No Chance in Spell (Moonglow Hollow Mysteries Book 2)(Paranormal Women's Midlife Fiction)

No Chance in Spell Moonglow Hollow Mysteries #2 Maddie Smith Miller Laurealinde Publishing LLC Copyright © 2023 by Maddie Smith Miller All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Sign up to receive updates on new releases: https://tinyurl.com/maddiesmarvelousmagicians Contents . Chapter 1. Chapter 1 2. Chapter 2 3. Chapter 3 4. Chapter 4 5. Chapter 5 6. Chapter 6 7. Chapter 7 8. Chapter 8 9. Chapter 9 10. Chapter 10 11. Chapter 11 12. Chapter 12 13. Chapter 13 14. Chapter 14 15. Chapter 15 16. Chapter 16 17. Chapter 17 18. Chapter 18 19. Chapter 19 20. Chapter 20 About Author Welcome to Moonglow Hollow, where magic and mystery go hand in hand… An ordinary day. An ordinary errand. A decidedly not ordinary dead body in a manure pile. Trixie Meadows just wants to get her bearings after ten years away from Moonglow Hollow, but the death of a local business owner sets her life spinning. She’s desperate to solve the decade-old murder of her mother, but Sheriff Dex Greenlee can’t prioritize a cold case over an active investigation. But getting to the bottom of this crime is easier said than done. The victim had no shortage of enemies, and many would rather celebrate the killer than capture them. With a town festival on the line, Trixie’s meddling nan trying to manage her life, and Dex’s older brother Greyson convinced she’s back only to break up her ex’s marriage, there are no shortage of distractions. With the help of her familiar, Sterling, Trixie must solve the murder and save the day. But turning over the wrong leaf could lead to disaster. And this time, the killer knows exactly where to bury a body. Chapter 1 I couldn’t believe I let Aunt Candy rope me into this. When I decided to move back to Moonglow Hollow two weeks ago, I swore I wouldn’t let myself get pulled into old habits. I had ten years of experiences away from this magical, tourist-attracting island. I was twenty-eight years old now, and I couldn’t behave as if I were eighteen-year-old Trixie Meadows. Except without a firm plan for what to do with my life now that I was here, I was feeling more like my teenage self by the day. “Ugh, how much further?” groaned Sterling from his spot in the basket behind my banana seat. Usually, Sterling Overton-Collingsworth—a cat with long, silky gray fur who claimed he was really a dragon—rode on my shoulder everywhere we went. The exception was when we were on a bike. “We’re almost there,” replied my cousin Cressida Crowe soothingly from the front of the tandem bike, not taking her eyes off the road ahead. Since it was barely seven in the morning, tourists weren’t yet out in force, but some enjoyed morning rides through town. And depending on which enchanted carriage they selected, our errand could end up in a collision with one of the more unruly spelled vehicles if we weren’t careful. If the early morning humidity bothered my cousin, she showed no sign. The light sheen of sweat on her sun-browned arms made her skin look dewy and radiant. The glimpses of my reflection in the windows of the storefronts we passed told a different story for me. My auburn hair, in rebellion against the moisture in the air, puffed out from its ponytail prison, making it look like the mane of some mythical beast. And despite my diligent application of sunscreen, my usually light fawn skin had reddened at the shoulders, my forehead, the bridge of my nose, and the upper half of my cheeks. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten a sunburn. For the last several years, my work as an antiques authenticator kept me out of the elements. But the elements were everywhere on the island, and I’d be spending plenty of time in them today. “I still don’t understand how we got stuck with this job,” I grumbled. “We’re not even on the beautification committee. Shouldn’t one of the actual members be here at the break of dawn to haul all the plants down to Chloris Park?” “This is hardly the break of dawn,” Sterling called. “The sun rose nearly an hour ago.” “Close enough,” I muttered. “I think the whole reason my mom recruited us was so we could be the ones to bring the flowers,” Cress said. “Then I think we should stick around for the unloading and then suddenly have somewhere very pressing to be,” I said. Sterling gasped. “You would lie to your own aunt? I can’t be a party to such treachery.” I snorted. “There’s a lunch special from Talon and Wing in it for you if you don’t blab.” He was quiet for several seconds. “I agree with your terms.” Cress cackled her delight as she sped past Spa Enchantments. When I was a teen, my best friend Junie and I used to mock the tourists—and locals—who spent money to have strangers rub their backs. I couldn’t imagine anything more relaxing than when my then-boyfriend Dex would walk up behind me and rub my shoulders when I was feeling tense. Except now Dex was married to Junie. And Junie wanted nothing to do with me. I shook off the creeping sadness that always accompanied thoughts of my former best friend as Cress turned the bike up the narrow sidewalk that led the way behind Hocus Crocus, Moonglow Hollow’s one-stop-shop for magical plants. It was a hot spot for tourists, who couldn’t buy anything beyond basic herbs back home among the nonvoyant community. But natives frequented this place, too—either for shrubs or ground cover to ward off mischievous magical creatures or for specialty flora to use in finicky spells. “According to my mom, Emilio should already have the trailer loaded,” Cress said as she guided the tandem bike between the building