Books about witches generally draw me to them like bees to honey, and THE KING OF BONES AND ASHES, the first book in J.D. Horn's Witches of New Orleans series, proved no exception. I read and enjoyed SHIVAREE, his stand-alone novel, but THE KING OF BONES AND ASHES takes his abilities to a new level.

Perhaps, part of my fascination with the story is that it takes place in New Orleans, one of the best locations for any novel with supernatural tendencies, well outside of Savannah and Charleston, that is. Horn takes a fabulous location and has an innate ability to build vivid characters, and it's those characters that move the story forward. Each voice has a unique feel of its own, and as the series title presumes, the main characters are women. Alice, the youngest of the prominent Marin witch family, has just returned home after a long stint in a psychiatric asylum for witches; Evangeline who has multiple, complex ties to the Marin family; and Lisette who took over running her mother's voodoo shop, Veve, even after she stopped believing in the magic.

Witches are losing their magic, and many of them will do just about anything including stealing from friends and enemies alike to keep their powers. Others like Alice want answers buried in her family history. And she has questions: Why is the magic leaving? Is it possible to save it? This book is listed as horror, but I'd lean more toward dark fantasy or a supernatural thriller, so don't let that classification put you off this treat. And, if you like female characters, they abound and dominate this story. Well, except for Babau Jean, the creepy bad guy who hovers in the shadows just waiting to surprise you. I can't wait for the next book, and I also look forward to reading his Witching Savannah series. If it's anywhere as good as THE KING OF BONES AND ASHES, it's bound to be a winner.