Title: The Witch Is Inn (A Water Witch Mystery Book One)
Publisher: Knotted Road Press
Author: Leah Cutter
Pages: 173pp

AJ is done with her old life. Bye-bye high stress career. Bye-bye cheating boyfriend. Bye-bye craftsman house (she’ll miss the house, at least). Struggling to figure out what to do with herself, she agrees to spend the summer with her sister Bea in a small coastal village south of Seattle. Nothing unusual about that, right? Except … AJ is seeing things. In mirrors. In bowls of water. She’s seeing people she’s never met. And when a murder rocks the small town and Bea is named as a suspect, AJ decides that her new abilities — whatever they are — might be the key to solving the mystery ….

Somedays, you really really need a cozy mystery. Somedays, you just need the comfort of a bad person getting exactly what they deserve and a good person figuring the whole thing out and saving the day. Even better if a bit of magic is thrown into the mix.

Happily, The Witch Is Inn had everything I needed to destress after a few rough days at work: a competent, middle-aged woman; an adorable sidekick; a wholesome setting; and a touch of magic. Plus, a ghost. Even better, there are now five books in the series, so I can curl up and enjoy AJ’s continuing adventures as she settles into her new life and her new role as a Water Witch.

Recommended to fans of cozy paranormal mysteries, as well as fans of A Mer-Murder at the Cove by S. Usher Evans, the Sonoma Witches series by Gretchen Galway, the Wiccan Wheel of the Year series by Jennifer David Hesse, the Manhattan Magic series by Scott Walker, and Matronly Misadventures by Rosalie Oaks.

[Reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan.]