Jill Gooder is a P.I. having taken over her adoptive father’s business and currently down on her luck. Taking on a case to investigate a murder, she is even more surprised to be contacted by her dying mother whose final words are to call Jill a witch. While trying to understand why her mother was so cruel, so continues her investigation and butting heads with the local police investigation, when her Aunt Lucy makes contact telling her about the rest of the family that Jill never knew she had. It seems that she is a witch of the magical variety, which is further complicated when a book of spells is delivered to her. Shockingly for Jill, she finds she can cast magic although not quite in the way she is expecting. With her new abilities, all Jill needs to do is find out who, or perhaps what, her family really is and the minor inconvenience of finding a killer.

This is a well-written, thoroughly enjoyable, story that kept me page-turning from start to end. While this is a Witch P.I. mystery, it does lean more on the supernatural elements than the investigation, but as the first story in the series it does an excellent job of setting up the world to be expanded and enjoyed in later books. Both sides of this tale are intriguing and intertwine cleverly so each of them progress together. I enjoyed following Jill’s discovery of her family and her heritage, from her outright disbelief, through to a grudging acceptance and then realisation of just how useful her new powers might be. The murder mystery is suitably oblique and trying to find the clues and solve it was part of the fun of reading along. The story is written from Jill’s point of view and her thoughts and actions are fun to follow especially as what she is thinking and saying is so often at odds. Her interactions and thoughts. The humorous tone through the book also helps to keep the pace of the book flowing

For once I was reading a paperback copy. The formatting and layout was as good as you could expect, with some brief author’s notes at the back.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read, and if you enjoy this one, there are several more to pick up.