I enjoy a little paranormal in some of my mysteries, and I enjoy a good collection of mystery stories. Chesapeake Crimes: Magic is Murder, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley, is perfect for someone with my reading tastes. In fact, I can say that this collection has more enjoyable stories than many books in which the so-so stories sometimes outnumber the excellent ones.

Daniel Stashower introduces the stories with a short annotation for each. He’s not only a successful author, but he’s been a member of the Society of American Magicians for over forty years. He’s the perfect one to discuss stories that feature a little magic, and a great deal of suspension of disbelief. They are stories that involve magic and murder, as the title suggests.

No, I’m not going to summarize all of the stories. There are sixteen stories, and different ones will appeal to different readers. A few of them stood out for me, but these were ones that met my interests. I’m sure other readers will prefer different ones. My favorite story was “The Thirteenth House” by Jaquelyn Lyman-Thomas. Nicki inherits her uncle’s house in Dutch End, a sequestered neighborhood that shelters descendants of several seagoing families. It’s only when she’s there that she’s realizes the houses shelter secrets as well as families. I’d love to read an entire novel about this neighborhood. The people and the neighborhood are fascinating. Perhaps this stood out to me because, as the longest story, there was the most opportunity to develop characters and history.

Shari Randall introduces twin sisters in “A Touch of Magic”. They come from a magical family, and one of the sisters has book magic that helps to solve a case of apparent suicides. In “Something Dark and Dangerous” by Donna Andrews, a psychic reluctantly consults on a murder case.

Robin Templeton’s “What Goes Around” stood out for it’s paranormal touches and for the carousel in the story about two boys and their mother trapped by the woman’s second marriage to an abusive man. It has a promising conclusion. Then, there’s one that’s fun for anyone who enjoys traditional mysteries with a touch of a ghost. Eleanor Cawood Jones” “Whiskers McGruff and the Case of the Missing Clue” introduces the most recent owner of a combination bookstore and charm shop, along with the ghost of a cat who knows just what book readers will want. (I want one of those cats.)

The collection includes short biographies of each of the authors and the editors. Because the editors and selectors did such an outstanding job picking the stories for inclusion, let me list the authors not mentioned previously. Readers will find mysteries by Rosalie Spielman, Cathy Wiley, Stacy Woodson, Tara Laskowski, Greg Herren, Smita Herish Jain, Pam Clark, KM Rockwood, Marcia Talley, Alan Orloff, and Adam Meyer. As I said, there are so many excellent stories here that fans of short stories will undoubtedly find at least several they enjoy.

Chesapeake Crimes; Magic is Murder ed. by Donna Andrews, et al., Wildside Press, 2022. ISBN 9781479471713 (paperback), 216p.

FTC Full Disclosure – One of the authors offered me a copy, with no promise of a positive review.