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Tess Lake

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Butter Witch (Torrent Witches Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Tess Lake (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 739 ratings

Book 1 of 11: Torrent Witches Cozy Mysteries

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The International Butter Festival has come to town! When Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time Slip witch stumbles upon a dead body, frozen and drained of blood, she's pulled into a murder mystery.

Someone has murdered one of the Butter Festival competitors. Was it Zero Bend, punk sculptor extraordinaire with a history of violence? Perhaps Fusion Swan, a sleazy agent playing the publicity game when his clients meet their untimely end.

Between trying to run her struggling online newspaper, dealing with her highly caffeinated cousins Molly and Luce, fending off three meddling witch mothers who will do anything to get their daughters married off (including drugging food with magic potions) and great Aunt Cass who appears to be running an underground laboratory of some kind, Harlow barely has time to breathe, let alone solve a murder.

Romance certainly isn't on the cards either but the hot scruffy guy new to town seems to have other ideas...

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B018QXM6R2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tess Lake (November 29, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 29, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1597 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 222 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #68,412 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #608 in Cozy Culinary Mystery
- #754 in Witch & Wizard Mysteries
- #779 in Ghost Mysteries

Customer Reviews:
4.3 739 ratings

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Tess Lake

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I'm all about Cozy Witches! Mystery, murder, magic! Author of the bestselling Torrent Witches Cozy Magic series.

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4.3 out of 5

739 global ratings

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Apelletier

Time will tell

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2016

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Okay so here is my review...First off, I hadn't read the reviews before buying the book, secondly, I loved the book. I thought it was really great, however, after seeing the reviews about it being a rip-off of another witchy series, I purchased a copy of said book so I could come to my own conclusion. If I find the books to be too similar to one another I will change my review, but I'm giving this series/author the benefit of a doubt. I heard a lot of people calling a lot of new comedy authors, "rip-offs" of Janet Evanovich because they picked up her style. That did not make them rip-offs in my eyes, but time will tell. As it stands now, 5 stars. Funny, lovable and really entertaining.

9 people found this helpful

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Mommarachel

Good!

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2023

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It is the first book in the series so lots of laying foundations sooo it was a little slow at first. It was very interesting and she and her family solve the murder and save the day so no cliffhanger. There were humorous situations and very enjoyable. I purchased the Audible too and that was well done also. Would recommend this book.

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2018

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Excellent! The characters are fantastic, I love all of the Torrent girls, but the youngest three are!I favorite. They are hilarious! The storyline is great and I really love that all three cousins are written about. Seriously excellent!

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Kedco

Remarkably like Wicked Witches of the Midwest

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2016

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This book was so like Wicked Witches that you would think only the names were changed. Both had 1. A cranky great aunt, 2. Three sisters. 3. Three cousins. 4. One cousin was a newspaper reporter while the other two ran a shop. 5. Both books had a ghost in the newspaper office. 6. In one book the sisters ran a bed and breakfast and in the other they were starting to turn their home into one. Of the two series I enjoyed Wicked Witches more, but this book is OK.

6 people found this helpful

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Books'n'Things

Nice Cozy Witch Series (and no, it's not plagiarized)

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017

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Okay, I'm a HUGE fan of Amanda Lee's Witches series (if you haven't read it, check it out, it's awesome) and I can definitely understand why people compare these two series after reading the first chapter of this book, but really... people should stop because the more you read, the less there is to compare.

Any accusations of plagiarism are ridiculous and people need to look up what plagiarism actually is. Lake absolutely does not plagiarize. She does not use any of the same words or even the same plot as Lee's books do. While the characters have similarities to Lee's books in a general sense and in the way the main cast of characters is structured, as soon as character details start to emerge, there's a world of difference, and the actual plots of the book are NOTHING like Lee's. If you're looking for a snarky, humor book like Lee, this isn't it. This is what I would term a "cozy mystery witch" series. There's some occasional snark, but it's not like the Lee series in that way. If you like cozy mysteries, however, and are in the mood for one, this series is a great way to go.

Harlow is a "Slip Witch" which is a concept I found to be really unique and a good starting ground for a lot of fun. Slip witches can be extremely powerful, but they don't always know how that power is going to come out. Every once in a while they "slip" into a new power - especially if they haven't been using magic regularly. It's kind of like having immense power bottled up inside you, and if you don't use it to let some of it escape, it grows until it bursts out in an unpredictable way. This means that one day Harlow might be going along totally normally and then BAM all of the sudden she can take photographs of auras. She can feel when she slips but she never knows what new power she's slipped into, which means doing some testing (if she even can) to figure out what's going on. Some of the "slipping" is super useful, some of it is just hilarious (and some of her mentions about past slips made me giggle).

Her whole family is struggling a bit money wise. They're almost successful but having some difficulty staying afloat, which leads Harlow to having to help them out whenever an extra hand is needed. Since she's running what's basically a blog newspaper, trying to compete with the "real" newspaper in town, she's got the most extra time on her hands. It does help her get into investigating things that are going on however. I really enjoyed the way this town works, the slightly crazy mayor's antics, the descriptions of the butter and ice carvings were surprisingly fantastic (I could really visualize what was happening and actually got kind of excited about it, made me want to go watch some actual butter carving contests lol), and I found it fascinating that Harlow's family is NOT the only witch family in town.

Being in the mood for a nice, cozy mystery, I really enjoyed reading this series. If I'd been in the mood for snark and high drama, I don't think it would have fit my palate, and that's when I would have gone to Amanda Lee's series. However, if you don't waste your time endlessly comparing the two (since, seriously, once you get past the fact that it's 3 cousins, 3 moms, and a crazy great aunt, the similarities pretty much end there), it's an enjoyable cozy read. It's a lighter read than Lee's series, and sometimes that's what I need, especially when I'm stressed out in real life.

For those of you who have read Lee's and are worried about it being too alike, here's a few comparisons that some other reviewers left out

- Harlow's "newspaper" consists of just her and she's definitely not super dedicated to it
- Harlow's the last of her cousins to get a boyfriend
- Grandma isn't dead, she's frozen in the basement and they're all still trying to figure out how to get her unfrozen
- There are other witches who also live in town; there's a kind of magic in town that permeates the air and draws in the supernatural
- Harlow can see ghosts, however it's barely a part of the story for most of the books
- The main ghost Harlow interacts with is a stitch; his name is John and he desperately wants to move on but can't remember a thing about his past so has no idea how to. He spends most of his time throwing himself off of high places in hopes that it will "kill" his ghost form and allow him to move on. He does stop in to Harlow a couple times a week where she asks him questions and tries to pinpoint when he might have lived or anything else that will lead to his identity.
- It eventually becomes clear that there is something way more than just regular witch craft going on in this series, something dangerous and something that her Great Aunt doesn't want anyone to know about... and it's all centered on Harlow... This overarching theme is probably the biggest mystery of the series; I'm on book 6 and looking forward to seeing where it goes.
- Harlow is nothing like Bay, her cousins are nothing like Thistle and Clove, their relationships are nothing like those cousins
- There is a Sheriff that Harlow interacts with, but there's no father-daughter relationship there, and the Sheriff is only interested in one of the women

Basically, the deeper you get into the series, the less and less it's like Lee's. It's very easy to differentiate between the books and characters. Honestly, i feel like the people who are reading it with constant comparisons aren't doing themselves a favor; the two series shouldn't be compared. One is all snark and high drama and mean girls (and I love it), and this series is cozy mystery, humor, occasional drama that's usually centered around financial difficulties, and an over arching mystery that has something to do with frozen Grandma (and I really liked it).

The last time I tried to read this series, I read the reviews first, but got the first book on Kindle Unlimited anyway just to see. At that time, I was all like "Oh, this really is the same" after the first chapter and put it down and moved on. I don't regret that, because I remember at that time I was definitely in the mood for more snark and sass and Lee's distinctive tone. However, deciding to give it a second chance, and being in the mood for a cozy mystery, and pushing all the comparisons out of my mind, I really enjoyed this book for what it is and I'm definitely hooked into the series.

13 people found this helpful

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Athena Reed

Awesome series, funny an heart warming

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2017

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Family, laughs, mystery. This book is light hearted but still carries some mystery weight. Not overly graphic so even kids can listen to it but still enough details that adults can get into it!! Will definitely read the rest of the series!!!

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book maintains a frenetic pace, romping through the lives of a family of delightfully bizarre witches. Light hearted, humorous and a bit whimsical, it kept me entranced to the end! And the good news is THERE ARE MORE! Dig in and enjoy!

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Carol Smith - Kindle Customer

Tess Lake’s Butter Witch

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

Butter Witch is a book about a family of witches.
Harlow Torrent is a Slip Witch and the only online
journalist in town. A Slipwitch means that her
powers as a witch always change.
The International Butter Festival which structures
are created in butter instead of ice. All the top
sculptors are in town for the contest.
Harlow goes to the warehouse where the butter is
stored. She finds one is the sculptors dead, frozen
and drained of blood by magic.
What is happening? Will anyone else be killed? How
will Harlow and her family save the town?
An enjoyable read with an unusual plot with plenty
of colorful, zany characters and a feisty amateur
sleuth in Harlow plus Adams, Harlow’s cat who will
entertain throughout the story.
Recipe included.

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Top reviews from other countries

Liver and Onion

Cute and to the point

Reviewed in Canada on September 7, 2022

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Cozy mystery that is detailed in a very vague way. Gives you judt enough about the characters and their home to help the story make sense, but also leaves you wanting more. Will be continuing with the series, especially as a mental palate cleanser in-between heavier books.

Farida

Spooky!

Reviewed in India on August 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

Interesting read and concept. Spells well researched. Spooky in parts. L
Perfect setting. Concept of butter carving festival is amazing

Emily Wrayburn

Pretty good but didn't wow me

Reviewed in Australia on June 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

I wasn't overly keen on this to be honest but it picked up reasonably in the last quarter, hence three stars. It was a little bit repetitive and the characters were all very similar, but it was fun enough.

Namita Murti

Fun Read!

Reviewed in Canada on December 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

First time reading Tess Lake. This was a fun read. There were some laugh out loud moments. A good mystery and the magic is fun!! Will, Ollie and Jack are simply scrumptious!!

Angela murray

Witch Cosy Mystery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

For me it took a wee bit to get into, Then i really liked this Witch cosy Mystery. I would recommend it and look forward to reading some more of Tess Lake.

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Butter Witch (Torrent Witches Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Kindle Edition

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