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Witches' Bane: 05/02/17

Witches' Bane by Susan Wittig Albert

Witches' Bane by Susan Wittig Albert is the second in the China Bayles series. China and her neighbors are under attack as a bible thumper has started a protest outside their row of shops. He's accusing them of witchcraft and Satanism.

Then in the middle of all of this, one of China's friends ends up murdered, killed with a ceremonial knife. Now it looks for certain that someone is practicing the dark arts.

I never exactly got into this story. First, I found the whole evangelist character too comedic to be taking seriously. I kept picturing him as a first season Gideon Gleeful from Gravity Falls (before Gideon's true evil nature was revealed).

Gideon Gleeful singing Widdle Ol Me

The murderer was also a bit obvious. You know that character who is bound to betray everyone. That's how obvious this character is. The motive behind the murder took a little more figuring out, but not enough for me to truly enjoy this book.

I think my main problem with this series is one of a generation gap. The book is very dated and very much aimed at a Baby Boomer readership. In this regard, The China Bayles series is best suited for fans of the ABC Mysteries by Sue Grafton.

Three stars

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