This is a fun fantasy/mystery book which looks to be the start of a series of books in this universe. Temerity is a great protagonist and her relationship with Angus (who is channeling Mr. Darcy) is sweet and satisfying. The relationship between the two sisters rings true and this introduction to their world is entertaining and I can't wait for more.

This had such a good concept and I did enjoy the book. There were some issues I had which is that it seemed to lose some steam. Midway through.

Still agood read.

I picked up this book because I liked the cover. It indicated to me that I was going to get a cosy murder mystery with witches and that's exactly what it was.

I believe this is Kennedy Kerr's first book and it was excellent. I enjoyed the writing style and the dialogue which was handled nicely, especially when the main character was making up imaginary conversations between herself and Constable Harley. They were hilarious. The characters were entertaining without being overly quirky and even the witchiness was not over done.

Altogether I found A Spell of Murder to be an interesting, entertaining and very enjoyable read. Definitely recommended to fans of cosy mystery and the supernatural.

I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book as much as I did. It was great, quick cosy read and the characters were well developed.

I thought the murder mystery aspect was good with some twists and turns that kept me turning the page.

I really enjoyed this and will be looking out for the rest of the series.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc.

A Spell of Murder by Kennedy Kerr is the first book I've read by this author and the first book in the A Lost Maidens Loch series.

This book was smoothly paced but slow in the beginning. I rather expected this as the author needed to introduce the characters and the community but the plot didn't really pick up until about the middle of the book. Temerity Love has a psychometry talent which allows her to see the history of an object that she holds in her hands. The new constable, Angus Harley, is a non-believer when he first meets Temerity but that changes as she become more involved with the investigation. The local community has some quirky characters that help to move the story along and there were several twists and turns to keep me guessing until the reveal.

This was a fun and enjoyable read for me. I really enjoyed the element of witches in a murder mystery. I found the plot engaging and I the ending was satisfying. I wasn’t so sure about the musing of the main protagonist, as I found it a bit annoying and distracting at times., which affected my rating of this book. Overall, I enjoyed the characters and plot of this book. If you are looking for a cozy mystery that has Witches, then I’d suggest giving it a try.

A captivating cozy featuring witches, magic and two feline familiars.

Temerity Love, a psychic provenance expert, and her sister Tilda, herbalist and witch, find themselves helping Inspector Kim Hyland investigate the murder of Molly Bayliss, a local schoolteacher, in Lost Maidens Loch.

A small village in Scotland is the site for this mystery’s seductive pace. Author Kennedy Kerr creates fascinating characters, including the sisters’ cats, Scylla and Charybdis along with Hebrides, a large blue parrot. A Spell of Murder is a delightful read, includes plenty of twists and establishes a strong community for future tales.

I have been hearing a buzz about cosy mysteries in the book community for quite some time now. But I never read any book in the genre because thrillers aren’t really my cup of tea. But when I saw the cover of A Spell of Murder I was so intrigued I just had to request a proof copy of it.

And now I keep on wondering why I waited this long to dive into the genre! I absolutely loved A Spell of Murder. It ticked all the boxes for me. It has the cosy scenery that I absolutely in my feel good books. The quint little village, a bustling café were are the villagers meet and this mysterious Loch. But it has that little extra with murder on the scene and quite some mystery going on. It gave the whole story a little extra panache. Like a nice, warm hot chocolate with a little pinch of cayenne pepper. And it is witchy. Followers of my blog might know that I am absolutely obsessed with witches and books about witches.

The main character Temerity Love runs the family shop, Love’s Curiosities Inc and is renewed in the antiques field, because she can touch objects and feel their backstory and date them correctly. She lives with her older sister Tilda in the little town of Lost Maidens Loch, a remote village in the Scottish Highlands. When a local school teacher is murdered in the school staff room local inspector Kim Hyland and new constable Angus Harley call in the help of Temerity to solve the mystery around the murder.

I loved Temerity as a main character. She is a strong woman with a sad past she is trying to overcome. She has a wicked sense of humour and while reading I kept thinking I would have loved to join her for a full Scottish breakfast anytime.

Apart from Temerity I must say that all the characters are very well develop. They all have a background story and personal little story-lines. While reading you really got the feeling that you got to know all the inhabitants of Lost Maidens Loch and the small village. I loved how nothing was rushed and some story-lines were left open, because it made me long for the second book in the series.

After some research on the internet I found that Kennedy Kerr is a pen-name of author Anna McKerrow. Not an unfamiliar name on my blog since I reviewed her two books in the Eternal Kingdom series. It is an understatement to say I didn’t really enjoy those two books, so I was positively surprised that she wrote A Spell for Murder. It really felt like I was reading a story written by a completely different author.

I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for the next installment of the series! If you are looking for a cosy, funny read filled with mystery then this is without any doubt the story for you!

My thoughts:

There's something I really like about small town mysteries with busybodies, smart country cops, and quirky denizens. This book falls into that category. Temerity is an engaging characters and I like that she has friendships throughout the community and that she's known for being a psychic antiques expert. Specifically, she's known for tracking the provenance of antiques that nobody has any idea about. She's world-renowned, actually. However, despite being so famous, she rarely leaves the village, even to be the keynote speaker at a major upcoming conference.

A murder happens soon within the story--a local school teacher--and Temerity gets involved with the local police chief asks for her help, as she's helped before with missing persons and so on. She ends up working with a new deputy who she finds offputting and a bit rude, although very handsome. There's  a bit of romance in this book between them, but not much.

One of the things I like about this book is that everybody's smart and nobody's bumbling. I wasn't as much a fan of the overall mystery as I could have been because for the murderer, there's not really any clues. The background of the story and the reasons for the murder aren't terribly simple or obvious, which I appreciated. I just wanted a few more clues sprinkled in.

Overall, though, it's a fun read. The characters are engaging and the magic and locale are unique and interesting. I loved the animals, particularly the cats and the parrot. I loved that Angus wasn't at all stereotypical as the handsome potential love interest. He was smart and interesting and didn't ever get weirdly high and mighty or put Temerity down. She was confident and strong, and yet vulnerable in a couple of ways, but not in a way that irritated me.

I'll definitely look for the next book in the series.

I always enjoy a good witchy cozy mystery. I loved Scotland as the setting and I enjoyed the characters. There were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. I'll look forward to book 2 in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of this book for review.

This really was a cute, cosy book. It feels ideal for curling up in a blanket, with this book and a cup of tea - perfect for this book being published just as we venture towards the autumn months.
The town and the characters of Lost Maidens really suited each other, and I think Kerr did a great job of creating people that felt so real. The combination of everything really made it seem like it was a village where everyone knew everyone and where gossip was more common than news. All the characters had a good relationship with each other and, apart from a few exceptions, you could tell they were relationships that had been built up over years.
I really enjoyed the casual witchiness of Tilda and Teremity and I feel like the way the rest of the village treated them kept in line with how I'd imagine this village to react. Neither of the sisters were "typical" witches and they each had their own branch of magic, so that was really interesting to see. I look forward to seeing more of their interactions in later books.
The murder mystery is obviously the central part of this story and I enjoyed it. I was kept guessing throughout the book and I honestly wasn't sure why everything happened until the very last threads had been drawn together. I feel like there were just as many not-suspects (the ones we should expect, but I just felt couldn't be the murder) as there were suspects, but still, I couldn't put my finger on who it was until the end.

If you want a cute, witchy book for Halloween, I'd certainly recommend this!

Took me a bit to get into the book but once i did it was a solid read. The setting is a bit unusual- a small town where the main character wears a hot bottle with her thermal underwear to perform her rituals. Not quite the usual modern witch. But as the story and the investigation unfolds she comes into her own and there's even a hint at a happily ever after for her despite the tragedy of her younger days.

A nice cozy little mystery with interesting characters!
I enjoyed the mystery and look forward to more in this series. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for the early copy

A good start to a new series. There is a lot of developing going on. The characters are interesting. The setting is one of my favorites. The plot was full of action and twists. The supernatural aspects are not the typical stuff we have seen over and over again in the genre. I will definitely be reading the next book.

Temerity Love lives in Lost Maidens Loch with her sister Tilda and runs Love Curiosities Inc. The sisters inherited the shop from their parents who died tragically young. That wasn't all they inherited, they also have some of their parents powers as witches. Temerity uses her gift of psychometry (being able to tell where an object has been and who with just by holding it) to help prove provenance of historical artefacts, She has also used it to help the local police in the past.
When a young teacher is poisoned at the local school, Inspector Kim Hyland asks Temerity for help. However also working with Hyland is a new constable Angus Harley who doesn't believe in Temerity's gifts and Temerity thinks Angus is rude and aloof.
Hyland is convinced Temerity can help them and forces Angus to work with her. Angus and Temerity must put aside their initial dislike and work together to solve the mystery before anyone else dies.
If you like your mysteries with a touch of witchcraft and romance this is for you.

A book of murder and romance set in village in modern day Scotland involving the Laird, police, and two modern witches. It's an extremely good story written by someone who understands how witchcraft has evolved in the 21st century. The police inspector is willing to allow Temerity Love to help him with her knowledge of psychometry - gaining knowledge `by touching an object or person - which she uses to give prvenance of antiques.

Loved it

I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

As a first in a series goes, this one was pretty good. Explaining all the characters took some time and so the beginning was a little slow. Overall not bad for a cozy paranormal mystery.

A quirky cosy murder set in present-day Scotland. A teacher is found murdered and heroine Temerity Love, village witch, spiritualist, healer and antiques dealer sets out to help the police find the murderer; new local constable, feet firmly in the muddy real world, sets the romantic interest. Family revenge, historical abuse, lies, poisons and other red herrings add tension to the story. There is plenty of description of the characters and their backgrounds - helpful as this is the first in a series. The village 'characters' are definitely real if slightly over the top - small town Scotland almost to a "T". What was less convincing was why Temerity got in with the police so quickly - was it just because she had the second sight and could 'see' things at a murder scene that others couldn't? What really grated though was the attempt to make some of the characters sound Scottish - we gave up using 'ye' a long time ago except in the multitudinous road signs "Haste ye Back(e)" when leaving the 30mph zone of many small towns along the A77/A75. I can live with 'tae' and 'whisht' but not 'ye' please. Go and read some of Denzil Meyrick's DCI Daley books if you want to get a good idea of how some Scots sound please. I wish writers would do a little more research on places with which they are not familiar - the web is a good and easy source for both reading and listening. I almost gave only 3 stars because of this but am in a good mood today having just dealt with another 9kg blueberries, 8kg tomatoes and more courgettes than I care to think about! Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A SPELL OF MURDER by Kennedy Kerr is a well-written witch cozy mystery. The story takes place a small village set on the edge of a loch in Scotland and has a mixture of mystery, police procedural and magic combined in one short novel.

Temerity Love operates the family shop, Love’s Curiosities, Inc. and lives above it with her sister Tilda who focuses on rare and old books. They also have two cats and Hyacinth Macaw that live with them. Tilda is known as an herbalist and witch while Temerity is sought by experts all over the world for her magical gift which enables her to find lost items or give hints of an item’s provenance.

A local school teacher is found murdered in the school staff room and Temerity along with the local Inspector Kim Hyland and a new constable Angus Harley work to solve the murder.

The author does a great job of developing Temerity’s character and the descriptive prose helped transport me to the small town of Lost Maidens Loch and its gossipy, idiosyncratic townspeople.

How does Temerity get in on the police investigation? Who murdered the teacher? Why was she murdered? If you enjoy cozy mysteries with a bit of magic and a potential for romance, then you may well like this novel as much as I did.

Many thanks to Bookouture, Kennedy Kerr and Net Galley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy