Himself had got hold of this one at some stage, so when I was recovering from a stress migraine headache, it looked an ideal world to get lost in…
Jinx Hamilton has been minding her own business working as a waitress at Tom’s Cafe and keeping up with her four cats. Then she inherits her Aunt Fiona’s store in neighboring Briar Hollow, North Carolina and learns that her aunt has willed her some special “powers” as well. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step and Jinx has a major problem. She’s a brand new witch with no earthly clue what that means. Throw in a few homeless ghosts, a potential serial killer, and a resident rat and Jinx is almost at her wit’s end. Thankfully she has the unfailing support of her life-long BFF, Tori and it doesn’t hurt that there’s a hot guy living right next door.
Like a lot of urban fantasy whodunits, this one has a perky, enjoyable protagonist who I immediately 
liked. Jinx is a kindly, uncomplicated soul, who works alongside her best friend as a waitress and lives at home – until her Aunt Fiona dies. There are some appealing moments of humour and a chirpy upbeat mood, with the cats also contributing to the general cosy sense of small community and peacefulness.
While there is a hint of romance, the overriding relationship that powers this book is the friendship between Jinx and her friend Tori, which I really appreciated. It makes a nice change for the love pervading a book to be one between best friends, which can be every bit as powerful as any other kind, I think.
However, this is also a murder mystery. It’s a balance, isn’t it? Cosy mysteries evidently aren’t going to be the gritted, gory type where there are body parts featured in profusion, or the backdrop is going to be the bleak, hopeless cityscape. And yet, any murder is tackling the business of one person wilfully taking the life of another. If the idea of deliberately killing someone isn’t to be devalued, there has to be a sense of shock over the event.
It isa balancing act to successfully negotiate between these two extremes – and Harper manages it very well. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jinx’s adventures in coping with the new store, the introduction of a murdered ghost who doesn’t know who she is gave a poignant edge to the story. I gobbled up this readable, engaging adventure in two greedy gulps and while the puzzle surrounding the displaced waif is very satisfactorily tied up, there are sufficient ongoing plotpoints that will encourage me to revisit this enjoyable world. Recommended for fans of cosy urban fantasy murder mysteries.
8/10
Brainfluff 