A VISION IN VELVET by Juliet Blackwell

"The Persistence of Evil and an Ancient Oak Add a Twist to the Fifth in This Great Series"

A Vision In Velvet

Posted: August 10, 2014

Lily Ivory faces a thorny challenge in A VISION IN VELVET, the fifth in Juliet Blackwell's Witchcraft Mystery series. The persistence of evil, an ancient oak and a missing pig slash familiar create a framework for murder. The solution took me by surprise which is always a treat when reading a mystery.

Lily's vintage clothing shop turns into Find-The-Pig Central when Oscar goes missing. Her fear and sorrow is only exacerbated by the well-meaning efforts of friends. She knows precisely where Oscar disappeared but her non-witchy friends' efforts will be of no concrete help. Only solving an ancient curse has a chance to bring Oscar back, but will he think the sacrifice she must make is worth it?

Thinking back, I believe this is the best of this series I've read. The complex issues are key to creating the tension that ratchets up through Lily's struggles. I also enjoyed the expansion of information about some of the secondary characters.

I think that A VISION IN VELVET could be read as a stand- alone book. Juliet Blackwell is a master at weaving back story so that it does not interfere with the main thrust of the book but truly, reading the entire series is a pleasure well-worth the time and money invested.

Book Summary

Lily Ivory hopes to score some great vintage fashions when she buys an antique trunk full of old clothes. But she may have gotten more than she bargained for.

As soon as Lily opens the trunk, she feels strange vibrations emanating from a mysterious velvet cloak. When she tries it on, Lily sees awful visions from the past. And when the antiques dealer who sold her the cape is killed, Lily suspects a supernatural force might be behind his death.

Then Lily’s familiar, Oscar the potbellied pig, disappears. Lily will do anything to get him back—including battling the spirit of a powerful witch reaching out from the past. But even with the aid of her grandmother, unmasking a killer and saving Oscar might be more than one well-intentioned sorceress can handle.