A Cast-Off Coven: A Witchcraft Mystery by Juliet Blackwell

               Just as with the Magical Cat Mystery series books, the second book of the Witchcraft Mystery series is far better than the first.  Again, maybe it’s because so many of the introductory elements were out of the way.  Getting in all the details of a person’s past can bog a book down at times.

                The San Francisco School of Fine Arts is haunted.  Recently the activity has increased, and now the students are looking for someone to rid them of their problem.  Who do they turn to?  Lily Ivory, owner of a vintage clothing store and witch.  Of course, the students don’t know she is a witch.  Despite telling her friends, being a witch is still something Lily keeps close to the vest.  The students do, however, know that Lily has certain abilities that could help them with their haunting problem.

                With her employee and friend Maya as one of the students, Lily agrees to go to the school to help.  She’s not sure what she can do since she’s a witch and not someone who deals with ghosts, but Lily is willing to give it a shot.  This shot leads Lily to stumble across a body the very first night she’s at the school.  Jerry Becker, a successful business man, and someone who Lily saw a very short time ago very much alive, is the one dead.  A man with numerous enemies, the list of people who could have killed Jerry Becker is very long.  Add the possibility of a ghost being the murderer, and the list is even longer.

                Lily does not think a ghost killed the man, but she does suspect a demon is in their midst.  A demon that could cause an increasing amount of harm as it grows stronger.  The only option is for Lily to stop the demon before it’s too late.  Hopefully she’ll also solve the mystery of who killed Jerry Becker in the process.

                What is so interesting about the books in this mystery series is in so many ways the murder mystery is secondary to what is going on supernaturally.  At times, it also takes a backseat to what is going on in Lily’s personal life.  Would that make the murder mystery tertiary?  Either way, while the personal life of Lily for the most part stands on its own, the supernatural and the murder are always connected.  The supernatural aspects, however, always take precedence.                               

                On the relationship front, Lily now as some great friends, but it is the males in her life that are causing problems.  At the moment, Lily is forming a relationship with Max, a journalist who is skeptical about her abilities.  He, fortunately, is not the only man floating around.  There are a bunch of others too, including my personal choice, Inspector Carlos Romero.  I don’t think he’s married, but if he is, I will scratch him off the list.  The next man I would go to would be Sailor, someone Lily has recently met.  Sailor is a cranky man, but I think he’s actually a good man in the end.  He just has to get over his demons, whatever they may be.  Even if Sailor doesn’t ever get fully over them, I think Sailor is a much better match for Lily than Max.  With all his doubts, Max would only cause problems and conflict for Lily and the life she wants to live.  After years of hiding and traveling, Lily is only now figuring out how to be herself around others.  She does not need Max’s negativity about who she is to get in her way.