches-in-training—apprentices if you will—and both of them are convinced a werewolf is the murderer.
Just as Ellie’s wondering if there really is something otherworldly going on, animals suddenly begin to disappear—including her beloved cat, Beast. Now Ellie’s on the warpath to uncover the wicked truth about the people and the place she’s only just begun to call home…
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