After a long winter season, Vivienne Finch and the residents of Cayuga Cove are just itching to put away the snow blowers and shovels for good and welcome the return of spring. With preparations underway for the annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and Luck of the Irish Carnival, members of the Shoreline Baptist Church prepare their own counter celebration with a weekend of faith-based activities they hope will turn hearts and minds away from the green beer and bar hopping. The charismatic new preacher, Seamus Kilpatrick, warns the town that such alcohol-fueled debauchery will only lead to retribution for their wicked acts.
As the first crocus buds push up from the frigid ground, the weather service issues a warning for a historic Nor’easter to strike the East Coast with Cayuga Cove in its crosshairs. Preparations are made to deal with the coming onslaught of snow, but no one is prepared when Father William is found drowned in the baptismal pool at Our Lady of the Lake Church. Sheriff Rigsbee investigates what he believes to be a case of unfortunate bad luck, while Pastor Kilpatrick believes it is a call to arms to wage spiritual warfare against those who revel in sin, leaving Vivienne Finch to see only cold-blooded murder. With the storm brewing and tempers rising, Vivienne must search for the killer before the only thing found at the end of the rainbow is her own grave!
J.D. Shaw has always been drawn to the creative arts and all things spooky, even as a young child. Good grades eluded him in art class because no matter what the subject, he would always add a skeleton, pumpkin, witch, or bat into the mix. Why? Because he loved Halloween more than any other holiday and his mother has the picture of him at four years old kissing his carved pumpkin goodnight to prove it!
After high school, he attended community college for a business management program, but dropped out several weeks later when he found the drama club. He devoured every theatre and literature course the school offered, making Dean's list several times. But, it was a creative writing course that changed his fate. It was there, in a small classroom with about twenty students, where he finally figured out what it was he wanted to do. He was going to write books. Books with spooky things in them.
Upon his acceptance into the Odyssey Writing Workshop run by Jeanne Cavelos in the summer of 2008, he spent six weeks with the best authors and professionals in the business. He learned the art of how to tell not just a story, but a great story. He learned that the cozy mystery genre was his strength. A few years after the program, he had finally crafted his mystery series idea. The Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries is the result of this hard work and he couldn't be more proud of the result.
He lives in Elmira, NY and is hard at work on the next book in the series.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
I love this series. Vivienne is getting ready for the St. Patrick's day celebration for the town. At the planning committee the new pastor in town decides to stage a demonstration which end up with him and a bystander getting hurt. But that is the beginning of trouble for the town. There is weird good luck and bad luck happening. Bad as in murder and good as in money winnings for some. When Vivienne happens upon the dead priest in the baptism, she can feel evil and knows once again something magical is happening and she will try to save the whole town from bad luck. Awesome addition to this series. I can't wait for book four to come out!
Terrific. A long winter is now going into spring but feelings in the small community are running high. Fuelled by a Minister and his followers. When the local priest's body is found drowned in the font and investigation would be appropriate or would it. Was it an accident or murder? Our heroine is biased towards murder and starts seeking the truth. Add in possession, an evil sorcerer and an ancient ritual for a great read. Terrific!
Here we go...The town becomes move vivid in your mind, the characters continue to develop, and you can just jump in (yes..read the first two books first.) Even thought it's a longer book, it's over before you know it! And JD's writing is getting better and better...a stride is being hit!!! Enjoyable from beginning to end! Read Read Read!!!!!!!
I thought this book was well written and look forward to catching up by reading the first two books. The 'rules' of witchcraft were interesting to read. The characters were fun and unusual.