I absolutely adored this book. What a rollercoaster of emotions. It kept you guessing from start to finish. I loved it! Kennedy Kerr has a way of making you feel like apart of the story. It played on your emotions relating to all the different characters. I hope this is a series. I cant wait to read more about the characters more in depth.

As a first in a series goes, this one was pretty good. Explaining all the characters took some time and so the beginning was a little slow. Overall not bad for a cozy paranormal mystery.

A quirky cosy murder set in present-day Scotland. A teacher is found murdered and heroine Temerity Love, village witch, spiritualist, healer and antiques dealer sets out to help the police find the murderer; new local constable, feet firmly in the muddy real world, sets the romantic interest. Family revenge, historical abuse, lies, poisons and other red herrings add tension to the story. There is plenty of description of the characters and their backgrounds - helpful as this is the first in a series. The village 'characters' are definitely real if slightly over the top - small town Scotland almost to a "T". What was less convincing was why Temerity got in with the police so quickly - was it just because she had the second sight and could 'see' things at a murder scene that others couldn't? What really grated though was the attempt to make some of the characters sound Scottish - we gave up using 'ye' a long time ago except in the multitudinous road signs "Haste ye Back(e)" when leaving the 30mph zone of many small towns along the A77/A75. I can live with 'tae' and 'whisht' but not 'ye' please. Go and read some of Denzil Meyrick's DCI Daley books if you want to get a good idea of how some Scots sound please. I wish writers would do a little more research on places with which they are not familiar - the web is a good and easy source for both reading and listening. I almost gave only 3 stars because of this but am in a good mood today having just dealt with another 9kg blueberries, 8kg tomatoes and more courgettes than I care to think about! Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A SPELL OF MURDER by Kennedy Kerr is a well-written witch cozy mystery. The story takes place a small village set on the edge of a loch in Scotland and has a mixture of mystery, police procedural and magic combined in one short novel.

Temerity Love operates the family shop, Love’s Curiosities, Inc. and lives above it with her sister Tilda who focuses on rare and old books. They also have two cats and Hyacinth Macaw that live with them. Tilda is known as an herbalist and witch while Temerity is sought by experts all over the world for her magical gift which enables her to find lost items or give hints of an item’s provenance.

A local school teacher is found murdered in the school staff room and Temerity along with the local Inspector Kim Hyland and a new constable Angus Harley work to solve the murder.

The author does a great job of developing Temerity’s character and the descriptive prose helped transport me to the small town of Lost Maidens Loch and its gossipy, idiosyncratic townspeople.

How does Temerity get in on the police investigation? Who murdered the teacher? Why was she murdered? If you enjoy cozy mysteries with a bit of magic and a potential for romance, then you may well like this novel as much as I did.

Many thanks to Bookouture, Kennedy Kerr and Net Galley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

These was a nifty mystery involving magic!
I really liked the characters of Temerity and Tilda who try to figure out a school teacher was poisoned.

I really enjoyed this mystery!

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the mystery - it really kept me guessing. The mystery had a number of twists and turns. I will enjoy getting to know the characters and the town.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed meeting Temerity and Tilda and their crazy household of animals. I found the story to be interesting with plenty of twists and turns, but felt like some background was left out as to why Temerity was allowed in the investigation. I'm still curious as to what book 2 will bring.

I had a difficult time getting into this story. It felt choppy and I could not relate to any of the characters.
This doesn't mean it's not going to appeal to other readers, it just didn't appeal to me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for approving me to read this book.

The mystery is well planned and fast paced and contains enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end! I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series!

I was looking forward to reading this book based on the blurb but unfortunately I only managed to get through 10% before I gave up. I couldn’t connect with the main character at all and this is probably due to the fact that the part of the book I read was all telling with no showing. It was filled with backstory and over descriptive details of every single thing. It was pages of description just on the inside of the shop where Temerity lived with her sister, their two cats, and her parrot. Everything was told so it was hard to get a feel for the character and nothing really happened. The headhopping and constant explanation and backstory for every little thing was overkill. I read as far as where someone dies in the school and stopped when Temerity was allowed to enter the scene with the inspector. That just wouldn’t happen. She’s an ordinary person and yet she was allowed inside to where the body was. It took 10% for the book to even get to this stage and I wondered on a number of occasions if I was reading a first draft.

From the blurb it sounds like this could be a good story but unfortunately the execution of it doesn’t live up to the blurb. It’s a shame as I was really looking forward to reading a witch mystery.

Temerity Love lives with her sister Tilda, two cats and a Macaw?? In the building where they grew up. Their parents’ shop is now run by Temerity while a Tilda focuses on rare and old books. Both learned much from their parents, including their occult knowledge. Viewed as odd and called witches by townsfolk, they are often called upon when their skills and help are needed, as with the murder of a local school teacher.

Overall, a decent read, especially as the first book in a new series where authors are trying to find their characters and their voices. The author fell down a bit on language though. She’s set the stage in Scotland, and uses their ways of saying things, but then also sprinkles in American references and terms. For example, when Temerity referred to cops and donuts, this is an American view, not Scottish. With the plethora of paranormal, cozies available today, authors need to research as much as possible if they’re going to base their story in a foreign country. No matter how much you think you know about a culture, check your own culture at the writing room door. Let’s see what book two has to offer.

I enjoyed this book. It's written well, it's well paced and the characters are interesting but not over the top. The ending is a bit complicated but it all works out. I would definitely read more. #AspellOfMurder #NetGalley