Hearth Fire – Shawn McGuire – Bookshine And Readbows

*I received a free copy of this book, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

Blurb: “What if they’re using candles as a sort of calling card? Or to do a pre-fire ritual. This is a community of witches after all.”

As Whispering Pines’ busiest tourist season ever draws to a close, Reeva Long, Ruby McLaughlin, and the other villagers are ready for things to quiet down.

Instead, a break-in and a small fire set near Hearth & Cauldron puts everyone on edge. The only clue, a melted candle stub, gives the amateur sleuths little to work with.

Soon other fires flare up, threatening the entire village, so Deputy Jayne O’Shea takes charge of the investigation. Can Jayne, with Reeva’s and Ruby’s help, catch the firestarter before someone gets hurt or worse?

If you like your witchy mysteries on the cozy side with plenty of quirky characters, and a dash of paranormal, you’ll love the Hearth & Cauldron Mysteries series.

Reeva and Ruby return to investigate a series of fires and flyers that appear to be linked to the trouble-making, rebellion-rousing ‘Gators’ – a group of villagers unhappy with the direction the village has been taking since Jane (of Whispering Pines series fame) showed up. And speaking of Jayne, her and Meeka actually get a bit more involved in this case, along with Martin, Josef and Keiko… the usual crew!

I suppose you could technically read this as a standalone book, but I can’t think of any good reasons why you would want to when Books 1-3, and the preceding thirteen aforementioned Whispering Pines books, have all been so great and set up a glorious backdrop of small community life, mysterious family secrets, Wiccan woo-woo and rich, believable character development.

There is a recurring and underlying theme throughout this book about family relationships and contact with distant family, as both Ruby and Reeva get special visitors and Flavia’s fate is revisited with the village leaders wondering whether they made the right decisions in the past and trying to tackle the underlying problems alongside the surface disruption.

I gladly fell back into the warm embrace of this latest Hearth and Cauldron instalment and the company of the Whispering Pines villagers and cannot wait to see where Shawn McGuire takes them all next.

If you love your cosy mystery with Wiccan vibes and a wonderfully warm, friendly feel then you are missing out on a treat if you don’t cuddle up with Hearth Fire (and its predecessors) as the Samhain nights draw in!

The F.F. is concerned about the direction Whispering Pines is taking. Our mission is to restore our home to the peaceful refuge it was originally.

“What does F.F. stand for?” I wondered.
“A specific f-word comes to mind, but I won’t say it out loud.”
– Shawn McGuire, Hearth Fire