Ladies Courting Trouble

Starred review from March 1, 2006
When Cass Shipton, a Wiccan, is invited to speak to a neighborhood church's Ladies' League, she has no idea that -hemlock-laced brownies are on the menu. Not everyone survives the murder attempt, and soon Cass, owner of Earthlore Herbal Preparations and Cruelty-Free Cosmetics, and her brave Wiccan cohorts--wise woman-librarian Fiona Ritchie, doll designer Deidre Ryan, wealthy animal advocate Heather Devlin, and television chef Phillipa Stern--are on the case. The good reverend, heir to a fortune, might be the target, and humor and suspense are skillfully blended as the Wiccans teach the minister's wife some tricks of their trade to protect her and her husband from evil. A selection of Riccio's wonderful recurring characters add to the fun, including Freddie, the young telekinetic computer whiz; Tip, a Native American teenager and expert tracker; Cass' Greek husband, Joe, a militant Greenpeace activist; and Scruffy, the sassy, telepathic pooch. This is the fourth in Riccio's delightful series about a crime-solving coven founded by the local branch librarian, following " The Divine Circle of Ladies Making Mischief" (2005). A fifth cozy is on the way. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)