Cult of the Covens

by Catherine Stine

Can the team untangle a feud between covens, both drug lords of mysterious elixirs,
before a supernatural war explodes?

Celestine is the lead investigator when the team takes on a third case. The elegant and secretive Tavia Floras, known by her coven as the Queen of Savage Flowers creates and manufactures unusual elixirs in her underground caves that promise to heal, even extend life. She claims a rival coven, Argentum Verde, is stealing her formulas, damaging her crops, poisoning the gators and cave dragons whose tendrils and oils are used in the elixirs, and possibly even “disappearing” coven members.

The more Celestine and Luna delve into the queen’s backstory, the more questions they have. Rival coven, Argentum Verde’s non-GMO, purity claims on their compounds seem suss as well. The Shadow Salon team enlists the expertise of a halfling geneticist, Dr. Wise, who also knows his way around the supe dark web, Thorned Fortress. Celestine travels to New Orleans to track down Tavia’s estranged brother Renzo and find out just what happened to turn him against his sister, Tavia.

As Celestine and Luna drill deeper, the case grows incredibly dangerous. A confidential informant turns up dead, dark spells rocket back and forth. Celestine astral-projects to the heavily-guarded Argentum-Verde warehouse, an act that could paralyze her. Shocking twists and revelations explode, rapid-fire. If Celestine and Luna can’t act fast enough, the Queen of Savage Flowers, her coven and business, even Luna and Celestine’s Shadow Salon will perish.

Cult of the Covens is perfect for fans of Kim Harrison, Kim Richardson, Charlaine Harris and paranormal crime procedurals. Expect slow-burn romance, pulse-pounding mystery, dark magic, and complex, unique characters. This series can be read in any order because each book features a new case.

284 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 18, 2024

About the author

Catherine Stine is a USA Today bestselling author of urban, paranormal and historical fantasy. Her novels have earned Indie Notable awards and New York Public Library Best Books. Catherine's newest historical fantasy, Witch of the Wild Beasts, was a second prize winner in the Romance Writers' Sheila Contest.

She loves spending time with her beagle, writing about supernatural creatures, gardening on her deck, and meeting readers at book events. Catherine suspects her love of dark fantasy came from her father reading Edgar Allen Poe to her when she was a child.

Reviews

[DMA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found This book is written in an unusual style which I wasn't sure about at first. But the unique characters and brilliant world building soon dragged me deep down the rabbit hole and i couldn't put it down.

Great read.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Shadow Salon takes on a complicated case involving rival covens and their mysterious elixirs. Hired by Tavia Floras, the Queen of the Savage Flowers, to track down missing members and stolen formulas. Celestine and Luna are not sure how much they can trust their new client, as she is keeping secrets from them. With the help of a halfling geneticist, they find confusing overlap between Tavia’s product and those of rival company Argentum Verde. The further they dig, the more dangerous the case becomes. Can Celestine & Luna untangle the mystery before it’s too late?

Thoroughly engrossing with impeccable world building, the Shadow Salon series continues in book three. Celestine and Luna are strong protagonists with complimentary personalities and abilities. While Celestine takes lead in this case, both are equally important in solving the case. The underground world of Tavia is brought to life with vivid descriptive writing, and my heart broke for her creatures who were mistreated by the villains. The mystery is filled with plenty of twists and will keep you guessing until the end.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Amanda Curry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is starting to be one of my comfort series. Where all the characters show up and feel like home.

This installment is a lil more ~spicy~ due to circumstances but it adds to the plot which I love.

[Christine Rains · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sleuths of Shadow Salon are called upon by the Queen of Savage Flowers to investigate break-ins and missing coven members. The Queen creates wonderful and magical potions from her flora and fauna in her gardens all with the hope of helping people, but someone wants her out of business. Celestine and Luna are dedicated to their jobs and leave no stone unturned, or flower unspoken to. They discover the Queen isn't all she seems and neither is her rival coven. They more the sleuths dig, the deeper and darker the hole becomes. Celestine and Luna must find out who wants the Queen dead before they end up fertilizer themselves.

This is the third fantastic book in the paranormal fantasy series, Sleuths of Shadow Salon. This story has all the fast-paced action and awesome magic as the previous ones. Except this time, things are taken to a whole new level with the Savage Flowers coven gardens. Such unique magically altered creatures and plants. It's a marvelous piece of world building in that small ecosystem. All designed with properties to help folks. Tavia Floras is the Queen, and she's a mysterious and intense witch. I was right with Celestine as she was interviewing Tavia and digging in to all the leads. I had several theories about Tavia, her rival coven/company, Argentum Verde, and even Tavia's estranged brother. Yet with all the twists and turns, I didn't see the reveal coming and I loved it. Highly recommended!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book, am definitely going back to read the others and then this one again. This book had a little bit of everything in it; paranormal, mystery, action - just a good overall story. I do agree that this series reminds me of Kim Harrison's stories. It definitely keeps your attention and makes you want to pick up the next book in the series. Now I have to wait!!!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to be back in this universe with Celestine and Luna, so I eagerly dived into this latest installment. We are introduced to the one the Sleuths of Shadow Salon are working for in the very first chapter. This sort of threw me off until I found out who she was. I also found their client and their client’s pets a little horror-ish, not that that’s a bad thing. All in all, I really enjoyed this well-written, paranormal mystery with a little bit of a horror vibe and look forward to the next one. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

[The Book Nerd's Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

In book three of the "Sleuths of Shadow Salon" series, Celestine is back in charge and she's tackling her darkest case yet.

Tavia Floras, the elusive Queen of the Savage Flowers, is in desperate need of some paranormal investigators. She is convinced that a rival coven is stealing her secret recipes and quite possibly even kidnapping some of her "disappearing" coven members. Celestine and Luna are willing to do whatever it takes to figure out just what's up with the coven members of the Savage Flowers and hopefully figure out where everyone has disappeared to before the worst comes to pass.

I still don't think I liked this one as much as book one, but I found "Cult of the Covens" to be a fun expansion to this world. It was great being back in Celestine's point of view as she tackled the strangest case she ever had to work on. The rival cult vibe was quite entertaining, though it did make the actual mystery elements a tad more predictable. I'm not really complaining though, because I still enjoyed reading this book immensely. Understanding the world from the get-go makes entering each one of these new mysteries such a breeze.

This addition to the series was a tad spicier than the other two, but this makes sense because Celestine and Oryn are now an established couple. There was also a plot point that required the characters to have sex to accomplish a certain goal, so it makes sense that this book brings a bit more steam to the table. It wasn't anything too graphic or longwinded, so it didn't grate on me too much (unlike some other spicy instances that I've read that lost the essence of the plot behind all the steam).

Speaking of Oryn, I'm still dying to know more about him and the fae realm. This book alludes to some really interesting events that could potentially happen in book four, which I would be excited to check out. I would be sad if Oryn disappears from the story all together, but Luna will be in charge of the next case anyway, so it might be a decent time to learn more about our mysterious fae lad. I need some serious dirt on this guy, so I'm gonna need to get it somehow.

Overall, "Cult of the Covens" did a good job keeping me entertained and makes me curious to see what will happen in the next volume of this series. It was great seeing more of Celestine and Oryn, and I really enjoyed the subject matter that this book delved into. I am definitely intrigued to see where this series goes and what happens on Tybee Island in the next book "Discord of the Dispossessed."

[Josette Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each book in this series becomes better than the former. I enjoy how the author sets the scene. From meeting the person that needs help to the following danger involved when trying to solve the mystery. When we meet Tavia, she seems a bit odd but very worried about her coven. Celestine realizes very quickly this case may need more than just her and Luna. They have been successful in their former cases but this one involves some strange happenings to creatures and people. The further Celestine investigates, the more she feels there are multiple culprits maybe some traitors to Tavia. I always learn new things about witchcraft and supernatural creatures. Of all the creatures, I found myself feeling sorry for the alligators. The group trying to get rid of Tavia showed terrible cruelty toward creatures they were supposed to love. Astral projection was another subject of new experience for me. Celestine was able to do so much. I was worried a few times that Celestine was over her head but in the end her people in her life helped to save the day. I am looking forward to another new adventure.

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cult of the Covens had a different feel than previous installments in the series. That’s nit necessarily a bad thing but it was almost as if it were a totally different series. The chemistry I loved seemed random and unnatural between characters and the storyline was convoluted and hard to follow. It msg just have been me I’ve loved the series to date. This may just be me personally not being pulled in like usual. I will continue to follow the series and see where it leads.

[Rmplift, Rachel Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Won my copy on a goodreads giveaway. Post read review coming soon!

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third book in the series and it's just as great as the first two! Looking forward to the next one and to see what happens with all the well developed and beautiful characters!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read!

I won this book in the Goodreads giveaway. It was a nice read. Very enjoyable! I liked the characters. I would recommend it.

[Stace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read the previous two books in this series. I absolutely loved them. I couldn't wait to read this book. This book I had a hard time getting into and staying in the book. I was 80% into the book before I was hooked. I honestly had so much trouble at the beginning I put it down and read some others to see if it was just my mood. The characters seemed to of lost the chemistry between all of them, felt almost forced. This book just seemed repetitive to her previous books. It sounds like there will be more books in this series. I really liked this author and afraid to read anymore in this series. It just didn't feel like the author lost some of the passion she had for this series.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.