Witch Way Out is the third book in Cate Conte’s A Full Moon Mystery series. Violet Mooney has had her life tossed upside down and sideways over the course of the past few books. For one thing, she’s had to face the sudden revelation that she is a witch. To clarify, a magic witch, not a woman with an attitude problem. Specifically, she’s a witch descended from two of the most powerful magical families around. Just because that wasn’t enough already, it appears that someone in her new magical community is out to get her and what remains of her family. Needless to say, Violet is in the midst of an emotional whirlwind when we join her in Witch Way Out. Things don’t slow down as it opens with her having to confront another magical crime. Luckily, she has her friend and mentor of all things magical, Blake, to keep her calm and help her figure out what to do next. But even he, an experienced witch as well as attorney, is unnerved by the discovery of another victim of genieing. This is a fun word referring to a genie’s curse that turns someone into a nasty pile of goo until either they run out of time and remain goo forever, or the curse is lifted and they get to return to normal.
Violet is distraught at having another friend goo-ed, and Blake and her family fear that whoever is doing it is after Violet specifically. However, despite her concerns, she is also willing to listen to Blake when he advocates that she needs to stay quiet about things and let the magical authorities handle it. Part of the reason she is willing to do so is that she has to return to her ‘normal’ life and run her crystals shop, The Full Moon. At the shop one of her employees, Josie, is a witch but the other, Syd, is not. Josie has had plenty of experience balancing living in the two worlds, but Violet is having problems feeling like she is lying to Syd by not telling her what she is. While this conflict continues for her, it does take a bit of a back seat to some exciting news for her store. The Full Moon has won a booth at the Spring Equinox Fair through a lottery. This will give her store exposure and a big boost financially, and it will allow her to meet a personal hero, and ethical crystal mining advocate, Horatio Hale.
At the fair, she discovers Horatio is just as charming and winning as she had always hoped. As she starts to talk to other vendors, however, including one who was excluded from his usual spot in the fair, and one of her own crystal suppliers, both of whom have not some not so favorable things to say about Mr. Hale. Despite this, she is determined to speak to him about what she has heard before changing her opinion. He gives her the perfect opportunity for her to speak to him by offering to meet with her early in the morning to look at his crystal stock…Unfortunately getting crystals or answers is difficult to do when she shows up late to the meeting and finds Mr. Hale dead.
With so many people dropping around her, and the possible connection between her genieing cases and Mr. Hale’s murder, Violet now refuses to just sit passively by. She demands to be a part of the investigation Blake is working on, and is given the part of looking into Mr. Hale’s murder to try and figure out if there is any connection at all to the genieing cases. She takes the task on with gusto, using her connections with fellow vendors and some police officers to get as much information as she can on Mr. Hale’s death. She proves to be a much more capable sleuth than she or anyone else expected, and manages to figure out more mysteries than she set out to, bringing several corrupt individuals to justice. Violet’s journey of self-discovery and determination to find her place in both her worlds will draw readers in, even if they haven’t read the previous books in the series. I would suggest starting at the beginning of this series simply because it would give them a good understanding of the magical world and rules that Violet is trying to navigate. However, if anyone choses to start with Witch Way Out, they will still be able to put together most of the terms and roles that Violet is faced with in the world of witches as well as be able to enjoy it. – Carla Schantz
****************
Carla Schantz is a Courthouse Clerk Supervisor and has a bachelor’s degree in English as well as a master’s in legal studies. Books have been a passion of hers since she was young, and she is a firm believer in the purse book so that she is never without a book at any time.