Weekly Reader: Mystic Guests (A Mystic's End Mystery Book One) by Leanne Leeds; Magical Mystery is Memorably Marvelous

 

Weekly Reader: Mystic Guests (A Mystic's End Mystery Book One) by Leanne Leeds; Magical Mystery is Memorably Marvelous

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Earlier this year, I discussed the Cozy Mystery subgenre in Mysteries. The cozy mystery has a sub-sub genre in the Paranormal Cozy. It is similar to a traditional cozy in that it is set mostly a rural community, stars an amateur detective usually female with an occupation or hobby which puts them in close proximity to murder, and a close group of friends or family who aid them during their investigation.

What makes a Paranormal Cozy stand out is the magical aspects present. Sometimes said amateur detective has intuitive abilities, psychic powers, or has visions of the murders or their victims. Other times, the supernatural aspects are more overt with witches, ghosts, vampires, fairies, and other paranormal creatures along for the ride and taking part in the small town crime wave shenanigans. 

Such examples include Bewitching Mysteries by Madelyn Alt, Aunt Dimity Series by Nancy Atherton, The Faerie Apothecary Series by Astoria Wright, Ghost Dusters by Wendy Roberts, Karma Crime Series by Claire Daniels, Ophelia and Abby Mysteries by Shirley Damsagaard, and Sookie Stackhouse Southern Mystery (better known by the TV series name True Blood) by Charlaine Harris. I would be remiss if I did not shout out the Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher but the supernatural is less gentle and darker, the murders are more violent, and the character of Dresden is more reminiscent of a hard boiled professional detective than a cozy amateur detective. 

A great example of the Paranormal Cozy is The Mystic End Mysteries by Leanne Leeds. It has a bewitching brilliant lead in Fortuna Delphi, witch,artist, former carnival performer, and amateur detective. It captivates with a memorable setting in Mystic's End, Arkansas, a small town with a magical past leading to its paranormal present. There is a great first volume with Mystic Guests which combines ghostly premonitions with human murder.

Fortuna has left her life behind as a painter and fortune teller at the Magical Midway to get some answers. As a child, she was abandoned in the small town of Mystic's End and she wants to know why and where she came from. However, she gets more questions than answers.

When Fortuna moves into her new apartment, she encounters Spike, the ghost of a murdered young man. She helps reveal the location of Spike's body behind the walls of her apartment and art studio, which used to be a record store. So she is driven to discover who killed Spike despite the stonewalling and suspicious threats from townspeople that would rather not find out.

This is a great mystery within both the paranormal and cozy genre. In fact, the paranormal aspects make the cozy ones much better. 

Mystic's End is a typical picture postcard of a seemingly perfect small town found in such books but what makes it stand out is its mystical history. According to legend, a coven of witches fled the trials in the early part of American history and moved to a town that they called Mystic. When other wealthier families moved in, they forced the witches to conform to the new church or else. Some did, but others practiced in secret leaving a long train of magic users and a magical energy surrounding Mystic's End. 

Unfortunately, modern day so far reveals only two practitioners living in Mystic's End these days. One of them is of course Fortuna. The other is Miss Bessie, an elderly woman who can also communicate with Spike and who gives off the impression of being just a befuddled eccentric to disguise her real abilities.

Fortuna herself is an interesting lead character with a very unique backstory. Her life at the Magical Midway is very colorfully described as she recalls her friends like the ringmaster, Charlotte and the shapeshifters that transform into animals for the animal acts. She also recalls a time when she faced the Witches Council which suggests that she has some very powerful magic coursing through her veins. (Leeds also wrote a series about Fortuna's time in the Magical Midway. It should be quite an interesting read.) 

Besides showing a strong aptitude for magic, Fortuna displays a lot of courage and kindness just like any normal protagonist in a mystery. She becomes a close friend to Spike when she realizes that she is one of the few people in town who developed a genuine connection with him in life or afterlife. 

She uses a more human form of persuasion to save the life of a greyhound who becomes a loyal pet. She also attracts the attention of two men, Officer Gabriel Wilcox and the wealthy and flirtatious, Martin Salvi during her investigation.

Unfortunately, it will take Fortuna's normal and paranormal abilities to see through the corruption and conspiracies that cover Mystic's End. With the help of Gabe and newspaper reporter Pepper Stanford, Fortuna learns that some of Mystic's End's most prominent citizens are extremely reluctant to have people poking around and asking questions. People like Rev. Dexter Kane, who takes the opportunity to use Spike's funeral as a means to shout his HellFire and Brimstone opinions about the rest of the townspeople (excluding himself of course), Evangeline Laroux, a former cheerleader who left her small-town for stardom and came back with a wealthy husband and an interest in gold digging, and The Abernathys, a wealthy and connected family that own various properties including the music store where Spike's body was discovered and is now Fortuna's apartment and shop.

Mystic Guests is an excellent addition to the Paranormal Cozy Mystery subgenre. It is memorably magical and marvelously mysterious.