Book Review: Reinventing Herself

My dear writer-friend DJ Martin has started a new fiction series, and I'm excited to share my review of book one with you: Reinventing Herself. DJ's earlier Ogre's Assistant series is a delightful urban fantasy adventure. This new series is a bit of a departure from that, but not as much as you might think.

Imagine if urban fantasy relocated to a small town in the north Georgia mountains, and you get the idea. In fact, the main character does relocate from the big city to exactly that area. Maybe we could call this "rural paranormal." I love the down-to-earth realism of the menopausal, empty-nest main character and the small town sheriff combined with the paranormal/fantasy elements and the mild peril of some unexplained deaths in the woods - the contrast makes the story so much more textured.

Technically this is a murder-mystery, but there's so much more to it than that. As with all of DJ's fiction, this is a character-driven tale with magic woven into it in a way that makes sense given what's already going on. There's enough of a murder-mystery element to add some pleasant suspense, but not enough that I found the reading stressful. The characters are relatable and charming (or humorously annoying, in one or two cases!).

While some of the challenges they face aren't so realistic (those would be the paranormal and magical elements), the way the main character handles major life changes and the challenge of possible romance tangled up with a murder investigation makes for an intriguing read without being too high-stakes. This isn't quite a cozy, but it's definitely on the gentler end of the spectrum, an aspect I find helpful in these trying times.

I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!