Review by Booklist Review
Alex Daniels, along with her recently rediscovered family, is descended from mermaids, and she is quickly learning to use her magical powers. Their North Carolina coastal town of Bellamy Bay, made up of Magicals and Mundanes, is preparing for the Mermaid Festival, with an unveiling of a mural by famed artist Neve Ryland highlighting the event. When Neve is murdered, Alex's friend Celeste quickly becomes the chief suspect due to her suspicion that Neve was having an affair with her boyfriend. When Alex's own boyfriend, Jack, a detective on the local police force, is unwilling to consider other suspects, Alex is determined to identify other motives for the crime, finding a link to corporate secrets that could devastate the Magical community. Against Jack's wishes, she interviews suspects, almost becoming a casualty herself from a powerful dark, magical force. Complicating matters, Alex wants to be with Jack, a Mundane, due to his ordinariness, but the magical Dylan draws her to him. Close family relationships, friendship, a lovingly portrayed coastal setting--all framed by details of running an herbal apothecary--distinguish this cozy.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The Magicals and the Mundanes tangle again in this follow-up to A Spell for Trouble (2020). When Aleksandra Daniels turned to her mother's family in Bellamy Bay, North Carolina, after the death of her father, she learned that the Sobieskis have magical powers inherited from mermaids. Her relatives, who run an herbal remedy store, soon teach her to harness her own powers--something she keeps secret from her Mundane boyfriend, detective Jack Frazier, who once arrested her aunt for murder. Trouble arrives in the form of a brief incident of nothingness, which is passed off as a power outage, though the Magicals know that more is involved. Disaster strikes the mermaid festival when muralist Neve Ryland is murdered in the office of museum director Jasper Collins, and Alex's friend Celeste is the major suspect. During a conversation with Alex at the unveiling of her mystical mermaid mural, Neve revealed that someone was researching the DNA of people with mermaid genes, a project that might have led to her murder and now spells danger for Alex's friends and family. Jack is stubbornly bent on arresting Celeste, but Alex knows that the involvement of the Magicals makes the case much more complicated than a jealous girlfriend. Alex must trust in her Magical childhood friend Dylan Wesley, who vies with Jack for her love, if she's to survive long enough to solve the puzzling crime. Magical mysteries, romance, and a Harry Potter--like storyline add up to an enchanting read. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
