FAMILIAR MOTIVES by Delia James

Publisher:     Berkley

Published:     October 3, 2017

ISBN:        978-0451476593

Genre:      Cozy Mystery

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  myreviewbooks@aol.com

FOUR HEARTS

Annabelle (Annie) Britton has settled down into life in Portsmouth with her pet cat Alastair, her friends and her coven sisters.  Yes, coven sisters.  Annie is a witch and Alastair is not your ordinary, average, every day house cat – he is her familiar.  That same comes from a family of witches as new to Annie, but she’s learning to live with her special set of talents – and her familiar’s ability and penchant to disappear just when you need or want him most—like a visit to the vet.  Portsmouth, however, happens to have a resident vet who is also a witch – one who has no problem circumventing various familiars’ special talents.  Annie forms and instant bond with Ramona, the vet, as does Alastair.  While at the vet she meets the famous Attitude Cat and her person.  Also while there Cheryl Bell descends on them demanding to take Ruby, aka Attitude Cat.  It seems the little cat is in the middle of quite the custody dispute.  When Ramona turns up dead and Ruby disappears Annie quickly finds herself in the middle of the search for the killer and catnapper.  Despite her best efforts to stay out of the investigation it quickly becomes evident there is more at work than a murder…there is a good chance a witch is involved. 

FAMILIAR MOTIVES, the third of Delia James’s Witches Cat mystery series is a bit dark for a cozy, but that’s not a bad thing since it shows a nice expansion of James’s writing.  James clearly gets cats and their pernickety and independent ways and she also knows the craft.  While she does “Hollywoodize” some craft aspects, she does respect the basic creed and portrays it well.  The delves nicely into family – both by blood and by choice – dynamics and the ups and downs of relationships in a realistic way.  She does a wonderful job of showing how our loyalties and relationships can collide while telling a really good story. 

I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was when that character was introduced.  It wasn’t that hard to tell, but how Annie tracked the killer down was creative and at the same time gave the character some good development.  I also applaud James for not falling into the “love triangle” debacle so many cozies deteriorate into.  With grandma BB about to return to Portsmouth this series can only get more fun and more interesting. 

Each book is a standalone and you don’t really have to have read the prior books or read them in order although doing so shows you the nice progression of the character’s personalities and relationships. 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

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BY FAMILIAR MEANS by Delia James

Publisher:    Berkley

Published:   September 27, 2016
ISBN:        978-0451476586
Genre:       Cozy Mystery
Format:     Print
Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

 

THREE HEARTS

 

 

Having decided to stay in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and continue to learn about her witch heritage, Annabelle Britton is settling in nicely. So much so she has invited her grandmother BB to come and visit…and repair some decades old fences.  And while she has promised not to practice her magic unsupervised, well sometimes a girl needs to step up and help her friends, right?  And really, how much trouble can double checking a building to be sure there’s no ghost in there be?  Especially when you don’t believe in ghosts?  But when she gets into Jake and Miranda’s new building it’s not a ghost she finds…it’s a dead body.  The first question is who is the dead man…and the second is, how did he get there?  Annabelle doesn’t really want to get involved, but Jake and Miranda are the number one suspects.  And it’s not too long before the local lieutenant has his sights on her as well.  Under those circumstances, how can she not get involved?

BY FAMILIAR MEANS is the second book in Delia James Witch’s Cat Mystery series and the characters make for a nice addition.  The star of the series is, of course, Alistair, the kitty who is Annabelle’s familiar.  He’s a smart cat who knows just when to pop in and help his human out. While a number of craft elements, such as the importance of a circle, the use of a wand for focus, calling in the quarters, are explained in book 1 and further in book 2, just what a familiar is and what they can do is hinted at, but he isn’t completely explained, which is puzzling in a series about a Witch’s cat.  Everyone recognizes him, but no explanation is given for why a fifty, give or take, year old cat is still around. Trust me, if mine could live that long I’d be thrilled…but then mine are regular house cats and not magickal ones.

The characters are interesting in and of themselves, but they sure seem to have a lot of spats back and forth. True, Annabelle is working to bring her grandmother and old friend Julia back together, but it seems like all of them, at some point or other, is always angry or irritated with Annabelle herself. They aren’t all that cozy with each other.

The story itself was kind of flat.  Not a bad read, but not a page turner.  The only characters I really enjoyed were Leo and Max, the miniature dachshunds and Alastair.  The humans came across pretty flat except when they were angry at each other. The series does have promise and I do like how aspects of the craft are explained in the stories.  The writing just needs to be tightened up a bit.

 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.