Costumes and Curses
(2026)(The second book in the Wicked Witches of Lavender Lake series)
A novel by Mara Webb
Jessica Sprigg is settling nicely into her new role as Lavender Lake’s resident book witch.
Then Halloween arrives.
With the magical veil at its thinnest and generations of ghosts returning for a single night, the town is about to get very crowded. Everyone is looking forward to the annual Hallow Ball, a spectacular evening of costumes, dancing, and more magic than is probably sensible.
Jessica is ready for a rare night off herself. A chance to let her hair down, embrace her inner warrior princess, and enjoy Halloween in her strange new home.
Unfortunately, things start getting weird.
Well, weirder than usual.
Everyone seems to be taking their costumes a little too seriously. Maybe the vampire just likes pretending to drink blood. Maybe the pirate has always spoken like that.
Or maybe something is very, very wrong.
That feeling only gets stronger when Jessica all but trips over a dead body inside a locked room.
With the townspeople becoming their costumes, there’s no shortage of suspects—or impossible ways the killer could have gotten inside.
To make matters worse, Astrix has an old friend visiting, and the combined shenanigans of one troublesome cat and one mischievous spell sprite are fast turning Jessica’s hair gray. Even her budding romance with Sheriff Noah seems to have hit the rocks. He’s acting strangely immature, and his timing couldn’t be worse.
Can Jessica uncover who’s behind the madness and solve a locked-room murder before the killer sets their sights on her?
Costumes, curses, ghosts, and murder. Halloween in Lavender Lake is going to be one heck of a night.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Then Halloween arrives.
With the magical veil at its thinnest and generations of ghosts returning for a single night, the town is about to get very crowded. Everyone is looking forward to the annual Hallow Ball, a spectacular evening of costumes, dancing, and more magic than is probably sensible.
Jessica is ready for a rare night off herself. A chance to let her hair down, embrace her inner warrior princess, and enjoy Halloween in her strange new home.
Unfortunately, things start getting weird.
Well, weirder than usual.
Everyone seems to be taking their costumes a little too seriously. Maybe the vampire just likes pretending to drink blood. Maybe the pirate has always spoken like that.
Or maybe something is very, very wrong.
That feeling only gets stronger when Jessica all but trips over a dead body inside a locked room.
With the townspeople becoming their costumes, there’s no shortage of suspects—or impossible ways the killer could have gotten inside.
To make matters worse, Astrix has an old friend visiting, and the combined shenanigans of one troublesome cat and one mischievous spell sprite are fast turning Jessica’s hair gray. Even her budding romance with Sheriff Noah seems to have hit the rocks. He’s acting strangely immature, and his timing couldn’t be worse.
Can Jessica uncover who’s behind the madness and solve a locked-room murder before the killer sets their sights on her?
Costumes, curses, ghosts, and murder. Halloween in Lavender Lake is going to be one heck of a night.
Genre: Urban Fantasy