Seven Secret Spellcasters

Book 7: Kitchen Witch Mysteries

by Lynn Cahoon

Genres: Amateur Sleuth; Ghost; Mystery

Synopsis

Everyone’s favorite kitchen witch is back in this new cozy mystery from New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon. As Mia prepares for her transfer of powers on Halloween Eve, a murder implicates her boyfriend and his familiar . . .

Besides her witch’s training, Mia has a lot on her plate with her catering business and cooking school in the Idaho town of Magic Springs. As All Hallows Eve approaches, Mia has almost completed her apprenticeship with Grans and must decide if she will join the coven. At the same time, her boyfriend Trent’s familiar, Cerby—an adorable Maltese whose powers are far greater than his six-pound fluffy body might suggest—has flunked out of hellhound training at the werewolf camp. Something about a dragon?

What’s more, the National Office of Magical Creatures has sent an investigator to check out suspicions regarding Trent and Cerby. But when the investigator is found floating dead in the river behind Trent’s cabin with Cerby’s paw prints nearby, Mia’s boyfriend and his furry friend become murder suspects. Now she’ll have to use her own powers of investigation to save them both . . .

Release date: July 29, 2025

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 256

Sample

Mia Malone sat in her catering director’s office at the Magic Springs Lodge, reading the new catering proposal specifications again. Trying to understand them was a whole other task. On the one hand, the Lodge’s loosening of Frank Hines’s policies from when her former boss ruled the hotel was a good thing. It meant that Mia’s Morsel’s, her catering company, would be able to at least send proposals to a local board that would make decisions on who would be awarded the contract. On the other hand, the specifications were so detailed that Mia didn’t think her company would qualify to even compete. Even with the extensive community contacts of her current manager, Abigail Majors.

Blake Sandburg, Mia’s new boss at the Lodge, wanted bids from catering companies that had at least fifty employees, had a nondiscrimination policy in place for staff, and would sign an NDA for each assignment. The minimum-employee policy alone would rule out any catering company in the local area, and most Boise-based companies didn’t want the three-hour-each-way drive for a local event. She guessed that Twin Falls companies might apply, but they mostly hated coming up the mountain, especially for evening events. Mia thought her new boss might have to change her criteria.

Blake was all business. Her meetings ran fast with a preset agenda. If you had something to bring up, you sent the request to her email no later than two business days before the weekly meeting. Or the item was put on the agenda for the next week.

Frank liked to play with the staff’s minds. Blake didn’t want anyone to be surprised or have to think on their feet. Working for Frank had been a nightmare, but Mia wasn’t sure working for Blake was going to be much different.

James Holder, the head chef at the Lodge and kitchen manager, stuck his head into her office. “Want some butternut-squash soup for lunch? I accidentally made too much when I was testing a recipe for next week. I’m serving freshly baked bread with it. Come into my office, and we can plot a mutiny while we’re eating.”

The kitchen and James, as the chef, had been given new rules as well. Menus were to be standardized with only limited menu changes that allowed them to save money on ordering in bulk. This also meant that James was limited in what he could order from Majors Grocery in town. A problem she’d heard about not only from James, but also from the store owner and her boyfriend, Trent Majors. She’d told Trent to file a complaint with the corporate office, not her. She’d told his mother, Abigail, the same thing when she complained about the catering rules that were excluding Mia’s Morsels. She wasn’t fighting anyone’s battles but her own.

Mia knew there was more to the story than the loss of the Lodge’s business adding to Trent’s recent bad mood. His dog, Cerby, was at his hellhound training at the McMann werewolf camp in the deep woods north of Magic Springs. Trent got updates every evening from Cerby’s trainer. And, from what she’d heard, Cerby was acting out due to experiencing homesickness.

The cages they’d seen when she went up to the camp with Trent last week to drop off Cerby had been huge and indestructible, with iron bars. She’d made Trent leave Cerby’s favorite blue-and-white print blanket and stuffed dragon with him, even though his other classmates didn’t seem to need anything from home. The cage next to Cerby had held the biggest Rottweiler Mia had ever seen. And she was positive that the “cat” in the next cage was a mountain lion.

Cerby, now a year-old Maltese, looked like he’d been misplaced in the residential camp. When they’d taken him up for testing, even the werewolf who’d completed his intake had been skeptical until the five-pound Maltese had levitated the six-foot-tall trainer and held him there until Trent convinced Cerby that the man had a treat in his pocket.

As Mia closed her computer and tucked the printout of the application process into her tote, her phone rang. It was Trent. “Hey, James, I’ll meet you there in a couple of minutes. I need to take this.”

“Tell Trent hi,” James said as he left her office, closing the door behind him.

She answered and followed his directions as she sat back in her chair. “James says hi. What’s going on?”

“Why do you think something has to be going on for your boyfriend to call in the middle of the day on a Wednesday?” His warm voice held a twinge of humor.

“Nothing’s wrong? I guess I’m just on edge. I’m so glad I’m off tomorrow before the Friday event. I’m not sure I can get all of Blake’s pre-event checklists done before she wants me to start on the debriefing checklists. The woman loves her reports. Paper. Not a verbal check-in at the meeting or an email. She wants a hard copy on her desk no later than Monday morning at ten a.m. This is a routine, monthly dinner for the Magic Springs Men’s Club. What happens when I do a big event?” She sighed, then realized she’d been venting for a while. “Sorry, so why did you call?”

“Are you still getting off at two today, like you planned?” He waited for her to confirm, then continued. “Good, because we need to go pick up Cerby. Max McMann, his trainer, thinks he’s not ready for hellhound training. Maybe in a few months. He said they might need to do an individualized program for him.”

“Uh-oh, what did he do?” Mia hadn’t liked the idea of sending the dog away for a residential training program in the first place. Cerby didn’t like being away from Trent. When he’d stayed with Mia while Trent was fishing with his dad, he dreamed of dragons. And what Cerby dreamed, he shared with Mia. Even that distraction hadn’t kept him from missing Trent. He slept with her on her bed. Not in an outdoor cage.

“Max wouldn’t tell me, but there was laughter from the other guys when he called. He said we’d find out when we got to the camp.” He said something to someone else. “Look, I’ve got to go if I’m taking off. I’ll pick you up at the school at two fifteen?”

“Sounds good. I’m missing my Cerby cuddles.” She hung up and tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. It was funny how quickly the little hellhound had become part of her life as well as Trent’s. She’d eat a quick lunch with James, get all the gossip, then come back and finish the midweek report.

Tomorrow, Grans was coming over to help her set up the new potions lab. Abigail had agreed—no, insisted—on helping them stock the shelves. After she took the coven’s national council test on Monday, Mia’s training as a kitchen witch would be complete. Her grandmother had scheduled a transfer of powers the night before Halloween. Just in case she decided to join the coven at the party they were having the next evening. She thought it unlikely, but her grandmother had insisted she leave the option available.

Mia wasn’t a joiner. She found her groups of friends more naturally in her activities. Okay, she admitted to herself, her friends were all work friends. But really close work friends.

The October calendar kept filling up with must-dos, but at least now, Cerby would be home with them. She’d missed the little guy more than she’d realized she would. Maybe she was reacting to Christina Adams, her former employee and almost sister-in-law, in the process of moving to Oregon. She wasn’t gone just on a vacation. Christina was leasing an apartment and attending the mandatory training for her new job that started the second week of November.

Change was happening all over Magic Springs, and Mia wasn’t liking it one bit. She knocked on the open door to James’s office, and he waved her inside. He was on the phone. “Yes, Blake, I know I haven’t turned in my proposed menu changes for November, but you also changed my supply chain and I’m scrambling to make sure I can locally source the product for the holidays.”

He bounced his head back and forth as he listened to her response. “Well, yes, that would help tremendously. I’d love to use my normal suppliers for the holiday season. As soon as I confirm they can still supply us after I told them we weren’t going to be using them anymore, I’ll turn in those new menus.”

Mia tried to stifle a laugh.

“Of course, I understand this is a onetime exception. I’ll be looking for new suppliers who meet your criteria right after I confirm the menu changes and get that on your desk.” James grinned at Mia. “One step at a time, Blake.”

Mia lifted one of the covers on a tray in front of her. The soup smelled divine—and it even had a hint of cinnamon. Her mouth watered.

“I’ve got to go now,” James said as he hung up. He took the cover off the other tray revealing two bowls and a plate of warm rolls with a generous side of butter. “You can tell Trent he’s welcome when you see him tonight. I got us a reprieve from Bossy Blake. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m kind of missing Frank.”

“Bite your tongue. At least Blake isn’t actively trying to get rid of me. At least not that I know of. Have you heard anything?” Mia took the cloth napkin and put it on her lap, then she took a spoonful of the soup. She closed her eyes and groaned. “Yummy.”

“No wonder Trent keeps you around. You’re very sensual.” He smiled at her as he took a sip of the soup. “And you have great taste. This is yummy. But no, I haven’t heard that our Bossy Blakie wants to fire anyone, especially not you. You earned the weekly star for turning in all your paperwork last week on time. Tell me your magic.”

Mia almost choked on her soup. James didn’t know her secret—that she was a kitchen witch—and she preferred that no one at the Lodge ever find out. She wiped her face with the napkin. “No magic, just hard work.”

“You always were a stickler for the details of the job. I can’t believe Frank thought this place would even run without you.” Then James went on to tell her all the gossip, including the fact that Frank was now managing a fast-food restaurant in Billings, Montana. “Of course, it is a chain franchise.”

Mia laughed at her friend’s jokes and kept up her end up of the conversation, but as soon as she’d finished her lunch, she excused herself to get back to work. “Trent and I are going for a drive up to Wolf Creek Mountain this afternoon. Before the weather changes.”

“I bet he wants to scope out some hunting places for his dad. I can’t believe that man has such a huge guide business. He’s always got at least one of his clients staying at the Lodge during their hunting trips. I guess it makes the trip upper end if they don’t have to sleep in a rustic cabin or on the ground.” James stood and walked to his office door. “But don’t let me keep you. I know you want to get ahead on those reports, Miss Follows All the Rules.”

“That’s all I do anymore, reports,” Mia grumbled as she headed out the door. “Thanks for lunch. It’s the perfect soup for a chilly fall day.”

“I thought so as well,” James said as he stood watching her from the doorway. “I know you have a secret, and I’m going to find out what it is. No one can get all of Blake’s reports done without a little help.”

Mia wished she used magic to help her get the tedious work done, but Grans had warned her for years that a kitchen witch never used their powers for personal gain. She felt her power in the dishes she cooked, and she had an innate ability to make flavors sing in her cooking. But making meals was rarely for her. It was to take care of others—either family or her community. That was her real magic. Feeding others.

By the time she got home, Trent was already at the school waiting for her. Mia’s Morsels was shut down on Wednesdays since Abigail had changed the delivery schedule after Christina had given notice. Abigail and the new hire, Finley Shiley, now cooked on Mondays and delivered on Tuesdays. Unless they had an event that weekend, the business location was closed on Wednesdays and then open for drop-ins and classes on Thursdays through Saturdays. Tomorrow, Mia didn’t have a class to teach, but she needed to prep for the next one on Autumn Soups. She had an existing class lesson in the file, but she wanted to adjust and add to the recipes she offered. That way, students could take a class several times without getting bored.

Trent sat on the steps to the old academy, leaning against the front door.

She locked up her older-than-dirt Honda and went to meet him. “Do you mind if I run upstairs to change and check on Mr. Darcy? Now that Dorian has left his body, he gets lonely when no one’s around.”

“And he can’t open a door or a portal to go outside without Dorian’s magic. It must be frustrating to go back to being just a cat.” He stood and gave her a quick kiss. “We have some time. I told them I’d be there before six. That’s feeding time, and they don’t like having extra people around the hellhounds then.”

“Mr. Darcy’s not just a cat, he’s my familiar. But yeah, I think he got used to having Dorian’s magic around, as well as someone to play with all the time.” She unlocked the door, and they went inside. The school was quiet and cool. Most of the time, the place was filled with noise and energy. With Christina leaving, and her fiancé, Levi Majors, Trent’s brother, going with her, Mia’s life had quieted down a lot. Trent walked with her as they went up the stairs to the third floor. “Gloria, she’s not as sociable with Mr. Darcy as he’d like. I hear them talking about me at times, but I think she mostly sleeps when the school is quiet.”

“Have you thought about my offer?” He held his hand out for her keys and unlocked the apartment door. It was probably overkill to have locks on the front door, the kitchen door, and the apartment door, but as they were still finding secret passages into the school, Mia liked being a little security-focused.

She heard Gloria’s laugh at her thought.

Trent looked at her when he opened the door. “What’s she giggling about?”

At odd times, Trent could hear her kitchen witch doll. Mia thought it was mostly when Gloria wanted him to hear her. “She thinks my assumption about security is funny. I know, Gloria, if someone wanted to get inside, locks wouldn’t keep them out.”

“But locks will keep humans out, especially the kids who used to use this place as party central,” Trent called out to the doll. He closed the door and looked at Mia. “You’re ignoring my other question.”

“I’m not. There are a lot of moving parts right now.” Mr. Darcy was on his back legs reaching up to her. Mia picked him up and headed to her bedroom to change. “Hey, buddy, Trent and I have to leave for a few hours to go get Cerby from camp. We’ll be home and make dinner soon, and I’ll be here all day tomorrow, okay?”

Mr. Darcy jumped on the bed, then hurried out of the bedroom to go see Trent. He didn’t think her schedule was okay, so he was going to ignore her now. He’d be mad when she got home, but there was nothing she could do about it unless she got another pet. Or accept Trent’s invitation.

Before moving in with Trent, they needed to have a long talk about logistics. On the one hand, Mr. Darcy would have Cerby during the day if they moved in together. But she wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not. Mia slipped out of her business casual clothes and into jeans with a T-shirt and her leather jacket. She was pulling on her socks and boots when her phone buzzed with a text.

Tell Mr. Darcy that I’ll bring Muffy with me tomorrow. I feel his distress even over at my house.

Mia keyed a quick thanks to her grandmother and tucked her phone into her jeans pocket. When she got into the kitchen, Mr. Darcy was eating the canned food that Trent had dished up for him. Trent had opened a soda and was scrolling through his emails on his phone.

“Mr. Darcy, Gran says she’s bringing Muffy over tomorrow, so stop being such a baby. You’ll see Cerby tonight.” Mia grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and stood in front of Trent, who was still staring at his screen. “I’m ready.”

He glanced up at her and smiled. “I can see that. I took out hamburger meat for tacos and put it in the fridge if that’s okay. I’ll cook when we get back.”

“Sounds great, thanks.” Mia started thinking about what she had to go with the tacos. “I can make Spanish rice and maybe homemade salsa and tortillas. I’ve been working on a recipe.”

Trent was still sitting and reading something on his phone.

“What’s going on? Work issues?” She took a sip of her water.

He tucked the phone away and stood. “No. But it’s a good thing that we’re going to get Cerby. An inspector from the National Office of Magical Creatures is coming to Magic Springs next week to interview me and examine Cerby. Someone from the coven has inquired why a witch who had rescinded his powers was given a hellhound from the Goddess.”

“That’s not good. You need to call your mom.” Mia grabbed her keys and purse.

“You call her on the way to Wolf Creek. I need to focus on the drive.” He waited for her to lock the door, then they started downstairs. “I gave Mr. Darcy some clean water too. He seemed to be annoyed at what he had.”

“That’s because Dorian would turn on the kitchen tap for him. He likes his water cold and fresh. I might have to get one of those fountains that keeps water running all the time. I never thought I’d say I miss the days when my cat was sharing his body with a witch’s earthbound spirit.” Mia turned on the outside lights since it would be dark when they got back and left the foyer light on as well. She didn’t like the school to appeared dark. The building attracted trouble when it was dark and unattended. If she moved in with Trent, she’d have to find someone to rent the upstairs apartment. Someone she trusted. That was one of the reasons she hadn’t yet given him an answer.

Besides, she was setting up her potions lab here. What would she do, come over to the school to do her kitchen witch work? Maybe it would be a good thing to separate work and life. Which made her think about the fact that her grandmother had been less than forthcoming about what her responsibilities would be when she took over the role.

As she said, too many moving parts.

When they got to Wolf Creek, Mia realized why the werewolves who ran the training camp had suggested a more individualized plan of training for Cerby. Unlike the first time she’d visited, the place was lit up in pale-pink fairy lights with what looked like a carnival set up in the forest. Mia could see the Ferris wheel circulating in the background. Cerby had been doing some redecorating.

Trent stared into the tree behind Cerby’s cage. “Is that what I think it is?”

Mia nodded. She’d seen the image when Cerby had stayed over and shared his dream. “I think he brought his dragon to life so he wouldn’t be lonely.”

A bright purple dragon about the size of a large wolfhound sat on a branch of a tree behind Cerby’s cage. Cerby wasn’t watching the dragon; he had opened his cage and was dragging his blanket and stuffed lamb out of the oversized cage and toward the truck.

Cerby knew they’d come to take him home. Him and his new friend.

Mia pulled out a bacon, egg, butternut squash, and potato casserole from the oven early the next morning. Abigail had made sure that the rest of breakfast, which included muffins, orange juice, and fruit salad, was on Mia’s small kitchen table, along with plates and silverware. Mia could feel the excitement from Gloria as the doll watched the gathering. True to her kitchen witch roots, Gloria loved watching people eat.

Grans had arrived with Muffy and a suitcase. Trent’s letter from the coven leadership had called together what Mia liked to call her “mini coven.” Trent was filling everyone’s coffee cups and making sure there were enough chairs. His parents were there, including his father, Thomas, who had tucked into the table on the window. . .