Mage, Ella, gets hired to run security at an abandoned casino over Christmas, but when she discovers cloaked figures intent on spell casting, she knows there’s more to the job than meets the eye.
I love Haverstock’s writing style. It’s fun, imaginative and engaging. This is part of her Casino Witch Mysteries series, and though I haven’t read any of the books, I enjoyed the character of Ella, her familiar, Patagonia, and her magical mentor, Bear (not an actual bear). The magic system also sounded very interesting, although it’s only touched on in this short story.
The plot is fun and imaginative. All the pieces are there and it is resolved well. My only quibble would be that it’s not a Christmas story, despite the title. It’s set at Christmas, and there’s mention of a Christmas tree, but otherwise it could have been any time of year. I’m not really complaining though, because I’m not sure how mages and Christmas go together.
I award The Case of the Criminal Christmas…
The Case of the Criminal Christmas is available for 99c ebook on Amazon.
Click here to read my review of Nikki Haverstock’s science fiction murder mystery, Space Murder.
Iseult Murphy 
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