One Potion in the Grave: A Magic Potion Mystery by Heather Blake

               After I finished the first book in the Magic Potion Mystery Series, it did not take me long to reserve the second.  Then once I had the opportunity to read that one, it took me only two or three days to get all the way through.  I stayed up far too late reading as I kept wanting to find out what was going to happen next.  Fortunately, I ended up with a free morning not long after I started the book and I was able to sit and read until the end.  Of course, once I finished, I quickly reserved the third book in the series.  Maybe with that one I’ll take a little longer to read all the way through so I can stretch out my enjoyment.  Probably not.

                Carly Bell Hartwell is very surprised when a childhood friend comes into her potions shop.  It has been a very long time since she has seen this woman and Carly struggles to place her.  Carly’s witch sense, however, lets her know that there is some sort of trouble brewing with this woman.  What that trouble is Carly doesn’t know, but it concerns her.  When Carly finds out the woman is her old friend Katie Sue, the sense concerns her even more.  Even though they have not spoken for a long time, Carly does not want any harm to come to her old friend.  Nor does she want Katie Sue to cause anyone else harm.

                It turns out that Katie Sue is in town for the Calhoun family wedding.  As the Calhoun’s are a prominent family, it is extra alarming for Carly when Katie Sue declares she is there to take the family down.  Not knowing what Katie Sue has against the family or is planning on doing, Carly makes it her mission to figure out what is going on.

                Getting to the bottom of things is easier said than done.  A political family, the Calhoun’s are very secretive and tight lipped.  The lack of information Katie Sue is giving is not much help either.  That’s why when Katie Sue is found near death and then dies, Carly finds herself with more than just the mystery of who killed Katie Sue on her hands.               

                With so many quirky, but good-hearted, characters in these books I find them great fun to read.  In this book, the reader got to spend a lot of time with Carly’s Aunt Marjie.  A cantankerous woman, Marjie has to stay with Carly after she gets hurt on a hike she takes with her “boyfriend”.  I put this in quotation marks because Marjie is not known to be the friendliest of people.  If you set foot on her property she will threaten to shoot you.  This type of behavior is why Carly wonders what Marjie is really up to with the man she is seeing.  Does Marjie truly see him as her significant other, or does she have a more devious plan in mind?

                Someone else the reader sees more of is Carly’s cousin Delia.  In the last book, A Potion to Die For, Carly and Delia were changing their life-long animosity to the status of getting to know each other.  In this book, I would say they could honestly declare themselves friends.  This is great, because not only does it lighten the book, but these two make a great investigative team.          

                Then there is Dylan.  Carly’s former fiancé, Dylan continues to pursue her, but in a gentle way.  He shows up at Carly’s house to help with the remodeling and is always there for Carly when she needs him.  Dylan does talk and tease Carly about getting back together, but he never pushes her into anything she isn’t ready to do.  He will wait until Carly is ready because Dylan knows that Carly is worth waiting for.

                With the third book coming up, I am interested to see which side character gets more attention.  Maybe it will be Aunt Marjie again, or it could be one of Carly’s other aunts, part of the group lovingly referred to as the “Odd Ducks”.  Then there are Carly’s parents to get to know better.  Or possibly the author could concentrate on one of Carly’s friends.  Really, with so many people in this town, the story could turn its focus onto just about anybody.  I’m looking forward to finding out.