Book Review: Magick Run Amok

On this Mysterious Monday, we are thrilled to bring you our review of the latest book in the Abracadabra mystery series by Sharon Pape. Magick Run Amok keeps this fun series going with a perplexing series of murders, a little magic, a famous sorcerer who’s seriously in the wrong time zone, and of course a clowder of cats.

The plot

We return to New Camel, New York, and meet up with Kailyn Wilde, owner of a magick shop called Abacadabra. Her aunt Tilly has had a premonition of a murder—another murder—and soon Kailyn’s love interest, local TV reporter Travis, tells her that his friend Ryan is missing. Then Ryan is dead, apparently the victim of an unfortunate car accident. Then Travis reveals that Ryan was not just a friend; he was an adopted brother. And he was murdered, probably because he’d been investigating a string of earlier murders that had been passed off as unrelated deaths from various causes. Travis is going to investigate Ryan’s death and all those others. Does Kailyn want to help?

Dumb question, right?

So Travis and Kailyn begin interviewing victims’ family members, trying to find out what all those deaths have in common. Kailyn’s abilities in spell casting and teleportation come in handy, and the investigative duo starts to form some theories. But as they get closer to the truth, it starts to look like one or both of them could be the killer’s next victim. It’s a good thing Kailyn has cats! (See next section to find out why.)

We can’t review an Abacadabra book without mentioning Merlin. Yes, the Merlin. King Arthur, Knights of Round Table, etc., etc. The famous sorcerer has been pulled out of his own time and is stuck in the modern world—not that this is totally a bad thing. He loves ice cream, television, pizza, and getting into mischief. In Magick Run Amok, he tries a run for the town board (not a good idea, since he’s not a citizen and can’t reveal where he’s really from), transmutes himself into a duck and can’t undo it (so funny!), and puts a little glamour on Kailyn so everyone thinks she is a certain King of Rock ’n’ Roll (too bad she still can’t sing). He is quite the character!

The cats

Kailyn has a whole clowder of cats, headed by Shashkatu, a senior who spends most of his time sleeping in the shop. There are five other cats, plus Tilly’s Maine coon. Shashkatu and his underlings play an important role in saving their people from a dangerous jam. Bad guys in your house? Send in the cats! We enjoyed that scene, and we especially enjoyed the little wink Shashkatu gives Kailyn when it’s over. Yeah, he planned it all. The cats are mostly side characters in this book, but they sure do show up when needed.

Our verdict

We love this series. We still haven’t read the first book, but we are anxious to get to it and find out how everything started. That said, you can enjoy Magick Run Amok even if you haven’t read the previous books, although we suspect you’ll enjoy it more if you have read the earlier volumes. The mystery is well constructed and is truly mysterious. It is no wonder no one connected the dots earlier, and if not for Kailyn, Travis, and friends, a killer would remain free. The action and suspense are relieved by healthy doses of humor, and the characters are some of our favorites in the world of cozy mysteries. The magic is more complicated than the “I’ll just whip up a little spell and everything will be fine” variety; it’s helpful, but not foolproof (quack quack!). And the cats are excellent. We do love a cat who saves the day.

If you haven’t tried the Abacadabra books yet, you should. We think you’ll love them as much as we do!

Highly recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you it was good unless we really liked it!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!