Vicki Vass

I really enjoyed this book! I haven't read any of the author's books. I am curious about them now. I definitely want to read more Witch Cat Mysteries so I hope this series continues.
The narrator is a cat. That was something unexpected but thoroughly enjoyable. I am looking forward to more adventures with Terra, the witch cat narrator. I absolutely adore her. I love the way the author mixed in bits of historical elements with spells and lore to create a genuinely fun fantasy tale. I loved reading about the Vanderbilts ties to Asheville. I really enjoy reading about people in history, events that happened and the history of buildings and towns. This book contains all of that in an interesting mystery.
For those who read cozy mysteries and prefer them to be about Christianity, you may want to select a different book. However if you don't mind reading about witches and spells this is definitely a book you don't want to miss. Time flew by every time I picked it up to read. I had a most enjoyable time with this book and intend to read it again, most likely in the fall.… (mais)

One of those rare books that packs such a powerful punch and is so UNEXPECTED!
It starts out interesting, especially to those who are interested in the Chicago area or the historical World's Fair. It will grab your attention if you are a blogger or bargain hunter, have an interest in thrift shopping or antiques and collectibles. Then you discover the romantic aspect and shopkeeper rivalry. Friendship! So much friendship and kindness. But what about the rabbit? Or rabbits?
Wait for it...
Then POW!!
Tissue alert ending for when the shock wears off!!!… (mais)

Anne Hillstrom and her friend CC Muller are antique hunters, and CC writes a blog about their adventures at estate sales and other fun sources of antiques. Anne's Great-Aunt Sybil, collector of Viking swords and jewelry, has just died, and to the great frustration of much of the family, has left everything to a museum and named Anne as her executor.

Anne and CC attend estate sales and head off to flea markets on their weekends, while Anne is also busy being shocked that the greedier members of her extended family want to challenge Sybil's will on the grounds that she was obviously suffering from dementia, or she wouldn't have left all her valuable, museum-worthy collection to a museum. She's also finding that her cousin Suzanne is being abused by her husband. In their flea market adventures, she also finds a ring that looks like it could have, and likely did, come out of her aunt's collection.

Soon, it begins to seem that people are dying in unlikely ways, someone with an impeccable reputation is preying on eager collectors, and that CC (a newspaper reporter) and Anne (a chemist), bored with their boring day jobs, might have the prospect of a new career in tracking down specific antique and vintage items for followers of their blog interested in reclaiming some cherished memories.

They both meet interesting guys along the way. For Anne, it's Detective Towers, whom she manages to interest in the ring, even with no evidence it belonged to her aunt or was stolen. For CC, it's Tony, the Italian shipwright who is looking for some nice pieces of the correct vintage for the wooden yacht he's restoring.

CC is a walking encyclopedia of interesting facts about the stuff that interests her and the surrounding history. I actually sympathize greatly with this, but she has no off switch for it, and the author lets her go on far too long, far too often.

Anne is a mostly likable, and mostly good, person, with, sadly, a damaged set of ethics with regard to rules and property rights at estate sales. No, she doesn't steal things--not quite. Not outright. There were times I seriously wanted to whack her upside the head, though.

If this all sounds a little scattershot, it is. Much of the plot is interesting but not well-organized. The author also sometimes seems to not be paying attention. For instance, Detective Towers, who is from the UK originally, tells Anne fairly early on that he and his mother came to the US after the death of his father, when Towers was twelve. Later, he tells CC this happened when he was eleven. In a better-organized book, this would have been a great flashing clue that there's something shady about Towers, and I kept waiting for more to be revealed--but no. Towers is a perfectly nice, honest, upright guy--who unlike myself and every other person I know who had a parent die when they were children over the age of reason, doesn't remember how old he was when it happened. Or, as seems sadly more likely in this sometimes scattershot book, Vass didn't remember, didn't check, and didn't employ a copy-editor to catch those kinds of errors.

I find I have to comment on the narrator, too. Fine voice. Good reader. Really! But she should not be allowed to do accents. Every single foreign accent in the book wound up sounding overdone and a bit prissy.

Fun, but not something to put effort into hunting down.

I bought this audiobook.… (mais)

Bloodline

Terra Rowan was chased away from Salem during the witch trials and subsequent hangings. She isn’t sure what happened to her life. The events were so long ago that she has given up any hope of getting back her old life, in fact, it could be murder.

Now living in Asheville, North Carolina she finds that strange things, magical things are happening, and she fears for those she has come to like, even love. It isn’t long before one of them is murdered and she must find out who the killer is before someone else dies.

--
Series: A Witch Cat Cozy Mystery - Book 1
Author: Vicki Vass
Publisher: Independent Publisher
Genre: Witch Cozy

“Bloodline” is the first book in a new series by author Vicki Vass. The tale is interesting and unique with great characters. The use of the Baltimore Estate and forest is a beautiful setting for a series, and the reader will be drawn to the book for this reason alone.

Ms. Vass writes a crafted story of mystery, intrigue and genuine emotion. The characters are likable, even lovable in some instances, and are diverse enough to be memorable. The animals in this book are loyal, determined and adorable. The use of cats is not unusual in Witch based books but how the cats are used is distinctively attractive.

When Terra’s companion is murdered, and a young girl stands accused, she is suspicious. Before long she understands that not only is Abigail innocent, she has hidden powers that an ancient evil entity is trying to prevent her from using. Terra brings together nine witches to form a coven to stop the evil from taking over and killing others in Asheville and beyond.

Although this story in and of itself is not new to the reader, the perspective it is written from is pleasurable without being the same old song and dance. “Bloodline” is a well written, fast-paced, exciting and entertaining book. Readers will enjoy the interaction between the characters and their environment almost as much as they enjoy the characters themselves.

If there is anything some readers may object too, it is the definition of Wiccan vs. Witchcraft. Many readers who enjoy this type of cozy will argue the distinction between the two descriptions. The description of Wiccan vs. Druid or other types of belief, as well as evil are not the accepted norm in today’s world. However, this does not detract from the books overall enjoyment value.

This book is highly recommended to readers who enjoy witch or paranormal stories with a historical bent. It is hoped that the series will continue and that the reader will enjoy the characters as they evolve.
… (mais)