In My Attic- Book Review

In My Attic by Line Hansen

Book 1 of Magical Misfits Mystery

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Paranormal
3.8 Stars

Myrtle’s Aunt Eve dies soon after calling her for help. Myrtle feels guilty for not listening to her aunt and helping her when she needed it. She visits the Witch’s Retreat, a B&B in Avebury, owned and run by her aunt. She knows for sure that her aunt’s death wasn’t an accident (or was it?).

All her life, she refused to believe in anything paranormal, often telling her aunt to not talk about witches. But Myrtle’s visit to the village results in a series of events that seem both manmade and mystical. Do witches exist? Why are people around her talking in circles? Who killed her aunt? Will Myrtle accept her aunt’s last wishes?

The story starts with Aunt Eve’s call and continues o take us through the next few days until the mystery is solved. Myrtle, the narrator, lost her parents when young and was adopted by Aunt Eve. She works as a teacher and definitely doesn’t believe in witches as her aunt does.

Avebury is lovely. The B&B is a tangible part of the story. The unpredictable weather also is wonderful to read about, even if Myrtle is not a fan of it. We have a good number of characters, some of whom are better developed than others, even our heroine. We have the usual suspects and two good looking men, one of whom might not be who he claims to be.

The guessed the culprit right before I reached half the book. Still, I enjoyed reading the book on the last page. The narrative style is descriptive but not overly so. I like to get a feel of the place, the atmosphere, and the author gives me that.

The pace was decent, though I wished it was better. While there isn’t much rambling, Myrtle was hell-bent on not believing in anything paranormal, dragging the story with her when she could have solved it faster. It fits the trope to the T but makes the reader want to shake some sense into her head.

Since it’s the first book in the series, I’m willing to let it go. The writer needs to set the stage, after all. The writing is light with bits of humor and sarcasm. Grief shows, but not enough to overwhelm the readers, just as it should be in a cozy mystery.

My only complaint is that I liked the side characters more than Myrtle. Still, it would be interesting to see her character development in the next books. Tiddles, the stinky cat, was a delight, despite the smell.

There isn’t much magic. We get to see it only towards the end. But it’s different and intriguing. I like the concept the author created here.

Overall, it’s an engaging book for cozy mystery lovers, especially if they also love descriptions of the settings.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and Literary Wanderlust.

#InMyAttic #NetGalley