Witch Summer Night's Dream

This is the third mystery novel in the Bewitched By Chocolate series, written by H. Y. Hanna.
Hanna is getting better and better at developing the characters in this sleepy, cozy mystery series.
Even though the reader does have to suspend belief to agree to the reality of magic, Hanna does not make the story too unbelievable.

The young woman Caitlyn has come to this small English village to find out about her birth parents and is now living with her Grandmother.  She is involved also with her aunt and cousin.  Her adopted cousin Pomona, who was the daughter of her adoptive mother's sister also plays an important role in her life.  Caitlyn seems a little bit immature though when she talks about her romantic interest in James Fitzroy, who is the Lord of the Manor in this small village.  Not only is he described as handsome but his family owns the businesses throughout the town.  So I understand if Caitlyn is a bit tongue tied in front of him at first but now their interactions are at a more in depth level and she should be more relaxed with him.  They both seem so naive about romantic interactions.

In this installment of the series, Caitlyn finds a young teen dead in the garden behind the Chocolate Shop.  It is almost Midsummer's Eve and Widow Mags has been making a chocolate sauce that seems to be like a love potion.  People cannot resist her chocolate covered strawberries.  There are three separate love stories going in this plot.  Caitlyn is trying to win over James, her cousin Evie has a crush on Chris Bottom, and even Ferdinand the bull on the neighboring farm is having trouble with the cows in the pasture.  Bringing in some tourists who are searching for the love potion, one who works for a rival chocolate company and a professor who is fascinated with Shakespeare's play, Midsummer Night's Dream.  There are many references to the famous Shakespeare play in the book.

A fun cozy mystery series that engages the reader in both the plot and the characters.  It is fun to come back again and again to see how characters that you watch grow are coming along in their fairy tale lives.