Official Review: The Magic of Murder by Susan Lynn Solomon

[bookowlie]

You're most welcome. Thanks for sharing your backstory of the road to becoming an author. I am putting the future sequel on my must-read list.

[TrishaAnn92]

Will have to add to my ever growing TBR pile! Awesome review bookowlie!

[Susan Lynn Solomon]

I'm so very glad so many people find The Magic of Murder intriguing. I can't wait to learn what everyone thinks after reading the book. Meantime, Emlyn, Rebecca, Roger, and, yes, Elvira arre at it again. I've just finished writing chapter 24 of the sequel. About 90% done now...I sure hope my characters tell me who did it and why soon. (hehehehe).

[anonanemone]

Wonderful job on this review, bookowlie! You're my hero

Congrats @Susan Lynn Solomon and good luck with the sequel.

[bookowlie]

Wonderful job on this review, bookowlie! You're my hero

Congrats @Susan Lynn Solomon and good luck with the sequel.

What a nice thing to say! This book was both easy and hard to review. It was easy because I loved the book so much. At the same time, there were many interesting clues and twists that I couldn't mention. When you enjoy a book, you want to tell everyone about the wonderful parts, but then it would be giving spoilers.

-- 19 Feb 2016, 13:03 --

I'm so very glad so many people find The Magic of Murder intriguing. I can't wait to learn what everyone thinks after reading the book. Meantime, Emlyn, Rebecca, Roger, and, yes, Elvira arre at it again. I've just finished writing chapter 24 of the sequel. About 90% done now...I sure hope my characters tell me who did it and why soon. (hehehehe).

That's great news! I look forward to reading the sequel.

[anonanemone]

I understand exactly what you mean. Seems to be an art to reveal just a little but not enough to spoil...

[Susan Lynn Solomon]

It is, anananemone. In a murder mystery, for me, at least, the biggest sin is in not leaving clues throughout the story. Yes, some will be red herrings, but others must eventually point to the killer. In writing The Magic of Murder--and again in the sequel, as the story developed I found I had to go back and insert clues in earlier sections so as be fair to the reader (and to myself--I'm one of those writers who tells myself the story as I go). And again, you're very right: each clue has to be small enough that it doesn't give the end away, while cumulatively at the end I want the reader to say, "Of course, the clues were there all along". I learned this from reading almost all of Agatha Christie's work, and Conan Doyles, and Rex Stout's, and PD James, and so many other masters of this art that came before.

[bookowlie]

It is, anananemone. In a murder mystery, for me, at least, the biggest sin is in not leaving clues throughout the story. Yes, some will be red herrings, but others must eventually point to the killer. In writing The Magic of Murder--and again in the sequel, as the story developed I found I had to go back and insert clues in earlier sections so as be fair to the reader (and to myself--I'm one of those writers who tells myself the story as I go). And again, you're very right: each clue has to be small enough that it doesn't give the end away, while cumulatively at the end I want the reader to say, "Of course, the clues were there all along". I learned this from reading almost all of Agatha Christie's work, and Conan Doyles, and Rex Stout's, and PD James, and so many other masters of this art that came before.

Thanks for sharing your writing process. I agree that the reader should be able to look back and realize the little clues were there throughout the story.

[kimmyschemy06]

Sounds like a very interesting book. I have read a lot of books about burning of Salem witches and I would love to read about a descendant of a Salem witch. Great review. Congratulations to Susan Lynn Solomon for such a well-written book.

[Susan Lynn Solomon]

Kimmyschemy, in The Magic of Murder, Emlyn Goode, Old Sarah's descendant, is told not everyone hanged for witchcraft in Salem was innocent. But the question remains, what was witchcraft really? Many women were herbalists, combining various plants for medicinal purposes. Not chemists, these simple people would have believed the combinations were actually magic. Entries from a fictional diary of Sarah Goode's explore this facet. If you have a chance to read The Magic of Murder, I'd love to know what you think.

[bookowlie]

Interesting historical info. The book and this discussion has made me want to read more about the Salem witch trials.

[Susan Lynn Solomon]

Bookowlie, I think one of the most fascinating factors surrounding the witch trials is the manner in which judicial actions intersected with those of the church. These were people whose ancestors had fled England after being persecuted because their beliefs differed from those of the established church. Yet, in Salem the church they established behaved in the same way. This is one of those many things that drove me to write The Magic of Murder. You'll have noticed that 320 later, Emlyn Goode fears social persecution if her practice is learned.

[Gravy]

People are rather predictable, sadly.

[Susan Lynn Solomon]

Yes, Gravy, unfortunately people are predictable. And the biggest pity is that we don't learn. Who was it that said if we don't remember our history we're doomed to repeat it?

[bookowlie]

Bookowlie, I think one of the most fascinating factors surrounding the witch trials is the manner in which judicial actions intersected with those of the church. These were people whose ancestors had fled England after being persecuted because their beliefs differed from those of the established church. Yet, in Salem the church they established behaved in the same way. This is one of those many things that drove me to write The Magic of Murder. You'll have noticed that 320 later, Emlyn Goode fears social persecution if her practice is learned.

What I always found interesting about the Salem witch trials is how gossip among a few townspeople turned into mass hysteria.