Bait And Witch
Josie Way loved working among the Library of Congress’s leather-scented stacks until she uncovered corruption and made herself a target. As Wilfred, Oregon’s new librarian, Josie can stay undercover until the case goes to court. But life in this little town isn’t as subdued as she expected. The library, housed in a Victorian mansion, is slated to be bulldozed. Still digesting the news that her safe haven is about to become scrap lumber, Josie discovers a body in the woods.
Almost as shocking, Josie learns that she’s descended from a long line of witches, and her powers have suddenly sprung to life. With help from a spoiled alley cat who just may be her familiar, Josie’s thumbing through a catalog of suspects, hoping she can conjure a way to save her library and her life.
Series: Witch Way Librarian Cozy Mysteries – Book #1
Author: Angela M. Sanders
Genre/Catagory: Cozy – Library/Witch
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 336
Rating: 
Bait And Witch is the first book in a new series. I found it highly entertaining and immensely fun. I am always a fan of witch or book-related cozies, and this book has both. Josie is a witch with a unique magical ability, she just didn’t know it until she found herself hiding out in a library in Oregon, and the books started talking to her. Unfortunately, she finds out that the library may not be around for long as there are plans to bulldoze it. But with the news, a body turns up, and before she knows it, she is looking for a new place to hide, because somebody may want her dead. The murder of an unknown woman comes on the heels of Josie arriving in town. After hearing a backroom deal being made by a politician and a contractor, Josie, along with a co-worker who goes missing, is in danger. She takes the job in Oregon to spend a few quiet weeks, hoping that no one will be able to track her to the town.
Josie is a good character with issues. She wasn’t aware that she had magical abilities, but now that she does, she is frightened and excited at the same time. Unfortunately, there is a small issue I had with this book. When Josie finally tells her mother about knowing she is a witch, all they seem to do is try to find a way to suppress her magic instead of learning to use it. This makes it hard to like Josie’s mother and makes Josie a little less likable. Josie’s sister, on the other hand, is a wonderful character. The location of a small town in Oregon is nice, but I would like to have had more description of the town and so forth. Other characters that join Josie throughout the book are interesting and should make future books action-packed and filled with intrigue.
There aren’t many suspects, but those that there are, seem to have a good motive and little in the way of alibis. The story is short on evidence, and what there is can be challenging to understand. However, after a while, the reader will begin to piece the story together and see how the evidence works. I could have used a bit more magical influence throughout the book, and I hope that we will get to find out what Josie’s grandmother’s lessons entail. I’d like to hear more about the library as well. Overall, Bait And Witch is an excellent start for a new series, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
More cozies in the witch/magical or library category readers may enjoy are Amy Boyles’ charmingly southern “Sweet Tea Witch Mystery” or Delia James’ familiar-based series “A Witch’s Cat Mystery”.
About the Author:
Angela grew up in rural Northern California, building forts in the woods where she devoured Nancy Drew mysteries. She earned degrees in economics and public administration, and in graduate school, studied for six months in Paris, sparking a lifelong interest in French culture. After 11 years as a congressional investigator, Angela realized she was more fascinated by the stories at the edges of her investigations–the decrepit exercise equipment in the ladies’ room of a Czech oil company; the curious number of framed photographs of women on a nuclear weapons official’s desk; the stupendous speed by which a particular Agriculture undersecretary inhaled chili dogs–than by the policies she evaluated. She returned to the west coast to explore the world and her imagination through magazine stories and fiction.
Angela has two cats, one of whom is black, of course, a witch’s freckle in her left eye, and learned to read tarot cards from a pagan priestess. Angela lives in Portland, Oregon.
When she isn’t at her laptop, Angela is rummaging in thrift shops, lounging with a vintage detective novel, or pontificating about how to make the perfect martini.
Contact Angela: 
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