1.3.2021 | Sunday

Cocoa Curses

Item: Cocoa Curses
Rating: 4
Author: Kim

category: Book Reviews
tag(s): adult
0 Comments

title: Cocoa Curses
author: Erin Johnson
series: Winter Witches of Holiday Haven #5
published: 11 November 2020
publisher: self-published
genre(s): romance, cozy mystery
pages: 137
source: Kindle Unlimited
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | StoryGraph | Goodreads

rating:

| series rating:

the blurb

Hardworking witch, Rudie Hollybrook, adores her quaint town of Holiday Haven, located near Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole, but can’t help feeling like an outsider. Not only does she have the unique ability to see ghosts, but she also runs the Hollybrook Funeral Home with her sisters. In a town where the holiday cheer is turned up to eleven all year round, Rudie’s slightly eerie abilities make her feel like a misfit.
While volunteering at the Christmas Market days before the big celebration, Rudie witnesses a tragedy. One of the volunteer club’s chairwomen is murdered by poisonous hot cocoa, sending the charming town reeling.
When Rudie’s tasked by the dead woman’s ghost to find her killer, she teams up with her crush at the local paper to do some sleuthing. Together, they uncover embezzlement, bribery and an illegal potions ring, all with ties to the murdered woman. Could it be the rebellious teenage granddaughter with a less-than-stellar taste in men? Or maybe the town doctor with a mysterious past? Rudie’s investigation even leads her to suspect her nemesis, the bully with a history of getting what she wants--no matter the cost.
With the countdown to Christmas nearly at an end, and the restless spirit threatening to haunt her holiday, Rudie races to catch the cocoa killer and make her beloved town safe again.
Will Rudie unmask the culprit and prove she’s a vital member of this charming Christmas town? Or will a murderer roam free and ruin Christmas for all of Holiday Haven?

my review

This was a great end to the five-book Winter Witches of Holiday Haven series, five books by five authors set in the mystical North Pole. I love a cozy mystery, and I love them more with magic and holiday vibes.

Rudie has always felt like an outsider in Holiday Haven. She and her sisters run Holiday Haven’s only funeral home. In a place as ever cheery as their village, the business of death is unusual. And added to that is Rudie’s ability to see the recently passed. But that same ability makes her uniquely qualified to help those recently passed ghosts to find their closure and move on.

The mystery was great, and the setting as engaging as all the other books. This is the perfect book, and series, to cuddle up with and dive into! If you love to cuddle up and get cozy, this is the perfect read!