I really enjoyed this mix of mystery, family drama, and love story with a bit of “magick” thrown in.
The Moon Girls are taught from a young age that their singular goal in life is to have a daughter — specifically without a husband — and to raise her to follow in the Moon legacy of strength and magick. Elzibeth (Lizzy) Moon wants nothing to do with that life, and leaves for New York, not planning on returning. However, when her grandmother, Althea Moon, dies and bequeaths her Moon Girl Farm, she plans on a short trip back to collect some personal mementos and put the farm on the market. Instead, it stirs up old resentments regarding how the town treated her family — and especially her grandmother — after two teenage girls were murdered eight years earlier. When Lizzy starts to ask too many questions, bad things begin to happen.
I really like the premise of the story. It’s not necessarily original — we’ve all read stories about small town fear of strong women living alone and accusing them of causing problems with their witchcraft — but it develops into an enjoyable story with women who actually have individual, unique “magick” powers.
While I thought the Andrew-Lizzy will-they-won’t-they storyline was sweet, I liked the relationship between the women — Lizzy, her long missing mother, and Evvie, her grandmother’s friend and roommate — even more, and that was the big draw for me to want to keep reading.
The mystery part was fine, but all signs pointed right where they should have. And the police-chief-wanting-to-be-mayor part was fine, but maybe not the most believable as to why the murders weren’t investigated more when they actually happened, which required Lizzy to come back and try to solve the crime. But, honestly, the story was enjoyable anyway, and I hope to explore more of this author’s books in the future.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.