Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Welcome to the Skeleton Crew. Bring your knitting needles and a good, strong brew.

Gender fluid, autistic vampire Hyde Snodgrass runs Between the Leaves—a cosy village book store. Their life revolves around books, all things autumnal, and the two cats who rule their world. The shop also plays host to a weekly knitting group called the Skeleton Crew.

When one of the leaders of the village coven fails to show up for the weekly knitting meeting, Hyde finds themselves investigating a horrific murder side by side with their long-term crush, Teresa Vega.

Suspicion immediately falls on other members of their group. Hyde and Teresa struggle to find answers to the growing list of questions. It’s made all the more difficult when the killer has them in their sights.

Can working together spark the romantic flame within them?

Will they solve the mystery before death comes too close?

 

Book Review

If you’ve ever wanted your cozies bundled into one package, it has finally happened!

Mystery cozy – check!

Bookstore cozy (complete with cats) – check!

Knitting cozy – check!

Romance cozy – check!

Paranormal cozy – check!

Whole town coziness? Check, check, and check!

 

Somewhere in Scotland is a village hidden from the world where paranormals who are not accepted for who they are by family can be welcomed for who they are. It’s an eclectic community who understand, accept, and even celebrate each other’s differences be they LGBTQ+, genderfluid, witch, vampire, druid, autistic, or cope with OCD.

 

Hyde is a genderfluid autistic vampire who has figured out how to convey who she/they are on any given day and it’s wonderful watching how the community interacts with her/them. Teresa is a witch who’s converted a double decker bus into a taco stand on the bottom and house on the top. Teresa is patiently wooing Hyde and the romance is very sweet.

 

Hyde finds one of her/their friends and one of the town’s coven leaders murdered in the witche’s home. The plot attempts to cast Hyde as murderer, but it’s a weak attempt at best and more of plot device to show even in this welcoming town, not everyone gets along.

 

Dovetailing on that, I did find the book description a bit misleading, however, as Hyde doesn’t really investigate anything in the usual sense of a murder cozy. Hyde and Teresa ask a few questions at what I consider appropriate times and places more out of curiosity and a sense of loss, narrowly avoid being killed themselves, and eventually the antagonist is caught. I thought the whodunit  was anticlimactic, but it worked for the setting and characters.

 

My overall impression is ‘A Curse for Samhain’ is about building relationships, defining friendship and family, and standing up for oneself when others want to put you in a box because that’s where they think you’ll be “safe” and “happy”. I also think this would be an excellent book to market to GLBTQ+ and autistic (or similar) pre-teens, teens, or young adults.

 

This is a very sweet, no-angst, all-inclusive “cozy” perfect for unwinding after work, a vacation read, or a lazy weekend escape.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author via GRRT for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 138 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	08-August-2024
Price	$3.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Samhain-Skeleton-Crew-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B0D3S6FM1W