Gillian Good is a witch from a family of witches. The eldest of three sisters, she is also the most powerful of the three. However, an incident involving a spell cast on a boy when she was in her teens has made her reluctant to practice witchcraft in adulthood.

But when a friend, former novelist turned investigative reporter, Rebecca Newell, disappears, Gillian knows instinctively that something nefarious is afoot. When reporting her missing friend to the police, our girl encounters two detectives – Adam Springer and Nate Meeks. Springer is Hollywood handsome, but it is Meeks that Gillian finds herself strangely attracted to. The detectives, especially Springer, don’t put much weight on Gillian’s suspicions, but when a body is found and identified as the missing journalist, the plot begins to thicken.

Endangered Spells is a fun read. Full of witches, spells, murder, mystery, and romance, the novel follows Gillian as she searches for the person or persons responsible for her friend’s death. Her investigations dredge up clues, some of which are relayed to her in dreams or visions that are imparted by a distant cousin who was imprisoned during the Salem witch trials in the 1600s.

Secrets held and secrets revealed, Endangered Spells proved to be a fast-paced read that kept this reader enthralled. As the tension increases, there is also some comic relief supplied by the inclusion of the Good family’s pet cockatoo, Jocelyn, who is quite a scene-stealer!

I really enjoyed this novel and see that it is the first book in a series (A Gambit House Mystery) by S.R. Mallery. I look forward to reading book 2 to see what mischief Gillian and Jocelyn will get into next. Endangered Spells is highly recommended for readers who enjoy cozy mysteries involving witches, witchcraft, and/or magic, those who love romantic suspense, and those who enjoy murder mysteries set in small towns.