Red Tash brings her midlife magical protagonist back in Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli Murder as the calendar rolls over to October and the town is hosting its Falling Leaves Festival. As part of the festival, the local school has done a family tree project with all of the students doing DNA testing to determine their individual family backgrounds. Unfortunately, the local self proclaimed lothario ends up dead after a PTA meeting where the project was one of the topics of discussion. Due to the fact that the victim seemed to have been drenched in Patchouli oil, Salma is brought into the investigation and she, Miss Fitz, and Bethany once again join forces to find the killer.

With the variety of suspects, motives, secrets, and rd herrings that the author brings to her writing, the reader's attention is grabbed early in this story and held throughout. Adding another layer of intrigue to this book is Miss Fitz's continuing to explore her expanding awareness of the world of magic while she deals with the family dynamics of the challenges her oldest sons have faced during their development as well as the sudden discovery that her youngest son apparently has inherited some magical abilities of his own and the subsequent visit of her in-laws and their attempts to influence those developments. By bringing the various challenges that this family faces to the pages of this series, the author has created a novel way for her readers to obtain a greater understanding of the differences that each individual within a family structure may face which in turn may cause them to mature and grow at different rates. I feel that the way this author incorporates the physical, emotional and social challenges of the people within this community has the opportunity to shine a new awareness on how each individual brings something different to the table. I look forward to more installments of this series to see how Miss Fitz and her family and friends continue to grow and the various relationships change of the course of time.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Hawthorne Gallup Publishing and am leaving this review voluntarily.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Hawthorne Gallup Publishing/Red Tash for the eARC. I am voluntarily revieiwng this book. This is the 2nd in a series, and I have not read the first. I think maybe they need to be read in order. I was confused. One second at the marriage, the next thing they are in their 40's? This one was out ther to me. Maybe others would enjoy, but just not my thing. 3 stars

While this book was an enjoyable read I felt that it could have benefited from a little more focus in both the plot and the character development. I liked how each character was unique but I struggled to bond with each character because it was a lot to take in.. There were also several subplots that made it hard for me to stay interested and focused on the book. I wish that more focus had been on the mystery and on maybe having one major subplot versus several smaller ones.

this was such an interesting book! i am so thankful to netgalley for letting me read this one early! such an amazing plot and characters!! blew me away!!!

Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli Murder was a different type of cozy mystery, that unexpectedly, I found enjoyable on a completely different level.

Melissa Fitzpatrick aka Miss Fitz is a very busy woman to say the least. A blissfully, married woman, a mother of four and involved in just about everything in her cozy little town.

I found this story to be more of an every day life situation with a mystery in the background, then a full on mystery. Miss Fitz somehow balances many things day today and wants to do more on top of it. Being a mom is a full-time job and it’s own, and she adds on many part-time endeavors to her plate. Recently, discovering a touch of magic within her life she’s learning a whole new side of herself. She has children on the autism spectrum, and I love how the book shows how she deals and get support. I did like the mystery that was involved, but as I said, that was more happening in the background.

I felt Melissa was learning to deal with a new magical life. Discovering her child may possess those talents as well and nosy in-laws trying to step in and take over without consulting first. Read Tash intrigue me with this wonderful story.

I had previously read the first Miss Fitz book and had liked it well enough to want to give the second book a shot.

Like the first one, it was fine. But I don’t think I’ll continue the series.

Although I loved the cozy small town Fall 🍁setting, the story just lacked mystery for me. I found the plot to be dull and honestly I just didn’t care how it ended. This one was just not for me.

**Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review **

Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli Murder is the second book in this new series by Red Tash. It follows Miss Fitz a wife and mom with multiple jobs navigating her life with new magical powers, menopause and being on the spectrum. To say she has a lot on her plate is an understatement Oh, did i mention she can talk to animals too? . She gets dragged in a murder investigation when a slimy playboy is found dead and dosed in patchouli in her friends truck after a PTA meeting. The man was notorious for hitting on women even though he was married so made a few enemies and there's a lot of potential suspects.

Even though I haven't read book one I did get into the characters quickly and feel in love with the quaint setting of Nashville, Indiana. The book is set during an Autumn festival so it has a lot of cozy elements for the fall season. There is also a fun Sasquatch element to the story too. I enjoyed the book immensely and a looking forward to the next installment.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ — The cover of this book doesn't do it justice, unfortunately. 🤷🏻‍♀️

What a charming book this turned out to be. It worked well as a standalone. That said, I think reading the first book would be greatly beneficial for background information on these characters. The writing was great. The setting was "cozy". The plot was engaging and kept me guessing. The characters were likable. The only slight issue I had with it, was I felt it dragged a bit in the last 10ish%. Overall, though, this was an entertaining read and I look forward to getting my hands on the next book in this series. 👍🏻👍🏻

**ARC Via NetGalley**

The second book in the series finds Melissa Fitzpatrick trying to juggle multiple things whilst helping her friends during the busiest season in the town. How inconsiderate then for a murder to happen when she is flat out busy.
I love the characters, where mature women deal not just with mundane family matters but can also get it together and solve the murder.
The book is realistic with a touch of fantasy, enough to satisfy both types of reader, cozy mystery and fantasy mystery. There is humour mixed in with the drama, making this a pleasure to read.

I really enjoyed this small town magical story and I can't wait to see what Miss Fitz, Sin and the rest of the gang investigate next.

A cute, lighthearted story that is long on friendship and good vibes.

Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli summer, is a light read filled with friends and family and family and very good vibes. I liked Miss Fitz and her husband Sin for having a great relationship after a long term marriage at a young age, and I enjoyed how much fun the town seemed. The story is very cozy and perfect for people who like a warm-hearted read. I wasn’t too interested in the mystery, however. This is more a slice of life than a mystery, but it’s a nice place to visit in Southern Indiana. This was a 3.5 to me, but I rounded up to four.

This is a quirky paranormal cozy mystery with plenty of female friendship. I enjoyed the way the ladies supported each other. There's family angst that occurs for anyone who has ever been in a family. I am new to this author and had fun with this cast of characters.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Hawthorne Gallup Publishing and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


Spooky season is in full bloom and this cozy is jam packed with thrills, chills and all the action one can hope for.

I requested an e-arc of this book through Netgalley and I would like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for accepting me as one of it's early reviewers.

I sadly did not love this book but don't get discouraged yet because it might be for you, in this review I will tell you what I liked about it but also why it didn't quite do it for me.

We are following a middle aged woman who has recently discovered that she is a witch and she is navigating the paranomal side of her life while also solving a murder. This is the second book in a series and I have not read the first one so keep that in mind.

Now the elements I enjoyed were how cozy this book was, it felt akin to the show The Good Witch. It had a strong cozy, small town vibe that I love. It had very positive autism representation as well as the main character havig a chronic illness which is handled beautifully, I loved how supportive her husband was about that. It has some recepies in it as well which I thought was really fun (I'm a cozy mystery newbie but I think this is a common thing in the genre) and I might try some actually.

Now for what didn't do it for me; although the book is a cozy mystery, I felt the mistery part was lacking a bit. For me it was never overly exciting and I didn't feel very invested in the mystery plot. I would've liked to see it unfold a bit more slowly and excitingly, I didn't really predict what had happened but it was because I almost had no clues to go on. I also felt that the characters aside from the main characters fell a bit flat, there was a lot of them and not a lot of connection for the reader to latch on to. I also disliked some word choices, for example "yeeted" and "calm AF"... that kind of thing but this is truly just a personal preference and I'm sure most people don't mind it.

Sadly the negative list is a bit longer for me which is why my rating is on the lower side but I did however have a cosy time with the story and I did discover that I really want to read more cozy witchy stories. If you are considering reading this book and are looking for something light and fun I do reccomend that you give it a go! (You'll probably want to start with the first in the series though)

Princess Fuzzypants here: There are some books that hook you from the first page. There are some that take a bit longer and then there are some that have a slow build until all of a sudden you realize you are invested in the story. Miss Fitz was one the last variety. While there are plenty of paranormal characters in the book, the paranormal is almost secondary until much later when the in-laws arrive.

Missy and her best friends are all witches. They never realized that when they were growing up but now, once Missy has stumbled upon her powers, they work together to protect those they love. She is married to a man in whom the magical powers seem to have skipped but his parents are powerful and Missy realizes that some of her four children will carry the gene as well. The story opens when a rather reprehensible man who thinks he is catnip to all women is found dead in the trunk of a car in which Missy is a passenger. Missy is asked to help find the killer by law enforcement- a novel take on the usual cozy. She finds out that the victim has been a busy boy around town and there are lots of folks who may have wished him ill. But did one actually murder the man?

We do find out the culprit and the circumstances but the whole mystery things takes second place for me to the characters. I loved Coal, the familiar who steals every scene he is in. Several other characters, including Missy, are autistic but fall in vastly different places on the spectrum. The challenges and the solutions they must learn is fascinating and enriched the story for me. Also the family dynamic of parents and children was in the forefront and made the book all the more interesting.

I liked that it had layers. Four purrs and two paws up.

This is a true cosy mystery and murder with a bit of witchiness thrown in. I haven't read the first book in this series but I don't think it affected my reading of this one.

Miss Fitz is a great character, a mum, an animal lover and rescuer, a wife and a witch. And now there is a murder will she help solve the case? I won't tell!

This is a fun cosy read, entertaining and easy to read. It has everything you want from a cosy, it is cute, is in parts humourous and altogether a good light-hearted book to read.

I just finished reading Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli Murder and I LOVED it!

The overall story was captivating and entertaining. The well crafted characters made me feel as if I was right there alongside them in the story. Miss Fitz is by far my favorite character and I CAN’T to read more about her in the future. Great Job and I definitely recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading a “good” paranormal mystery.

When I requested this I hadn't read the first book in the series. but I will for sure be going back to it. I feel I needed a little more context on the characters and the town to properly enjoy this book.

It's a lot more "cosy" than it is "mystery", and I think I needed a little more of that to really enjoy this read.

I had a hard time getting into this book. The beginning is a bit hard to understand who is who and what they’re doing. I enjoyed the later half of the book and the characters are great. #MissFitzandtheHotPatchouliMurder #NetGalley