No Charm Intended

Cora Chevalier is settling into her new life in rural North Carolina nicely. She’s planned a weekend of wildcrafting adventures for her guests and it’s shaping up to be a great time. Then local nanny Gracie Wike disappears and Cora and her business partner, Jane, fearing for the life of Gracie’s boyfriend, Paul, invite him to stay with them. But as Gracie and Jane investigate Gracie’s disappearance (not being satisfied with the local police’s response), they uncover unsettling truths and another body at an abandoned amusement park and begin to wonder if trusting Paul may have been a deadly mistake. A delightful cozy with a beautiful North Carolina setting and a couple of intrepid amateur sleuths

No Charm Intended is the second book in Mollie Cox Bryan’s Cora Crafts Mystery series. Cora Chevalier is a former counselor in a woman’s shelter who loves crafts and is a successful crafting blogger in Indigo Gap, North Carolina. Cora and Jane Starr, her best friend and business partner, are preparing for their second crafters’ retreat in Cora’s old Victorian home. Jane, a talented potter, who lives in the carriage house with her young daughter, London, encounters a scheduling problem when her daughter’s babysitter, Gracie Wyke, disappears. Paul, Gracie’s boyfriend, and Henry, his roommate, show up at Jane’s door trying to figure out what happened to her and wondering if her disappearance could be related to online gaming because when she reached a high level on a ‘Darknet’ Wizard of Oz game, she started receiving threatening messages. When Henry disappears, Cora is worried about his mental state and safety, so she takes him into her home even though Jane doesn’t think it’s a good idea. The police consider Paul a suspect but Cora doesn’t agree and starts asking questions and snooping around looking for answers.

I found this to be an enjoyable read. The characters are starting to grow and find their own in their business and new life. The story itself was well written, has a steady pace and what I thought was a good mystery. I will be back to see what Cora and Jane are up to in the next book.

This is a wonderful cozy mystery that you sit in your reading nook and enjoy without disturbance, it is well written with the right dosage of suspense, I was captivated from the first page in chapter one, I just allowed myself to be swept away with the tide of this tale, I did not regret it, great book.

I loved the story, the characters, the charming small town setting and especially Cora's beautiful Victorian house. Cora Chevalier gave up her stressful job working at an abused women's shelter and bought an old house in Indigo Gap, North Carolina in order to start a craft retreat business. But little did she know that murder and mayhem would find her there. This is an extremely interesting series with the extra added bonus of Cora's crafting tips and I highly recommend it.