Raven Lattice Marigold is coming into her own as a witch. She's becoming more comfortable with running her late Nan's teashop with her magical familiar Leo. But nothing could have prepared her for meeting a ghost! This ghost has heard about Raven's amateur sleuthing skills and wants to hire her to investigate the possible abduction of her familiar. As Raven and Leo will soon discover, working this case will have far-reaching implications, far beyond a 'simple' kidnapping.

The world of magic that Layne has built is imaginative and full of intrigue. The familiars, the coven, Raven's reckoning with her own magic... they all combine to make the paranormal aspect of this mystery strong. Lovers of paranormal and fantasy cozy mysteries will appreciate this aspect of the book.

However, I wasn't a big fan of the author's writing style. Raven and Leo often address the reader directly. This was charming at times, but I felt that it also distracted from the flow of the plot and was a bit too heavy-handed. Raven also likes to go off on tangents quite a bit, which further distracts from the plot and from the execution of the mystery itself.

As someone who enjoys reading cozy mysteries for the mystery element, I would have preferred that the fourth wall breaking and tangents were limited so that the mystery could have shone more. But if you don't mind this writing style and you're not as interested in the mystery itself, you might enjoy this book.

I wouldn't recommend that you jump into the series in the middle like I did. Starting from the beginning would give you a much better understanding of how Raven's magic works. This book also has a larger storyline that seems as if it will continue into future instalments, so I wouldn't consider it to be a standalone.

This is a clean mystery, with minimal violence, a small romance side-plot, and no foul language.

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