Review--Wicked Charm by Amber Hart

Nothing good comes from living in the Devil's swamp.

Willow Bell thinks moving to the Okefenokee area isn't half bad, but nothing prepares her for what awaits in the shadows of the bog.

Girls are showing up dead in the swamp. And she could be next.

Everyone warns Willow to stay away from Beau Cadwell—the bad boy at the top of their suspect list as the serial killer tormenting the small town.

But beneath his wicked, depthless eyes, there's something else that draws Willow to him.

When yet another girl he knew dies, though, Willow questions whether she can trust her instincts…or if they're leading to her own death.

I decided to take a break from my more pressing reads looming on me and picked up Amber Hart’s Wicked Charm! I remember wanting this one when I heard it was an eerie murder mystery taking place in the swamps of Georgia! I’m all for twisted murder mysteries and the setting for this one set a nice eerie tone, but yet, the book was far different from what I initially anticipated.

The easiest way to describe this book is simple. It’s a nice simple mystery. It’s not overly complex and I don’t mean to say that these are bad things. After reading so many different novels lately that build up complex worlds and rules and stories, it was kind of nice to have just a simple mystery in my hands.

The story begins as girl meets boy, the boy being Beau and a total playboy at that. He’s dated nearly every girl in school and has left every single one of them heartbroken, but Willow sees something in him that others might not and she’s not afraid of a challenge. Neither is Beau for that matter. This is where I began to worry for Willow, I mean, she’s knowingly going after the guy who’s dated all the girls and then dumped them. He’s a love em and leave em kind of guy, yet she’s willing to start something with this boy. I kind of wanted to shake her and ask if she was serious. Her new friend, Jorie, want to do the same.

Then the first murdered girl is found, died from strangulation. The kicker? She’s Beau’s most recent ex-girlfriend. All signs point to Beau being the killer, but Willow doesn’t think so. But who else could it be? There’s no one else in the swamps except for Willow and her family and Beau and his family. It doesn’t end with just one body, oh no. There’s a series of murdered girls being found, all of them Beau’s ex-girlfriends.

I’ll admit, for the longest time I could not figure out the whodunit. I started suspecting one person and then would move onto another. It just didn’t add up. I love when a mystery can do that! Sure, I love being able to spot the killer the moment he steps onto the page, but I also enjoy the drawn out investigation process. Even though I flip flop between suspects, I love when the big reveal comes along and just shocks the heck out of me! Granted, with this one, I did make a sound guess just a chapter or two before the reveal and I reveled in it! Lol! Of course, the motivation wasn’t what I expected it to be, but that’s also part of the fun. You never really know what the motivation might be until the killer gives their ramble of speech at the end. Lol.

The pacing to this one was a tad on the slow side. There’s a great portion in the beginning that sort of feels like “introduction” or merely the setup to the eventual murders. I think it was around fifty pages that the mystery started to come about, but then there were breaks in between the bodies, so you’re kind of floundering for a while wondering what is happening with the story. In the meantime, we watch Willow and Beau do the back and forth dance of being a couple or not.

The plus side to this story was that it was told in both Willow and Beau’s point of views. Each chapter was one of their perspectives and you always knew who was “talking.” It gave you better insight to both their minds and why Beau is the way he is.

Romance wise things were sweet. It’s a simple mystery with a simple love story attached. Though the beginnings of their flirting stage was a smidge annoying because I kept wondering why Willow was knowingly going after a player. I mean why set yourself up for something like that? But naturally, you know how things will end up with the two and that comes with its side of cheese. But that’s okay too, I like cheese! Lol.

All in all, Wicked Charm was a light mystery that was still quite fun! It kept me guessing up to the very end pretty much and the outcome was believable. I would definitely pick up another book from Amber, should the genre fit. She’s an author that a reader can easily get into.


Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars