Magical empath Vic Rowan isn’t upset to hear that her much-hated mother has died. But once she returns to the small town of her youth, she and her siblings soon realize their mother’s secrets may not stay buried for long. Tailed by a string of Vic’s old flames, the trio begin to unearth the truth – about their mother’s death, their father’s, and the sinister forces still at work.

Byrd Nash’s A SPELL OF ROWANS is plain, tasty fare, borrowing effectively from recognizable tropes. It’s a story about an adult returning to their childhood hometown, seeing all the same people they went to high school with; it’s a small-town murder mystery where the antagonists are not merely individuals, but families with feuds and generational grudges; it’s a thriller spiced up with a hint of magic. The blend is never too unusual, nicely balancing familiarity and comfort with surprise and delight, all built on clear, legible prose. Although its magical, witchy subject matter gives it an essentially autumnal feel, it makes good summer reading: yes, there’s some murder and some trauma, but the story clips along and never lingers long enough to drag down the tone, or the reader.  That said, the story can almost go by too quickly to really hit home. The characters all fit and play their roles well, but they also struggle to function as more than tropes, or to leave an emotional impact on the reader. Protagonist Vic has interesting attributes – she’s an art restorer who can read and manipulate people’s emotions – but she still essentially functions as “hotheaded younger sibling” mixed with “girl who still has unresolved tension with her ex”, making her accessible and relatable, but not necessarily memorable. The secondary characters suffer far worse. The overall magical-murderous plot hangs together, but by the time the final antagonist is revealed, the reader is at a loss for their motivations or intentions; without enough characterization leading up to the reveal, it becomes mere information, rather than an emotional climax. Nonetheless, A SPELL OF ROWANS is fast-paced, entertaining, and easy to read, and will scratch the itch for a murder mystery with just a dash of magic.

With well-balanced structure, smooth pacing, and clean prose, A SPELL OF ROWANS needs only more grounding character work to successfully deliver its story.

~Dan Accardi for IndieReader