Contemporary witches seem to be all the rave currently. I’ve read three recently. I really enjoyed the first two: The Cottage Around the Corner and What We Give Up for Magic. Ms. Kinsey’s novel is wonderful addition to the oeuvre.

Hecate Godwin (known as Kate to her friends) is a hedge witch; her strengths are healing and concocting herbal remedies and having a very green thumb, among other skills. In her northeastern town of Ipswich she has a shop where crystals, teas, and other arcana are sold. Halloween is coming up and everyone enjoys the holiday. The witches’ coven in the area, the Atlantic Key, have one of their two big celebrations, Samhain, and also Kate’s thirty-first birthday.

The week before Samhain in the midst of a big storm, Kate gets a knock on her cottage door. She lives near the woods off the beaten path and is not expecting anyone. Answering the door she finds a handsome young man who has come seeking her help in acquiring some rare herbs. Kate is a bit surprised and even more so when she discover he is Matthew Cypher, heir to The Pacific Gate coven. Uncertain why he’s come so far she agrees to take him into town to hunt up the herbs he needs.

And this sets the tale spinning. Secrets are revealed, a mysterious grimoire is found in her mother’s attic and Kate discovers she has new abilities. And Matthew is there to help her through the bumps and falls. He is affectionate and kind.

But Kate and her sisters, among others, are beginning to wonder if Matthew is just a little bit too nice. And there’s more to his visit than mere herb seeking.

And, apropos of the season, things get creepier as darker truths are revealed.

This is Kinsey’s first book.

And it’s going to be a hard act to follow! But I sure hope she does. ~~ Sue Martin