Captiva Coven (Pine Island Sound Mysteries)

A friendship that stands the test of time, lasts for decades, is something to be valued, cherished. A friend you would die for perhaps? Well, what happens when one of those friends is murdered? That friendship bond becomes even stronger, because now revenge is involved.

Four women randomly meet on Captiva Island off the West Coast of Florida near Fort Meyers: Isla Clark, originally from Barbados; Mia Garcia from Cusco, Peru; Jasmine Reyes from Siquijor in the Philippines; and Bahar Gabol from Pakistan. They’re all there for sun, sex and a great memorable time. It doesn’t take them long to realize they have something else very strongly in common: they are all witches and believe in the practice of Wicca; some even have families that have practiced for generations. While they all have a great time, whether with each other or with some interesting men they meet, they also know there’s something greater with the four of them. So they form their own coven there and then, the Captiva Coven. They pledge to keep in contact and to return in ten years’ time.

Then, 2012 rolls around and they begin arriving in Captiva, only one member is missing: Bahar. Before long the other three learn she has been murdered and worse yet it was recorded: a snuff film where the attacker was unknown but asked her a series of questions; if any were answered wrong, she would be tortured. At the end of the video she was gunned down in cold blood. An investigation is begun and the reunion ruined.

Next, 2022 arrives and a meetup with the three is planned, only this time Jasmine is the one to be viciously murdered. Those who have been investigating haven’t turned up any promising leads, so now it will be up to Isla and Mia to take matters into their own hands and track down this killer. But they have one big advantage on their side: the power of the coven that stretches across life and death.

While the premise for Captiva Coven is an engaging and interesting one, the book suffers from lack of editing and a strange writing style, with far too much telling and very little showing. As each scene with each character is begun, we soon jump to a lengthy description of what the person looks like, and then return to the scene, instead of having the description added naturally as part of the story. There is constantly too much description on what exactly everyone is wearing that makes the writing feel clunky. The big problem with this is that it throws the reader out of the story, instead of including the details and showing events in a more natural and fluid way. The start of the second part, “The Homecoming,” actually does this pretty well, but then soon jumps into the strange writing style again. The characters are interesting; the story engaging; the writing style is the problem.