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A Letter to Three Witches Book Cover A Letter to Three Witches
Elizabeth Bass
Paranormal Fiction
Kensington
1/25/22
Paperback, Ebook
304

Nearly a century ago, Gwen Engel’s great-great-grandfather cast a spell with catastrophic side-effects. As a result, the Grand Council of Witches forbade his descendants from practicing witchcraft. The Council even planted anonymous snitches called Watchers in the community to report any errant spellcasting… Yet magic may still be alive and not so well in Zenobia. Gwen and her cousins, Trudy and Milo, receive a letter from Gwen’s adopted sister, Tannith, informing them that she’s bewitched one of their partners and will run away with him at the end of the week. While Gwen frets about whether to trust her scientist boyfriend, currently out of town on a beetle-studying trip, she’s worried that local grad student Jeremy is secretly a Watcher doing his own research. Cousin Trudy is so stressed that she accidentally enchants her cupcakes, creating havoc among her bakery customers—and in her marriage. Perhaps it’s time the family took back control and figured out how to harness their powers. How else can Gwen decide whether her growing feelings for Jeremy are real—or the result of too many of Trudy’s cupcakes?

“A Letter to Three Witches” by Elizabeth Bass is an unexpected treat, and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to read it. I wish I would have read it at the height of spooky season, but in all honesty this book will make you feel witchy no matter what time of year you choose to enjoy it.

The story starts when Gwen receives a letter from Tannith, her adopted sister, who claims that she’s finally leaving the small town of Zenobia, and running away to NYC to start a new life. That would all be well and good except for the vague claim that Tannith has charmed the significant other of Gwen or one of her cousins. Reasonably upset about the imminent love life disaster, Gwen aims to gather intel on the state of everyone’s relationships to determine who is under the spell and how they could possibly break it, all while avoiding the Watchers and the Council.

Naturally, the only option is to attempt to learn a lifetime’s worth of magic and witchcraft in less than a week.

CHAOS ENSUES!!

Partners go missing, there are enchanted cupcakes, accidental animal transfiguration, not to mention breaking and entering and police arrest.

“A Letter to Three Witches” is entertaining and engaging right from the start. I’m reminded a lot of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, if Stephanie had ditched New Jersey, went to visit her witchy cousins, and stuck around for the inevitable family drama. If you liked Stephanie Plum’s hijinx with Lula and her grandmother and you’re looking for a book to give you the witchy vibes you’ve missed since October, “A Letter to Three Witches” by Elizabeth Bass won’t let you down. 

“Who else does Aunt Esme have in those terrariums?” Milo asked. “Amelia Earhart? Jimmy Hoffa?”

Written from two points of view, readers are not only treated to a real-time witchy mystery, but we also get a little behind-the-scenes POV from none other than Tannith’s familiar Griz the cat. Griz steals the show.

Actually, all of the side characters in this book are :: chef’s kiss ::

I laughed out loud, and truly enjoyed every second of reading this novel. I anticipated this being a more serious book, but every page turn gave me another ridiculous and outrageous scene that I couldn’t wait to devour. I hope there are more antics from Gwen and the Cupcake Coven down the road.

Elizabeth Bass, you have a new fan here!