Bait and Witch

I want to preface this review by saying the “cozy mystery” genre is not my usual cup of tea. However reading the description, something just tickled my tastebuds so to speak. Key words being: cozy, librarian, Victorian mansion, murder, magic, cat familiar. And let me say it was exactly what I expected and wanted from this book. It was the reading equivalent of sipping on a weak flavored coffee, wrapping yourself in a worn blanket, and curling up in your leather recliner. The usual things that make me hate mysteries were thankfully absent here: it wasn't immediately obvious who the murderer was, the character wasn't an unreliable drunk who infuriatingly went out of their way to get themselves in trouble, or have completely illogical and over the top plot twists to thrill you into thinking an otherwise mundane book is actually good. On the other hand it isn't the best written book either. it has a lot of blaring misspellings and grammatical errors, the characters aren't especially deep or richly painted, and the story isn't particularly original. But that was kind of what I was looking for. I definitely recommend it for anyone who likes books about libraries, witches, and murder but wants something familiar and reliable over something probing or dramatic. Thank you netgalley for giving me a chance to read the advanced copy!