Spellcasting in Silk: A Witchcraft Mystery by Juliet Blackwell

             I should have been working.  There was definitely work for me to do.  Yet, all I wanted to do was read.  So, that is what I did.

                Life is going well for Lily Ivory.  Her vintage clothing business is successful.  The relationship she has with her boyfriend, Sailor, is going well.  And her witch’s familiar, Oscar, has returned home.  All these good things happening is why Lily is not exactly pleased when her friend, Inspector Carlos Romero, asks for her help.  He says he only wants Lily to look into the activity occurring at a local store, but you know that once Lily is involved, she cannot leave a situation alone at that.

                It’s a curandera shop that Inspector Romero wants Lily to look into.  What she finds when she arrives is the merchandise flying around on its own.  A shop intended to be a source of healing for customers, helping customers with their problems is exactly what owner Ursula Morena is suspected of not doing.  That’s because, Nicky Utley, a woman who came to the shop for help, has committed suicide.  Now Ursula is under arrest.  With Ursula away from the shop, the merchandise has taken on a life of its own.  That is not the only problem, though.  Since the arrest, Ursula’s niece and her granddaughter, Selena, have also gone missing.

                Unfortunately, Lily isn’t able to tell Inspector Romero much about what is going on in the shop except that she hopes it doesn’t get worse.  She then tries her best to do what Inspector Romero wants and leave the shop behind her.  For Lily, that is far easier said than done. 

                While visiting the home of a recently deceased woman, Betty North, with the thought of possibly purchasing some of the woman’s clothes for her shop, Lily comes across a doll.  It is a doll that could have been created to cause Betty harm.  As Lily looks into the doll and whether or not Betty had a natural death, she finds a connection between Betty and the curandera shop.  Now Lily has to figure out the full story of what Betty and the curandera shop have to do with each other, and what the missing granddaughter, Selena, has to do with anything.

                I felt really badly for Lily in this book.  All she is trying to do is have a normal life, but she keeps getting dragged into these supernatural cases.  Then she is told by the other witches around her that because of her powers she is not going to be able to keep a relationship with Sailor.  When it comes to Aidan Rhodes saying this, I have to suspect his declaration comes from a place of pettiness, jealousy, and contempt.  Coming from her grandmother, though, it’s just painful.  I’m glad to say, though, that despite the pain these two are causing, Lily doesn’t listen and stands her ground.  Just because Aidan and her grandmother practice their craft in a certain way doesn’t mean she has to.

                I really hope that Lily stays stubborn and is able to keep her happiness in the end.  If she does, the only other hitch she truly has to face is how secretive Sailor is.  If he would stop being so secretive and actually confide in Lily, things would be much better, and easier, between them.