Synopsis:
Delectable Magic is the fifth book in the Mrytlewood Mystery series by Iris Beaglehole.
In the lead-up to the Lughnasa festival, trouble is brewing in Bermuda…
Rosemary has her hands full with the launch of her much anticipated magical chocolate shop. She’s enjoying the peace and quiet of Myrtlewood and the last thing she wants to do is get involved in Bermuda witching politics.
Athena, on the other hand, is dying for a tropical escape, especially when things take a turn for the strange and unusual where her powers are concerned leading to terrible embarrassment.
Peculiar threats and unwanted visitors drive Rosemary to rise to the challenge of visiting the witching parliament to protect her daughter and salvage her dreams.
Review:
I was not expecting to say this, but Delectable Magic has been my least favourite in the series so far. I’m not expecting much when I pick up this series as cosy mysteries aren’t always the best written books but there was something seriously off with this instalment.
I can’t quite put my finger on what was wrong but the writing felt different this time. Well, it has been a while since I read the last one but I think it’s different. There were a lot of short, disjointed chapters with dialogue that was all over the place and a little bizarre. It felt like the characters were jumping from topic to topic with no direction on where the conversation was going. It was quite hard to distinguish the tone of the conversations.
One part I did enjoy was the progression of Rosemary and Burk’s romance. They finally start taking steps forward, but Rosemary is still a little unsure for most of the book. I’m not entirely surprised after she meets his vampire ‘family’, they were pretty weird, but the insight to his life outside of his work was great. It feels like we’re finally getting character development for him, which is crazy considering this is book five.
I do think the story is interesting but this instalment didn’t really pique my interest. The pace was a little off and it feels like issues are brushed off too quickly. The conflict and its resolution come around too quickly. I’d rather have the book end on a cliffhanger than a ‘deus ex machina’ style solution.
Also, there were so many spelling mistakes and missing words. I’m not sure how so many issues got past the editing stage but they are really distracting.
I wish I had more actual positive things to say about Delectable Magic as I do enjoy this series but there was something seriously off with this instalment. Hopefully the next one is much better.
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