A review by dtaylorbooks
Bells, Spells, and Murders by Carol J. Perry

Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

Where did I stop? 30% in

Why? There was a lot of inane detail and superfluous information that I was just getting bored. It very much reads like there wasn’t enough plot to fill the book so we’re lighting every single cigarette the character has in order to fill space. Adding into that, there was a lot of repetition, both of character information and actions. Like a character would put her boots, coat, purse, scarf, and gloves down and a few paragraphs later she would pick up her boots, coat, purse, scarf, and gloves. It slowed the plot down to a crawl. Also, I wasn’t liking the main character. She’s a reporter so being inside her head was kind of ick. Just a very intrusive, vulture-like mentality that I wasn’t liking. Plus she’s kind of on the shallow side (we must mention the absolutely ridiculous Corvette she drives every time she drives it, but it’s okay because she recognizes it’s ridiculous, especially in a New England winter, and the designer shoes and purses she has, every time they come into the picture) and I wasn’t liking that piece either. There just wasn’t a lot going on for me to like here. I wanted to like it. Christmas in Salem is beautiful and magical. But this book was neither of those things. It wasn’t even interesting.