It is only when she begins working at Enchantments that Maggie senses she may possess some of these magical powers, something she knows if her conventional mother finds out will thrill her less then Maggie’s lack of offspring. Maggie is doing well under the tutelage of owner and new friend Felicity (Liss) Dow and is beginning to accept her unusual gifts.

A few weeks before Christmas, the local high school princess and her posse walk into Enchantments where the girl purchases a very expensive lamp for her mother. While there, Amanda baits and teases another classmate, Tara, who is in the back room looking through some of the Black Arts books. After Amanda leaves, Tara has disappeared, along with some of the books.

That night, Amanda is reported missing and the next day her body is found in her car. While Maggie has no interest in the investigation, she only met Amanda once, she is privy to high school gossip via her shop helper Evie, and learns of a sex site that is being run underneath the town’s more staid website. Maggie also knows she possess certain skills the police don’t, and knows, even under the scrutiny of handsome detective Tom Fielding (who’s still not as handsome as Magnum, P.I.), that she can bring a killer to justice with a little help from her special powers.

Maggie is an enjoyable character, but in this, her second book, still doesn’t seem to be entirely happy. She has expressed dissatisfaction about her small town, but seems content enough with her job, living arrangements and old car companion, Christine. Maggie is creating a circle of her own friends, separate from those of her family’s, including Liss, Evie and Tom. The mystery is well-paced, as layers of the town are slowly revealed. There are plenty of suspects and without Maggie’s special talents, a young girl’s killer might never have been brought to justice.

While the overall tone of the mystery is cozy, there are darker, underlying themes of high school students manipulating each other and an adult sex community belied by the brightly colored cover.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry