Zoey Rivers was on the beach with her boyfriend, Doug. She tried to remember the last time they had a real date – but the 20-minute fast-food break for lunch with Doug was too short to count. When she thought about it, she realized that even though they had been together for six months, they really didn’t know much about each other. As Head of Staff caring for elderly witches at the Sunnyside Retired Witches Community retirement home in Sunnyside, California, Zoey rarely had any time off. As she and Doug were about to walk on the beach, she got a call from Steve Grace, her helper at the retirement home, saying she had to return immediately because something tragic had happened.
They entered the common room and it was filled with people – but everyone was deathly quiet! Steve pointed outside and said Sonja Bennett, the insurance agent for the company that insured most of their residents, was dead! Trudy Douglas, Sonja’s assistant, said they had been telling Howie, a resident who was their self-proclaimed fitness guru, that the company had some concerns about him and may not be able to continue to pay for his housing at the retirement center. They said Howie’s magic was unstable and he could be a liability. Even as he was talking with Sonja and Trudy, sparks and mini explosions were shooting out all over as his excess emotional energy caused his magic to discharge. However, several residents said Howie was nowhere around when Sonja’s body started to fly up into the air and was slammed down on the ground repeatedly, which had caused her death. That would definitely take lots of powerful magic, which most of the residents just didn’t have anymore. Glancing down, Zoey saw Howie’s sweatband sticking out from underneath Sonja’s body!
Suspicion points to one of Zoey’s residents as being the possible murderer. Zoey will need to work quickly to find the real murderer and keep the resident out of jail -- or worse! Who would have wanted to cause the death of the insurance agent and for what reason? What is causing the magical blips that discharge uncontrollably? Who is powerful enough to have murdered Sonja?
This was a good cozy mystery that had a great cast of crazy characters, each unique and memorable. The zany goings on make for a busy story line that keeps the reader interested. Knowing each of her residents so well, it was difficult for Zoey to figure out who the murderer could be. Grab your copy and see if you can figure it out before Zoey cracks the case!