Esme Addison: Enchanted Bay Mystery Series

It’s time to once again continue my long-running post series on Most Popular and Recommended Cozy Mystery Series, which, as the series name indicates, is all about the books that people have recommended the most over the years. This time, I’ll be highlighting a relatively short-lived series that I’ve still gotten a number of suggestions for, the Enchanted Bay Mystery Series by Esme Addison. As usual, I will be specifically discussing the first entry in the series, in this case A Spell For All.

A Spell For All is a rather new Cozy mystery, and as such it isn’t a big surprise that it highlights a number of the most modern trends in Cozies. Specifically, this is one of the most recent of the supernatural Cozies that I have added to the site, this one focusing on magical witchcraft elements.

Aleksandra (Alex) Daniels is returning to the small seaside town of Bellamy Bay, North Carolina. She hasn’t visited since the death of her mother twenty years ago, when her father mysteriously broke all contact with her aunt and cousins. However, when she gets an invitation to visit her relatives, she decides to take up the invitation, bringing along her German shepherd, Athena. This gives her a great opportunity to know her Aunt Lidia, as well as her cousins Minka and Kamila. Since she was also between jobs – her career as a risk-management specialist had hit some professional snags – she also takes some time to get to know her aunt and cousin’s herbal apothecary business, Botanika.

Naturally, this particular visit doesn’t just end up being an uneventful but emotional reunion. Shortly after Alex’s visit begins, a local is poisoned, and suspicion quickly falls upon Aunt Lidia, who had banned him from the store and argued with him earlier. Before long, it becomes evident that Aunt Lidia will need Alex’s help to avoid being blamed for the crime that her niece doesn’t believe she committed. Fortunately, the dead man had plenty of other people potentially looking to do him harm, such as his ex-wife and a questionable business partner.

Alex’s family is Polish, and there are plenty of indications and little touches like the kolaczki pastries that they eat and inclusion of occasional Polish words (with explanation given, of course) in their dialogue that give a lot of good atmosphere to help bring the family and their relationship with the town to life. Significant portions of the book are also dedicated to descriptions of various perfumes, teas, and herbal remedies that help really give a vibrant image of the shop and the products they sell. Magical elements also start to be sprinkled in, as the family is reputed to be magical healers – and naturally have long history with all the other prominent families of the small town.

Unfortunately, this is a short series, with only two entries so far, with this book coming out in 2020 and the sequel, A Hex For Danger, in 2021. I haven’t heard anything about this author in a while, so it might be that this series has already ended – which is quite unfortunate, considering how charming this particular entry is!

If you’d like to see other entries about some of the most recommended Cozy Mystery authors, be sure to check out the Most Popular and Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.