Review--Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells

After the grisly murder of a dirty magic coven leader, Kate Prospero and The Magical Enforcement Agency team up with the local police to find the killer. But as the infighting between covens turns ugly, an all-out war brews in the slums of Babylon.

When a tenacious reporter sticks her nose in both the investigation and Prospero's past in the covens, old ghosts resurface. The team will have to use all the weapons in their arsenal to stop the coven war and find the killer before the case brings down all their careers - and their lives.

Deadly Spells is the third novel in the Prospero's War series that started with Dirty Magic and Cursed Moon! 

 

Jaye Wells’ Deadly Spells was one wicked conclusion to her Prospero’s War trilogy! It was yet another exciting and action packed Urban Fantasy read that just makes me love the genre even more! Granted, in this series the paranormal elements are rather light, it’s still a kickass kind of read!

A few months have gone by since the events of the last book, and surprise, surprise, John Volos is now mayor. The man who continues to infuriate Kate on several levels continues to haunt her life no matter how many times she tries to be rid of him. This time the case that winds up at the MEA’s feet hits close to home for more than just Kate. When she first finds out that a coven leader she once knew when she was in the coven crowd, was murdered, things suddenly get more real for her.

The case spirals out into larger portions when lots of things from the past coming biting back. Her mother’s death comes up again, after being briefly mentioned and Kate will discover that there was more to her mother’s death than she initially thought. A reporter is hounding her for a good story based on her background. And then the investigation of the coven leader’s murder brings her closer to home than she would like. So naturally, things are chaotic and messed up all around!

I really like how Kate has to question her own morals several times throughout this book. The challenges she faces are hardly what you can call easy ones. And over the course of the trilogy, we’ve watched her change and grow. Sometimes, she has to accept her own dark past as being a part of her rather than trying to escape it all the time. And when I say dark, I mean by her own choices rather than having bad things happen to her for no reason. So she wasn’t completely innocent in the grand scheme of things, a fact she will always agree with in some sense!

The characters to this series have been incredible! I love how real they are. I mean, which things get intense, their reactions are spot on. I love when characters react realistically as well. I love when they have internal problems and dilemmas that make them act in a way we can relate to. Their pasts affect who they are, and yeah, they’re not perfect and remain a bit damaged. They try to do good and be good, but our pasts do make us who we are in the present. Granted, sometimes you want them just to just do whatever exciting thing is coming at them instead of walking away, but you gotta admit, the courage it takes for said characters to walk away! So yeah, basically what I’m getting at is that these characters are incredibly real and I adore them for that!

The tension in this one is just as thick and intense as it predecessor had been! There’s sooo much going on and while there’s not a clear cut deadline looming in the near distance, there’s still plenty of danger to appear if the good guys don’t save the day.

Questions of morals and what’s good and right come up in this one as well. I thought it was another nice added touch, because sometimes, it’s hard to see what is the right way or the wrong way. Note, sometimes! Lol. But Jaye really did a good job of showing us what I mean by this. I enjoyed that aspect, because it felt real. Scary, but real.

It’s not all just crime fighting and solving as well. Kate deals with more real life issues such as dating and raising her teenage brother as he starts to become a little more troublesome. I got to give her props for keeping her cool at the worst of time, when it came to her brother. And yes, there’s a bit more romance happening in this one, but still in that very subtle way of Jaye’s! And when I saw that we basically had three guys going after Kate, I admit to being a bit scared over that love shaped mess she had walked into. There were times that it was very interesting though, when the romantic times took the occasional page. For again, I will say that this romance once again takes place in the background and rarely gets attention, but again, the tension is always there!

Overall, Deadly Spells was an exciting read that will have you enthralled from the getgo! It’s a different kind of read, mind you. Again, the paranormal elements aren’t as strong, but are still clearly there! The ending to this trilogy was spot on, it gives you enough of a conclusion to know that the story is done, but leaves you knowing that these characters are far from done living their lives! It’s a fun kind of read that will sure to keep you entertained from start to finish!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars