While this series started strong for me, it devolved into typical tropes and ridiculous plot lines [HONESTY is always the best policy in everything, especially one's relationships] and the whole "yes I am a cop, but even though I don't want you to get involved, let me tell you something NO ONE else should know and please don't tell anyone [here's a hint, she doesn't stick to that promise]" was extremely frustrating.

With this one, the mystery was...odd. Mixed with several subplots, everything got kind of muddled in the end and I am still not really sure just what happened [though the whole murderer reveal was very sad]. I just think that overall, this series, even though it has great potential, is just not for me. I wanted to like/love it more than I did and this one just solidified that for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Angela M. Sanders, and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, my goodness! I really could not love this series more. This book is the fifth book in the Witch Way Librarian series. I have read them all, so it's difficult for me to say whether this would be good as a standalone. It's been a while since I read book 4, so I feel like there were enough mentions of character's back stories that I had not problem jumping right in.

This book is about Josie Way, a librarian who is also a newly realized witch. Books speak to Josie and give her information as needed. In this story, she even gets a little help from the greatest detective of all time - Sherlock Holmes. Books also give her recommendations for her library patrons, which is also fun.

I enjoyed this story so much and I look forward to more in the series.

"Gone with the Witch" is the fifth book in the Witch Way Librarian series, but new readers are fine to jump in with this one. There's a great balance of backstory without too much narrative to catch up new readers and jog the memories of existing fans.

This time, Josie, full-time librarian and fledging witch, gets pulled into a decades-old missing persons case. Bones are found under an outbuilding, and they may belong to the husband of one of Josie's library patrons, Helen. If so, though, who is the man Helen saw on a game show, who she swears is her missing spouse?

Josie uses all her research skills, and finds new witchy ones, to figure out who's who and what's what before a not-so-missing killer strikes again.

This series is the very definition of cozy with a supernatural splash, but there's also a lot of character growth in this book. Josie is still developing her magical abilities, with the help of letters from her deceased grandmother. She's ready to advance her romantic relationship with Sam, the local sheriff. She's become a fixture in the town, and the townspeople trust and like her.

Why you should read this: These are good comfort reads, not too heavy, and not to fluffy. The townspeople are quirky without being outrageous, and, if there are some elements that require suspension of disbelief, well, you have to with a cozy, anyway. Who in their right mind would play amateur sleuth to find a murderer who could just as easily kill them?

Why you might not want to read: Josie's dithering over whether to move forward with a relationship with Sam could be mildly exasperating, and she does jump to conclusions a bit. The only really annoying thing for me is Sam's thing about frowning when he's happy and smiling when he's upset. It gets mentioned multiple times in each book, and it just throws me off each time.

I received an advance copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

4 out of 5 stars. Recommended

It was love at firt read, I fell for this series and the characters since I started reading the first novel in this series.
There’s a new generation of cozy authors and the heroine, even when belong to one of the traditional work categories as librarian or baker, are more contemporary and realistic. They are millennials that act like a millennial and a sort of fresh air.
Witch Way Librarian is one of the best witchy cozy series as it mixes the paranormal side with a solid mystery and an unusual setting. The standard cozy town is full of tourism and blooming
Wilfred is a town that used to be a prosperous town but is now faced with large-scale material hardship (unemployment, run-down buildings, impoverishment of part of the population) even if there’s a lot of changes going on.
Josie is a a librarian, a witch, and a very clever character. Sam is the sheriff, the last heir of the family who built the local mill. Rodney is one of my favorite book cat and a mystery because he could be or not a sort of eternal cat.
This is my first blog post about this series and I think the long introduction was needed.
Gone with the Witch is one of my favourite instalment, the other one the first, as there’s a twist story with bring us back to the 70s and the fantasy side is well done.
Angela M Sanders is a talented storyteller and I loved how she dealt with characters like Helen, a woman who decide to change and move on, or Lindy.
I can’t wait to read the next story, this one left me with a bad case of book hangover
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Kensington Cozies for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This cute and cozy mystery wraps you in a snug narrative, perfect for those who love a gentle puzzle. Its charming setting and likable characters make for a pleasantly intriguing read.

Gone with the Witch
(Witch Way Librarian 5)
Angela M. Sanders



Angela M. Sanders is the author of two mystery series Witch Way Librarian and Vintage Clothing. She also writes the Kite Shop series as Clover Tate.


Welcome to Wilfred, Oregon! A newly bustling town, and home to librarian Josie Way.

Duke and Desmond are in the process of renovations for their new property. After finding an outhouse with human remains inside. They decide to invite a few people over for a symbolic internment.
Helen Garlington believing it was her long missing husband requested the bones be tested for DNA. Unfortunately, she didn’t receive the closure she needed. This sends her on a downward spiral.

Josie, tells Sam, the police chief, and her boyfriend about Helen’s outburst. The next morning, Helen asks Josie to investigate “Bruno Gates” the man Helen believes to be her Martin. He was a contestant on a game show, that magically popped up on the “bar” television after Josie felt a big pang of sympathy for Helen’s grief. After researching Bruno, she calls his funeral home in California. He refuses to speak with her. Soon after Bruno, shows up starting trouble and opening old wounds.

Josie’s literary helper in this book is the amazing Sherlock Holmes.

I liked this book. Can I point to one scene or event that made this an enjoyable read? No. Would I re-read this? No. Was the mystery good? Yes, I found it to be compelling but not a page burner. (I didn’t stay up to complete the book in one sitting, but I happily jumped in at every opportunity!) Does it contain witchcraft? No. Is it violent or vulgar? No, it’s a clean read. For any new reader, just jump in! Each book is self contained so you don’t have to worry about “missing” something from a previous book.

Rating 3.5***





Thank you to Netgalley, Ms. Sanders, and the publisher for the ARC.

Angela Sanders continues the enchanting Witch Way Librarian mysteries with Gone With the Witch. Josie Way, librarian and apprentice witch in Wilfred, is confronted by bones of an unknown man in an abandoned outhouse and a husband missing many years that a senior thinks she saw in a tv contest. The look alike comes to town and is dead within the day; not the senior's husband. Josie's magic accompanies the spellbound books in the library; she engages a ghostly Sherlock Holmes from his complete adventures to aid her sleuthing. Read this charming mystery to find the solutions to the crimes.

This was so darn good! Lots of secrets were revealed and someone from the past made an appearance, or was it really that person? Was the death really a murder? Josie got the coolest sleuthing buddy ever and the two managed to untangle a really twisted-up mystery and long-buried secrets.

Meanwhile, a mysterious bookseller came to town who seemed to have Lalena extremely interested in getting to know him better. And Josie’s sleuthing partner said there was still something out there she needed to be careful about, so now I’m super eager to read the next book and see what’s up with that. I’ve already got some suspicions.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

3.5*
I requested this book not knowing that it was part of a series but I had no problem of reading it. I will be going back to read the rest of the series.

When bones are discovered in an outhouse, a DNA test is requested by a local women to see if that her husband. In discovering that is not she sees him in an tv show and Josie brings him down which ends up with him death.

Josie magic is very interesting and I like the whole concept of pulling books to help you with what you need. But the one thing I don’t get it to how a book kept showing up to her and she thought nothing of it?? Isn’t that what her magic is based on.

Also the whole concept with her opening a door in the middle of a night and letting a stranger in?? With that keeping it from her boyfriend also on how he told her something to do with the case and she goes on to promise that she won’t say anything and then tells three people. This just doesn’t seem right at all.

I get it that she’s scared of telling Sam that she’s a witch but a this point she’s just making excuses.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is usually one of my favorite series and, while I enjoyed this one, it wasn’t quite like the others. The mystery itself was easy to figure out and it dragged on for me; the pacing was off and it could have been solved much quicker than it was. The addition of Sherlock Holmes was amusing but a little strange. I still liked spending time with the characters and found the whole additional roommates in the library amusing but this wasn’t my favorite in the series. I will read the next ones and hope the pacing is back to what it was before.

The book opens with an old outhouse being demolished and a set of bones being discovered. But whoever could the bones have been? There is a thought that they could be Martin Garlington. He disappeared almost fifty years ago. But the DNA says not and, besides, his wife, Helen, has just seen a man on a quiz show that she's convinced is her long, lost husband. She prevails on Josie to find out about the man, Bruno Gates, and ask him to come to town.
Josie does find him and the man comes to town but he is decidedly NOT Martin. What he is, is a flirt who drinks too much at the bar, flirts a little too hard with the women of the town, and is found dead near where the old bones were discovered.
That is just the start of a mystery that unwinds the past fifty years. This time, Josie has some help in solving it. Her powers must be growing because she is once again finding the same book everywhere, but this time, when she opens it, Sherlock Holmes walks out of an illustration and into helping her solve the mystery. He also warns her that her own Moriarity is going to be making trouble for her.
This was a fun story with a lot of foreshadowing for future books. I felt like some of the characters could have been developed a bit more if they were going to be a part of the eventual solution. There are also some new people who have moved to town including a new rare book dealer whose last name is the same as that of a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out February 20, 2024
Follows Witch Upon a Star
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I have a pretty low tolerance typically for magic in my mysteries (it often feels too convenient) but it works well in this series. I also love the quirky small town library so much that I would keep reading it even if it didn't feel like the use of magic was well balanced with "real" investigative work.

First, I want to thank the author/publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review Angela M. Sanders' latest installment in the Witch Way Librarian Mysteries, Book #5: Gone with the Witch. While I am thankful for the opportunity, the following review is my own.

I continue to love this series. Josie Way makes for a fun protagonist and the latest mystery is one that has a lot of moving pieces. The story centers on a set of bones found in an outhouse. The only problem is no one knows who the bones belong to. And when Josey's witchy powers turn the TV at the local bar and Helen Garlington, the organist who gives lessons in the library, swears up and down that the man on the TV games how is the husband who left her without a note, things get weird.

As a whole, I found the book a lot of fun. The story progresses quickly and it's easy to get through. I have read all five books (not in the right order), so I can guarantee that you don't necessarily need to read them in the right order to get a lot of enjoyment out of reading the series. However, I would start with Book 1 if possible and make your way through the series. I will say Sanders does a great job of referring back to previous books without giving away their plots.

As a whole, I think anyone who likes this series will be perfectly happy with the latest installment. Or, if you're just a fan of paracozy mysteries, then this series has a lot to offer.

Gone with the Witch is the fifth installment in the Witch Way Librarian Mysteries by Angela M. Sanders and my first book that I've read. Josie is a very likeable character. She is a librarian in a magical library where the books speak to her when she needs help. This book Sherlock Holmes helps her to solve a murder of a man who a 'widow' believes is her missing husband and who bones that are found belong to.
This is such a great book. The characters are likable and the one's who aren't, like Roz, are still wonderful. I'm going to be going back and reading the rest of the books in the series. This one was such fun!

🐾📚✨ Bookish Magic, Cozy Mystery and a Purrfect Familiar? 100% yes! ✨📚🐾

We are back in Wilfred, Oregon in the fifth installment of The Witch Way Librarian Mystery Series, Gone With the Witch! Josie and her magical books are sleuthing out clues, consulting Sherlock Holmes, and solving decades old mysteries all while running the town library!

✨ Witches
📚 Fifth in the Series
🔍 Mystery
📖 Bookish Magic
🫣 Hidden Identity
🐾 Purrfect Familiar
🏡 Small Town

I absolutely love this magical series and cannot wait to see what will happen next!

Thank you Kensington Books for the advanced copy!

Gone with the Witch is book #5 in the Witch Way Librarian Mysteries series by Angela M. Sanders.

This is another entertaining addition to the series. I really like the characters and have enjoyed how they have developed through the series. I love Josie’s magic! I was drawn into the mystery couldn’t put this down.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Gone with the Witch by Angela M. Sanders is a cozy witchy mystery where Josie, a witch librarian, teams up with Sherlock Holmes to find out what happened to Martin Garlington, a man who disappeared decades ago. The cozy elements really come to the forefront when Josie is thinking of her boyfriend, Sam, and in her interactions with Sherlock Holmes himself, who is a sort of energy manifestation created by her magic and the love people have for Holmes.

The magic system is really interesting to me, as Josie doesn’t have a ton of control over it, but it mostly manifests in books appearing to help her in the near future or characters coming to her. Magic kicks off the plot, with a bit of a magical flare from Josie turning the TV on to a game show where a man looking like Martin appears and his wife recognizes him after decades apart.

I would recommend this to fans of cozy mystery with a bit of fantasy or readers looking for a new spin on Sherlock Holmes.

I've read all the books in this series and they are super cheesy and so fun. I just adore this series. I can't wait for the next one.

This book was a lot of fun. It was nicely paced, with quirky characters, and an entertaining mystery.

This is the fifth book in the series, and I haven’t read any of the others. It wasn’t a problem in terms of following the story, but because I was new to it, it felt like there were a lot of characters introduced very quickly. I kept a list to help me keep track until I got a feel for who was and wasn’t important to the story.

Josie is a very likable lead character. She’s clever, kind, loyal, and incredibly patient. She works with an abrasive woman, Roz, and her tolerance for the woman’s rudeness is impressive. Her repartee with Sherlock was quite entertaining. I’m also especially fond of her cat, Rodney, who has a personality all his own.

The “book magic” was creative, and I enjoyed reading about how Josie harvested and used it. I’ve read mysteries with book magic before, but this felt like a fresh approach. Because her powers are relatively new, I suspect she’ll find all manner of new skills in the future.

The setting for the story was cosy. The author painted a beautiful picture of the library. Frankly, I want someone to build me a replica of the library, so that I can live in it. I didn’t get as clear a picture of the rest of the town, but I suspect that’s because I’m coming in on book 5.

There was a subplot to this story which wasn’t wrapped up in this book. I generally prefer all plots to be completely tied up within one book, because by the time the sequel is released it is hard for me to remember specifics from a previous book, but I know some people appreciate the suspense.
I will definitely check out others in this series.

I received a free eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the 5th Witch Way Librarian Mystery, human bones are discovered beneath an old outhouse covered in blackberry vines. Helen Garlington wants Sam the sheriff to test the remains, suspecting they may solve the mystery of her long-vanished husband. It’s not a match, and Helen takes it hard, drowning her disappointment in sherry at the tavern, where she sees a contestant on a game show who she swears is her missing spouse, Martin. To ease Helen's mind, Josie contacts the look-alike guest, who kindly agrees to travel to Wilfred—and is then found dead the next morning. Horrified by this fatal turn of events, Josie asks the spellbound books for help, seeking the aid of Sherlock Holmes. But strange things continue to happen—frightening images flash on the screen of a long-abandoned movie theater and flocks of crows seem to appear wherever she goes. Is Josie about to meet her own Moriarty? It will take all her courage to untangle the twisted vines of this mystery before this chapter in the colorful story of Wilfred claims another life . . .

I am normally a fan of this series, but this was not my favorite book of the series. I felt the previous books have been a little more light-hearted and fun, especially with Josie testing out her new-found powers, but in this book she seemed almost annoyed by them. Also, you have to completely suspend disbelief on this one, as far as the investigation goes. There is no way a sheriff would call his his girlfriend, tell her not to say anything and then tell her sensitive information related to the case. None of this will stop me from reading future books in this series, but this one just wasn't my favorite.