Book Review: A Potion to Die For by Heather Blake

Blurb: As the owner of Little Shop of Potions, a magic potion shop specializing in love potions, Carly Bell Hartwell finds her product more in demand than ever. A local soothsayer has predicted that a couple in town will soon divorce—and now it seems every married person in Hitching Post, Alabama, wants a little extra matrimonial magic to make sure they stay hitched.

But when Carly finds a dead man in her shop, clutching one of her potion bottles, she goes from most popular potion person to public enemy number one. In no time the murder investigation becomes a witch hunt—literally! Now Carly is going to need to brew up some serious sleuthing skills to clear her name and find the real killer—before the whole town becomes convinced her potions really are to die for!

My Review: Heather Blake's books are always favorites mine, filled with magic, mystery and romance, so I've been looking forward to the debut of her Magic Potion mystery series for quite some time. The day I saw the cover art I gasped. Cats! Purple! Old books, potion bottles, skulls! Just perfect.

The story inside is pretty perfect too! We meet Carly Bell Hartwell as she's being chased through her hometown of Hitching Post, Alabama, reminiscent of a witch hunt. She owns Little Shop of Potions, a magic potion shop, and her neighbor Mr. Dunwoody has just made his latest prediction of a divorce, so Carly's customers are frantic for a love potion. In her shop she finds the body of lawyer Nelson Winston clutching a potion bottle that would have contained a woman's potion. His most recent case was defending baseball coach/high school gym teacher Coach Floyd Butts on embezzlement charges. Carly and Coach have a troubled history, so he's more than willing to accuse Carly of trying to poison him when he has a near fatal incident of his own while in possession of one of her potion bottles. With people now afraid of her remedies, Carly's business is on the line, so she sets out to catch a killer.

This is a book (& town) rich in secondary characters, from Carly's zany mother and aunts, nicknamed the Odd Ducks, to her cousin Delia who specializes in hexes, to Carly's two felines Roly & Poly. (Roly & Poly...email me! I'd love to have you on my blog! ---Truffles)

Twists and turns, secrets and lies abound, but all of the loose ends fell into place when the surprising revelation of the killer was made. I look forward to further immersing myself in Carly's life and finding out what decisions she makes with regards to her former fiance, sexy Sergeant Dylan Jackson. Sparks really fly with those two!

No potion was required to make me fall in love with these characters and the magical town of Hitching Post!

I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.