Rach's Reading Club 2024

Books and Bribes

For my first book of February, I chose a mystery called Books and Bribes by Lucinda Race. I honestly have never heard of her or the novel, but it was available cheaply on Google Books.

Anyway, it is about a young bookstore owner named Lily who attempts to solve a murder mystery in her hometown, but there's a twist. She has just discovered that she, like several of her female relatives, is a witch. Moreover--and this is the reason that this book qualifies for the month of February--her cat, Milo, is her familiar. He talks to her and attempts to train her in witchcraft.

The book is also written with alternating points of view. One chapter from Lily's point of view and one from the point of view of Gage, a local police officer. From the different points of view, the reader learns that Lily has a crush on Gage and that he has a crush on her. It makes for a sweet, if predictable, love story.

I guess I would say that this book is pretty average on all fronts. The murder mystery is intriguing, but the solution is not exactly astonishing. The magic part is entertaining, but Lily doesn't do a whole lot of magic, so it's only an average story about witchcraft, and the love story is sweet, but average.

It's a readable, but not great story.