Good afternoon! I’m Lydie Charles, and this is my business partner and fellow Hedge Witch, Vanessa Deerborne. Together, we own and operate Lavender Fields—a magic, herb, and potion shop; as well as Enchanted Affairs—the event planning arm of our business. Say hello, Vanessa.

(Vanessa waves…)
Hello.

We were just so pleased when Dru reached out and asked us to stop by and introduce ourselves—

(Before Lydie can continue, a light meow has the girls looking down at the beautiful Russian Blue feline at their feet. Lydie picks up the cat…)
Oh, dear. I’m sorry, sweetheart. Yes, you’re absolutely right, it was terribly rude of me not to include you. Everyone, this is Circe, a very important member of our Lavender Fields team.

Anyway, you may be wondering what a Hedge Witch is, so let us clear up a few misconceptions. We don’t cast spells, wear pointy hats, or ride a broom—at least, Vanessa and I don’t—but I say, to each his own. We practice nature-based magic. We use plants, herbs, and crystals for healing, protection, and to promote physical and spiritual health.

I come from a long line of Hedge Witches and have a few inherent gifts like prophetic dreams, conversing with the dead, and the ability to tell you what the weather will do right down to the minute. Vanessa, here, doesn’t come from a magical family but had the calling, and she’s quite adept with her runes and scrying pool.

(Vanessa nods and takes Circe from Lydie…)
Yes, I had the calling, much to my family’s chagrin. Unlike Lydie’s family, mine all give me grief about my lifestyle, including my cousin, Detective Nick Sutton—for whom Lydie has the hots—but I really had no choice. It’s who I am.

(Lydie frowns…)
I do not have the hots for Nick. And besides, he’s apologized for the one time he called our lifestyle ‘Witchy Hoo-Doo’. Anyway, these fine folks don’t want to hear that nonsense. They want to hear about our latest Enchanted Affairs event—the Seal Cove Garden Society’s annual garden party.

(Vanessa makes a face…)
There was definitely trouble brewing there. I’d seen the warnings in my runes and divination pool. Lydie, you’d had a couple of scary dreams about it as well.

Yes, Vanessa, but neither of us knew exactly what to expect, other than the fact that death was involved, and that it was centered around the Garden Society. We tried to keep an eye out for trouble but we never saw that first death coming.

(Vanessa sighs…)
Or that it would be murder, and that my own cousin would be in charge of the investigation and consider us suspects.

Don’t be ridiculous, Vanessa. Nick was just doing his job. He has to be thorough. Plus, he can’t play favorites where murder is concerned.

Whatever. You can call it thorough, but I call it obsessive. And you know how he gets with his investigations.

(Lydie nods…)
You’re right there. We’ll need to be very careful and quietly follow any clues we find in the warnings we get, then look for a way to let Nick know what we discover without getting chewed out for meddling with his investigation.

(Vanessa snickers…)
Yeah, good luck with that. That man has the nose of a bloodhound. He’ll sniff it out.

Maybe so, but we’ve got to try.

(Lydie smiles…)
Anyway, we do hope that you will all come out to Lavender Fields soon. We’ll take a stroll through the gardens and have a calming cup of tea on the veranda. We promise we won’t even mention murder.

Monkshood, Tea, & Murder, An Enchanted Affairs Mystery Book #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: November 2023
Format: Digital
Purchase Link

Fellow witches Lydie Charles and Vanessa Deerborne strive to bring joy to their community with the events they plan and cater. The Seal Cove Garden Society’s annual garden party is next up on the agenda, but Lydie has been having some disturbing visons with the Society playing a starring role. Something dark is afoot, and the women know it’s going to take more than a simple spell to head off what’s coming when Society members start dropping like rose petals.

Detective Nick Sutton is baffled by his cousin Vanessa and her business partner Lydie with their magic and potions, and he doesn’t take kindly to them poking around in his investigations. But when Lydie’s strange visions turn out to be prophetic, he’s going to need an extra helping of magic to keep the women safe and solve the case before someone else dies.

About the author
A native of Oregon, Joni Sauer-Folger spent twenty-two years with an airline traveling and moving around the country before settling down near the beautiful Pacific Ocean with her very spoiled cats. She writes Fantasy and Paranormal Romance under the name J.G. Sauer, and Cozy Mysteries under Joni Folger. When she’s not spending quality time with the characters she creates, she enjoys gardening, crafting, and working in local theater.