Cate Martin

Winter has come to the lost Norse village of Villmark, the wind and snow separating cozy house from cozy house like a knife breaks apart shortbread. And for the first time in her life, Ingrid Torfa lives alone. No mother, no grandmother, no roommate. Just a big, empty house and a cat who loves to disappear. Magical studies fill her every waking hour, and yet those hours stretch out in unbroken silence. Until a scream rents the night, drawing every neighbor out into the cold streets. A woman lies dead at the bottom of the well. It looks like an accident to the villagers, but to Ingrid it feels like a murder. Luckily, Ingrid knows just the friends to help her solve the mystery. Not even the bite of winter can stop them from uncovering the truth.

Winter has come to the lost Norse village of Villmark, the wind and snow separating cozy house from cozy house like a knife breaks apart shortbread. And for the first time in her life, Ingrid Torfa lives alone. No mother, no grandmother, no roommate. Just a big, empty house and a cat who loves to disappear. Magical studies fill her every waking hour, and yet those hours stretch out in unbroken silence. Until a scream rents the night, drawing every neighbor out into the cold streets. A woman lies dead at the bottom of the well. It looks like an accident to the villagers, but to Ingrid it feels like a murder. Luckily, Ingrid knows just the friends to help her solve the mystery. Not even the bite of winter can stop them from uncovering the truth.

Ingrid Torfa lives between two worlds. In her life on the shore of Lake Superior she mingles with fishermen and farmers, quiet folk who keep to themselves. But her other life on a hilltop overlooking the lake she lives among the descendants of Vikings. On top of all that, she trains day and night to master magic, to one day take her grandmother's place maintaining the spells that hide the Viking village from modern eyes. But life as a witch requires more than casting spells. As resident peacemaker and unofficial impartial judge, her grandmother arbitrates disputes. The residents of both worlds hold her in high regard. Then a long simmering property dispute between two farming families comes to full boil: a murder. Now Ingrid must find the real culprit before the feuding families decide to mete out their own justice. Her grandmother needs her. But what if she fails?

Ingrid Torfa lives between two worlds. In her life on the shore of Lake Superior she mingles with fishermen and farmers, quiet folk who keep to themselves. But her other life on a hilltop overlooking the lake she lives among the descendants of Vikings. On top of all that, she trains day and night to master magic, to one day take her grandmother's place maintaining the spells that hide the Viking village from modern eyes. But life as a witch requires more than casting spells. As resident peacemaker and unofficial impartial judge, her grandmother arbitrates disputes. The residents of both worlds hold her in high regard. Then a long simmering property dispute between two farming families comes to full boil: a murder. Now Ingrid must find the real culprit before the feuding families decide to mete out their own justice. Her grandmother needs her. But what if she fails?

Ingrid Torfa lives between two worlds. In her life on the shore of Lake Superior she mingles with fishermen and farmers, quiet folk who keep to themselves. But her other life on a hilltop overlooking the lake she lives among the descendants of Vikings. On top of all that, she trains day and night to master magic, to one day take her grandmother's place maintaining the spells that hide the Viking village from modern eyes. But life as a witch requires more than casting spells. As resident peacemaker and unofficial impartial judge, her grandmother arbitrates disputes. The residents of both worlds hold her in high regard. Then a long simmering property dispute between two farming families comes to full boil: a murder. Now Ingrid must find the real culprit before the feuding families decide to mete out their own justice. Her grandmother needs her. But what if she fails?

When her mother dies after a long illness, Ingrid Torfa must sell the family home to cover the medical bills. Her career as a book illustrator not yet exactly launched, Ingrid faces two options: live in her battered old Volkswagen, or go back to her mother's small town in northern Minnesota. The small town that still haunts her dreams more than a decade since she last visited it. Or rather, not the town but the grandmother. All of the drawings she fills notebooks with witches and the trolls that do their bidding? Not as whimsical in her nightmares as she sketches them in the bright light of day. If not for her beloved cat Mjolner, living in the Volkswagen just might tempt her. But the cat wants four walls and a door, so north she goes. And finds trouble in the form of a dead body before she even finds her grandmother's little town. How much can a town of stoic fishermen possibly be hiding? As Ingrid is about to find out, quite a lot.

When her mother dies after a long illness, Ingrid Torfa must sell the family home to cover the medical bills. Her career as a book illustrator not yet exactly launched, Ingrid faces two options: live in her battered old Volkswagen, or go back to her mother's small town in northern Minnesota. The small town that still haunts her dreams more than a decade since she last visited it. Or rather, not the town but the grandmother. All of the drawings she fills notebooks with witches and the trolls that do their bidding? Not as whimsical in her nightmares as she sketches them in the bright light of day. If not for her beloved cat Mjolner, living in the Volkswagen just might tempt her. But the cat wants four walls and a door, so north she goes. And finds trouble in the form of a dead body before she even finds her grandmother's little town. How much can a town of stoic fishermen possibly be hiding? As Ingrid is about to find out, quite a lot.

When her mother dies after a long illness, Ingrid Torfa must sell the family home to cover the medical bills. Her career as a book illustrator not yet exactly launched, Ingrid faces two options: live in her battered old Volkswagen, or go back to her mother's small town in northern Minnesota. The small town that still haunts her dreams more than a decade since she last visited it. Or rather, not the town but the grandmother. All of the drawings she fills notebooks with witches and the trolls that do their bidding? Not as whimsical in her nightmares as she sketches them in the bright light of day. If not for her beloved cat Mjolner, living in the Volkswagen just might tempt her. But the cat wants four walls and a door, so north she goes. And finds trouble in the form of a dead body before she even finds her grandmother's little town. How much can a town of stoic fishermen possibly be hiding? As Ingrid is about to find out, quite a lot.

A surprise ring at the doorbell on Valentine's Day confirms Amanda Clarke's suspicions. Her friend Sophie DuBois left someone behind when she came to Miss Zenobia Weekes' Charm School for Exceptional Young Ladies. But the happy reunion grinds to a confusing halt when he asks about Sophie's quest to find her mother. And Amanda remembers she too came in search of answers about her own mother. Brianna Collins as well. All of them forgetting their mothers the moment they showed up at the charm school? Someone, somehow, put a spell on them. But why? Unless they find the witch who stole their memories, they may never know.

When nothing and no one holds you to the present, why not celebrate the new year 91 years ago? So think Amanda Clarke and the rest of the Witches Three. They head back in time to ring in 1928, drinking bootleg champagne with the wealthiest members of St. Paul society, honest businessmen and gangsters and those who dwell where those categories overlap. But when a surprise wedding engagement announcement becomes an even more surprising murder of the bride-to-be, the Witches Three find themselves wrapped up in yet another mystery. Because even if it's not your time era, when the chief suspect is your close friend, you don't opt out. Or so says Amanda Clarke.

A surprise ring at the doorbell on Valentine's Day confirms Amanda Clarke's suspicions. Her friend Sophie DuBois left someone behind when she came to Miss Zenobia Weekes' Charm School for Exceptional Young Ladies. But the happy reunion grinds to a confusing halt when he asks about Sophie's quest to find her mother. And Amanda remembers she too came in search of answers about her own mother. Brianna Collins as well. All of them forgetting their mothers the moment they showed up at the charm school? Someone, somehow, put a spell on them. But why? Unless they find the witch who stole their memories, they may never know.

Amanda Clarke knows she's a witch. She unleashed unstoppable magic to save her friends and catch a murderer. But she only did it the one time. And now? Back to powerlessness. Her friends insist that all she needs is proper training. Sophie wakes her before dawn for meditation and workouts designed to channel magic. Brianna buries her under books, so many books. Amanda longs for a distraction. But when the woman who lives next door to Miss Zenobia Weekes' Charm School for Exceptional Young Ladies turns up dead, and the murder weapon dates back to Prohibition, she gets more of a distraction than she bargained for. But who in 1927 would want her neighbor dead in 2018?

Amanda Clarke possesses the rarest, most powerful form of magic: the ability to see and manipulate time itself. If only she knew how to use it. All she gets are vague impressions, little intuitions that compel her to act. When she pays a visit to her friend Nick's apartment, one of her witchy feelings is warning her about the apartment across the hall. The empty apartment. The apartment no one has gone in or out of in years. She promises Nick to follow the rules this time. But the feeling won't be ignored. She gathers the Witches Three and they magic their way inside. And find a body dressed for 1928 but still warm and only recently dead in 2018. Yet another case beyond the local police department, but perfect for the Witches Three.

Amanda Clarke knows she's a witch. She unleashed unstoppable magic to save her friends and catch a murderer. But she only did it the one time. And now? Back to powerlessness. Her friends insist that all she needs is proper training. Sophie wakes her before dawn for meditation and workouts designed to channel magic. Brianna buries her under books, so many books. Amanda longs for a distraction. But when the woman who lives next door to Miss Zenobia Weekes' Charm School for Exceptional Young Ladies turns up dead, and the murder weapon dates back to Prohibition, she gets more of a distraction than she bargained for. But who in 1927 would want her neighbor dead in 2018?

The Witches Three agreed to split up to better investigate their mother's pasts. Brianna lurks deep in the witchiest parts of Boston, researching in secret libraries and questioning covens that date back further than the English colonies. Sophie stalks mysterious wielders of magic through parts of the French Quarter of New Orleans that tourists never see. And Amanda, alone in Miss Zenobia Weekes' Charm School for Exceptional Young Ladies, breaks all the rules. She juggles her time between 2019, coordinating the investigation with the other two, and 1928, where Edward awaits her. She knows she can't go on living two lives forever. Always she expects the 1928 coven to ambush her. To her surprise, the attack comes in 2019, when her good friend Nick disappears. Not like a missing person, but like he never existed. His own grandfather doesn't recognize his name or photo. Investigating murders? Old hat for the Witches Three. But investigating a person who never existed? Could be tricky.

When nothing and no one holds you to the present, why not celebrate the new year 91 years ago? So think Amanda Clarke and the rest of the Witches Three. They head back in time to ring in 1928, drinking bootleg champagne with the wealthiest members of St. Paul society, honest businessmen and gangsters and those who dwell where those categories overlap. But when a surprise wedding engagement announcement becomes an even more surprising murder of the bride-to-be, the Witches Three find themselves wrapped up in yet another mystery. Because even if it's not your time era, when the chief suspect is your close friend, you don't opt out. Or so says Amanda Clarke.

Amanda Clarke possesses the rarest, most powerful form of magic: the ability to see and manipulate time itself. If only she knew how to use it. All she gets are vague impressions, little intuitions that compel her to act. When she pays a visit to her friend Nick's apartment, one of her witchy feelings is warning her about the apartment across the hall. The empty apartment. The apartment no one has gone in or out of in years. She promises Nick to follow the rules this time. But the feeling won't be ignored. She gathers the Witches Three and they magic their way inside. And find a body dressed for 1928 but still warm and only recently dead in 2018. Yet another case beyond the local police department, but perfect for the Witches Three." Third Time is a Charm", Book 3 in the Witches Three Cozy Mystery series. If you're a fan of Amanda M. Lee, N. M. Howell, or Amy Boyles, this m lange of magic and murder mystery is sure to charm you.