Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead

I obviously can't resist a fun title. It's always such a rush when the book shows as much creativity as the title...and this one didn't disappoint me! After a somewhat slow start, the downhill ride to the final page was full of funny one-liners, eye-rolling situations and enough tense moments and unanswered questions to keep me turning the pages (and, yes, there were quite a few editing errors too but I still kept flipping those pages). Author Christine Miller definitely is a name of which to make note if you're into paranormal romance/cozy mysteries with a side order of humor.

Amazon describes the book this way: A little magic can go a long way -- to really screwing up a girl's life!

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Mara is having the worst month of her life. At least, that's what her cards tell her and they've never been wrong. She's evicted from her apartment, loses her job and is banned from Beverly Hills. So when the tarot cards predict her imminent demise, she uses a little magic to make her world right.

Suddenly, an aunt she's never met dies, leaving Mara as her sole heir. But when Mara moves into her inherited home, she discovers Aunt Tillie never moved out. She's still one pissed-off old lady, even post-mortem, and she blames Mara's magical meddling for her death.

When Mara accidentally releases a demon and awakens the spirit of the most powerful witch in history, Tillie's ready to kill her -- literally. It's the only way she can think of to save the girl from herself. The witch and the demon, however, have other plans for Mara's body!

I think perhaps the synopsis should include the fact that the house that Mara inherited is truly a haunted cottage...by more than just Aunt Tillie's ghost. Possibly mentioning Mara's best friend, the flamboyantly flaming Gus (also a witch) could have added a little zest to the description. Of course, if you add all that you shouldn't leave out Lord Grundleshanks the poison toad or ... well, maybe you'd just better read the book.

NOTE: Personally, I find the religion of Wicca to be very interesting and intriguing although, sadly, very misunderstood by our society. This book did make the very valid point that the Wiccan faith is one of peace and love and tolerance. Not one of black magic and evil. It also allowed for a couple of quotable quotes about tolerance: "You'd think that church of his would teach him tolerance. Whatever happened to love thy neighbor?" (Kindle location 3851) and "Did you miss the Crusades? The Inquisition? Since when has any fundamentalist religion taught religious tolerance?" (Kindle location 3853) It is my opinion that our world today needs a good dose of tolerance. Failing that, maybe everyone should just read about Aunt Tillie and relax!