“If I were teaching a course on how to write a mystery, I’d make Carolyn Hart required reading.”
—Los Angeles Times 

Merry, Merry Ghost by Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award winner Carolyn Hart, is the spirited second appearance of spectral sleuth, Bailey Ruth Raeburn, who would never let a little thing like being dead keep her from enjoying the Yuletide holiday or solving a dastardly crime. The light and funny follow up to Hart’s critically acclaimed Ghost At Work—which Publishers Weekly named One of the Best Books of 2008—Merry, Merry Ghost is a  true Christmas treat, and Bailey Ruth is a most welcome addition to Carolyn Hart’s coterie of beloved series protagonists, joining septuagenarian sleuth “Henrie O” Collins and the Darlings of “Death on Demand” fame.

In this thrilling series from Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh, former prosecutor Morgan Dane faces the most personal—and deadly—case of her lifetime.

After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity—until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.

Harlan Coben explores the dangers of obsession in this #1 New York Times bestselling masterpiece of modern suspense.
 
Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.
 
But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for...but she is not Natalie.
 
As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found, or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. And soon, Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart puts his very life at risk as he uncovers the secrets and lies that love can hide...

A TV ghost-hunting crew. A haunted house. An unimaginable crime. A past buried deep...

An Amazon US/UK Kindle Store Top 100 Bestseller: #1 Ghosts & Haunted Houses - #1 Occult - #1 Ghosts - #1 Paranormal.

For some, ghosts are no more than the wounds loved ones leave in their wake, haunting the living only with their absence. Others take a more literal view...

Kate Bennett, presenter of paranormal investigation cable TV show, 'Where the Dead Walk', isn't sure what she believes, other than she seems cursed to lose all those closest to her.

After investigating a neglected cliff-top house, empty for a decade because it's 'haunted', Kate is convinced a spirit within holds the answers to a childhood she can't remember and an unimaginable crime.

What she can't know is that the house's owner, Sebastian Dahl, is searching for something too, and he intends to get it, whatever the cost.

Part ghost story, part detective story, encompassing mediums, psychics, seances, the occult, trapped spirits and haunted houses... Are you willing to follow the crew of a British ghost hunting TV show as they venture, Where the Dead Walk?

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A December 2018 Indie Next Pick
One of Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2018 Picks
BookPage Best of the Year 2018
A LibraryReads Pick for November 2018
A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Winner
Washington Post's 10 Books to Read This November
One of PopSugar’s Best Fall Books to Curl Up With

“A captivating, wintry whodunit.” —PEOPLE

"A constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves." —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

“A spellbinder . . . another outstanding Gamache adventure… ingenious . . . what more could a mystery reader – or any reader for that matter – want?”—Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post

The new Chief Inspector Gamache novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

When a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Still on suspension, and frankly curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder.

None of them had ever met the elderly woman.

The will is so odd and includes bequests that are so wildly unlikely that Gamache and the others suspect the woman must have been delusional. But what if, Gamache begins to ask himself, she was perfectly sane?

When a body is found, the terms of the bizarre will suddenly seem less peculiar and far more menacing.

But it isn’t the only menace Gamache is facing.

The investigation into what happened six months ago—the events that led to his suspension—has dragged on, into the dead of winter. And while most of the opioids he allowed to slip through his hands, in order to bring down the cartels, have been retrieved, there is one devastating exception.

Enough narcotic to kill thousands has disappeared into inner city Montreal. With the deadly drug about to hit the streets, Gamache races for answers.

As he uses increasingly audacious, even desperate, measures to retrieve the drug, Armand Gamache begins to see his own blind spots. And the terrible things hiding there.

Books 4 and 5 in Edgar-winner Julie Smith’s series featuring funny, lively lawyer Rebecca Schwartz (plus a bonus short story)—at a very nice price!

Vol. 4: DEAD IN THE WATER

WHAT'S THE ETIQUETTE WHEN YOUR HOSTESS IS ARRESTED FOR MURDER? 
San Francisco lawyer Rebecca Schwartz has occasion to wonder when she and her weekend hostess, Marty Whitehead, find a body floating in the 30-foot kelp tower at the Monterey Aquarium, and Marty's promptly dragged off to the slammer. 

Rebecca quickly grasps the Emily Post solution—sign on as Marty's lawyer, try to keep her client's two young kids out of the deep end, and somehow avoid drowning in the sea of lies gushing from Marty's mouth--and everyone else’s. There’s a lot of intrigue among the aquarium's oceangoing primates, as well as rumors of a pearl beyond price. Plus a new romance for our heroine!

Volume 5: OTHER PEOPLE’S SKELETONS

WHAT SHE'S ABOUT TO LEARN WILL ROCK HER WORLD! Rebecca Schwartz, “Jewish feminist lawyer,” as she’s fond of saying, thought she knew her best friend--and her boy friend. Not to mention her family. But everything’s about to change.

Secrets spill out of these pages like hornets out of a nest, each with its own distinct sting, as author Smith weaves a thrill-packed and complicated San Francisco mystery that’s as much about how little we know about our nearest and dearest as it is about whodunit. 

Rebecca’s shocked when Chris Nicholson, her glamorous law partner, is arrested for murder--but not nearly so shocked as when she discovers Chris can’t come up with an alibi. What she was doing, Chris says, involves a secret so damaging she’d be drummed out of San Francisco legal circles if anyone knew. Sure enough, when Rebecca uncovers it, her world tilts on its axis—and continues to list, ever more dangerously, as the story picks up speed and this formerly rational lawyer finds her worldview threatened by things she never knew existed. At least not in her circle! And Chris is far from the only one with a skeleton in her closet. 

Fans of Nancy Pickard’s delicate psychological probes, Janet Evanovich’s wild romps, and Marcia Muller’s complex yarns will appreciate this one. 
 

Author Alert: I wrote these after I'd written the first book in the Skip Langdon Police Procedural Series, which is a much darker proposition than the Rebecca Schwartz books. Usually. But some readers have remarked that these two are a good deal darker than the three previous titles in the series -- edgier, more realistic, and...well, just not as funny. Guilty as charged. (Sorry! They just came out that way.) DEAD IN THE WATER has some scary scenes, and some readers have been offended by the way the characters wrestle with issues of religion and lack of same in OTHER PEOPLE’S SKELETONS. Whatever you decide, we've got your back: if you think you’ll like it and you guess wrong, we’ll refund your money and throw in a free book! Just write me at juleorleans@cox.net. --Julie Smith

BONUS SHORT STORY: BLOOD TYPES

This one’s absolutely shivery. If you’re a lawyer, and someone you haven’t heard from in years calls to ask how to execute a holographic will, what are you to think if he dies the next day? For all fans of Bay Area mysteries, with perhaps more appeal to readers of noir than cozies.

Connor Marin, a military-trained PI, struggles to protect a beautiful woman from the Russian mob, while plotting revenge on the man who murdered his army brother.

Connor and five team members had been part of a Ranger squad fighting the cartels in South America, when their communications got hacked. That meant that Sanchez, Connor's closest friend, a man he had laughed and drank with, had been butchered by the cartels while trying to protect his wife and children. The army brass never suspected the murders were more than simple executions. But that wasn't what Connor found.

Justice is about to knock on the killer's door.

This is the second of three books in The Detective Series. The Killer Trap can be read without having read the other books.

Bliss, Texas will never be the same. A murder will make sure of that.

The town Sheriff is fat, happy, and useless. Just like his daddy before him and his dad before that.

Ethel and Velma Harmon should know. They’ve been around for all three.

These two seventy-something sisters-in-law refuse to let their ages slow them down. Especially when there’s a mystery to get tangled up in.

The only thing that takes their time away from the whole ball of yarn is, well, a ball of yarn. Crochet class can’t be missed. No matter what.

But keeping things on track isn’t easy. Not with old high school boyfriends that still think they’re eighteen and overly friendly mailmen offering up winks.

Throw in a dead candidate for mayor, a gender-confused cat, and a splinter-giving park bench, and you’re in for one heck of a time.

Come fall in love with these two funny old ladies as they solve the small-town crime of who killed the new guy running for mayor, and make blankets, shawls, and the occasional pair of panties—one stitch at a time.

THE LURE OF THE TRACK, A RIDE ON THE WILD SIDE, AND DANGER AT EVERY TURN…

"This little gem of a mystery centers around murder, mayhem and race-fixing at a fictional racetrack ... Dawson, a longtime racing fan, has really done her homework well... " --California Thoroughbred

Intrepid Jeri Howard, Janet Dawson’s savvy female private eye, steps into the Winner’s Circle in Dawson's NINTH action-packed mystery, set almost entirely at a track seething with intrigue. Author Dawson takes us to the fascinating and forbidden backside, where you practically need a hotwalker for the humans, as owners fret, jockeys throw fits, and vets sweat to hold overworked horses together with duct tape.

Overworked is a hazard of the job, but “injured” can result in lost fortunes or death—and not just death for horses, as Jeri soon finds out. You don't have to be a detective to know that if it's a track, there’s always a bad actor out there, looking to make a killing the easy way. And if they have to kill to do it, our intrepid PI’s not going to rest until the desperation stakes.

So here’s how it goes—one dead jockey, then two dead jockeys, three exotic poisons, and several possible payoffs—Jeri’s positively in a lather! But you can wager she’s going to show her stuff in the stretch and take home the purse. (She’s reliable that way.)

Dawson’s complex plot is a pleasure, but the rich backside lore makes this one a sure thing. When you can practically feel the breeze as the horses sweep by, you know you can't lose!

Dick Francis fans will be in heaven, as well as lovers of women sleuths of all kinds, but especially female private investigators like Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, Linda Barnes’ Carlotta Carlyle and Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone.

“I don’t know how much Janet Dawson knew about racing before writing A Killing at the Track but she makes you feel as though she’s gotten up at dawn to watch the horses work out all her life. She makes the most of her setting and peoples her story with wonderful characters. Highly recommended.” --Sally Powers, I Love A Mystery

2015 WINNER USA Best Book Award, Cross Genre Fiction

A heartfelt and hilarious mystery from this bestselling and award-winning author of the What Doesn't Kill You romantic mystery series.

When a dead body swan-dives from a balcony into the pool at a wedding, gossip comes to a halt about disgraced paralegal and former rodeo queen Emily—whose husband left her for a woman who turns out to be a man. Enter Jack, a secretive attorney and sexy mix of cowboy and Indian. She refuses to work for him, until she learns about the disappearance of the six-year old daughter of his notorious client Sofia, the wedding shooter, who is also an illegal immigrant. Emily feels a strange affinity with the girl and launches a desperate search for her. Bodies pile up in her wake across Texas and New Mexico as the walls around her own secrets begin to crumble, and the authorities question whether the child is anything but a figment of her imagination.

A mysterious hitman opens fire on a Tel Aviv café and opens a Pandora's box.

It is a warm and sunny day when gunfire destroys the peace of lunchtime diners at a trendy café in central Tel Aviv. The shots, fired by a mysterious biker, hit several people, and two of them die on the spot: Kobi Ozri, a former criminal and police informer, and a young woman, a local office worker. Kobi's handler, Hadas Levinger, is immediately brought in to solve the double murder. As she mourns Kobi's death and confronts a public storm about the powerlessness of the police in their battle against the underworld, Hadas sets out on a journey full of startling twists and turns, until she exposes the surprising truth - all the while facing shattering revelations in her personal life.

The Hit is the second book in the Inspector Hadas Levinger series. It was preceded by Hill of Secrets.

"[The] weird, beautiful, unapologetically apocalyptic Last Policeman trilogy is one of my favorite mystery series."—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns

Winner of the 2013 Edgar® Award Winner for Best Paperback Original!

What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?
 
Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.
 
The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.
 
The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

Ebook contains an excerpt from the anticipated second book in the trilogy, Countdown City. 

New Contest to Feature Fans and Readers Inside the Mysteries!

Clara Shortridge Foltz faces a patriarchal nemesis in 1884 San Francisco. When a white prostitute is murdered and flayed down to a skeleton, Clara is hired by the Six Companies of Chinatown to defend the 16 males who are swept up by the Chinatown Squad. This ragtag and corrupt group of sheriffs work for the mayor,Washington Bartlett. The mayor uses the nation's anti-Chinese sentiment in his quest to win the race for governor of California.  

Foltz, the first woman admitted to the California Bar, must learn fast to become a detective in order to prove that her client, journalist George Kwong, is not the killer but was set up by the mayor to take the fall. Along with Ah Toy, her trusted translator and best friend, she is instructed by the head of detectives, Captain Isaiah Lees. Lees becomes enamored with Clara, who is having personal problems with sexual commitment due to her first marriage with Jeremiah Foltz. He was a Union vet who deserted Clara and their five children for a younger woman.   

Captain Lees has personal problems of his own, as he has devoted all his time to fighting the corrupt politicians and the Chinatown Squad for 20 years and has not even made time for female relations. Theirs is a very special kind of romance.   

Clara brings a national spotlight to bear on her case, as thousands of women flock to the City by the Bay to support her effort to win against these patriarchal forces. The Chinese are also oppressed, and Clara and Ah Toy become embroiled in a deadly came of cat and mouse to trap the real killer and save George Kwong. 
 
"An engaging mystery with a historically informative feminist bent."  
 
Anita Lock, Clarion Book Reviews, Foreword Reviews
 
"It was a darn good read and an excellent mystery."  
 
Grant Leishman, Author of The Second Coming
 
"I envision Chinawoman's Chance as a staple in the library of many historical mystery collectors."
 
Lisa McCombs, Author of I Have MS
 
From author Jim Musgrave, Chanticleer International CLUE Book Award winner with multiple mystery titles "Featured" by the American Library Association.
 
In this exciting first Chinese fiction mystery novel from Musgrave's Portia of the Pacific Historical Mystery series, emerges one of the best female heroine novels this year. 
 
Clara Shortridge Foltz, Esq. is the first woman admitted to the State Bar of California. It is 1884 in San Francisco's Chinatown. 
 
Clara stands up against sexism and racism in 19th century San Francisco. 
 
After losing her case in a sexist and racist kangaroo court, Clara learns to use street tactics to find the real killer.
 
Now you can see how it was in California before civil rights became an issue for anyone but males.

Are you tired of boring books? Are you looking for something you can’t put down?

Look no further.

Meet John Hilt. He lives The American Dream. His corner office looks out over Dallas’s beautiful skyline. His amazing wife and children love him. His father and sister adore him. John has it all.

Except there’s just one problem. His name is Harry.

John knew Harry a long time ago, when they were kids. Harry shouldn’t be here now, though, because he died as a teenager.

But he’s back. John’s seeing him everywhere, and Harry is telling him awful, awful things … He wants John to do something he hasn’t done in years.

He wants John to start killing people again.

Now, dead bodies are showing up across the city and Detective Alan Tremock has been assigned to the case. A meticulous and unrelenting cop, he’ll risk everything to find the murderer creating havoc in Dallas.

John’s grip on reality is breaking. Tremock is getting closer and closer to the truth. And, all the while Harry just keeps whispering, “Kill them, John. Kill them all…”

If you liked The Silence of the Lambs, you’ll love this taut psychological thriller! Grab this book today, but just take sure you leave the light on!
 

Partial Author Interview with Thriller Fiction Monthly

Question: Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. What are you trying to do when you write a book?

David Beers: I think all of us are looking for an escape from reality. We find it at the movies, in alcohol or drugs, and even books. For me, when the story is flowing, my purpose is to sweep the reader away. Not forever. They’ve got to go back to their family at some point, but, while they have my book open, I want them lost in it. I want them desperate to see what’s on the next page.

Question: Do you think you succeed?

David Beers: From my perspective, any writer worth his salt writes with some self doubt. I have a core group of fans who are very loyal, and very honest with me, and I truly value their feedback. So, if I asked them, I think they would say I succeed almost all the time. That’s why they love my work. The good thing, though, is that if you don’t like it, you can return it within 7 days and get a full refund. So you might be trying out a new author, but there’s really no risk.

Question: Talk about pricing a bit. You’ve got these major publishers charging $13.99 and $14.99 for an e-book, and here you are charging under 5 bucks. What makes you do it?

David Beers: That’s a great question. To me, it’s an incredible advantage to price so much less. I would put my novels up against any of theirs all day long, but I’m giving customers a tremendous value. For less than a McDonald’s meal, you’re going to get a lot of entertainment. For many people, I’m a new author, and so taking a chance on me with their hard earned dollars isn’t the easiest choice. My pricing makes it easy. You can get my books for under $5. Try that with any other major publishing houses. So, customers are getting a much better deal when they buy my books. It’s a win-win.

In Close Your Eyes, The New York Times bestselling duo Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen are back with a suspenseful novel about a once-blind woman with a talent for tracking serial killers

The FBI doesn't usually consult with music therapists to solve their cases. But Kendra Michael's astonishing powers of observation and analysis have made her a favorite of law enforcement agencies all across the country. Blind for the first twenty years of her life, she cares little for investigative work but can't deny her unique skill, or the results she's been able to facilitate. Kendra learned at an early age to become hyper-aware of her surroundings, perfecting the art of picking up the most subtle audio, olfactory, and tactile cues in the world around her. Like a secret weapon, she is in high demand.

Former FBI agent Adam Lynch, known as The Puppetmaster, has weapons of his own. He's a notorious master manipulator, skillfully handling criminals and colleagues alike to get the results he wants. Now he needs Kendra's special brand of help, but she's not interested until Lynch reveals that Agent Jeff Stedler—Kendra's ex—is missing and may have run directly into the path of a serial killer. What began as a heinous murder investigation escalates into something even larger and more frightening: a multi-million dollar conspiracy to hide a secret that's worth killing for, again and again and again.

A TOY TO KILL FOR

Celebrated criminal lawyer Marc Kadella takes on the fall-out of a class action suit against a beloved corporate toy company gone wrong—and ends up falling down a rabbit hole of insider trading, sex scandal, political corruption, and murder, in the eighth page-turner of the Marc Kadella legal mystery series.

Like most investors, venture capitalist Cal Simpson has his fingers in many a financial pie. There’s cutting edge war plane procurement, state-of-the-art toy manufacturing, and the occasional affair with the right politician (to name a few). Some call him a shady Wall Street kinda guy. Others know him to be a tyrant—a mastermind with puppets intricately connected by a billion dollar string.

One of his pet projects is the newest Cannon Brothers toy—a motorized skateboard for kids as young as 10 that takes the marketplace by storm, until it blows up—literally. Seems its Chinese manufacturer has installed lithium batteries that overheat the braking system, sometimes causing it to explode—leaving 24 kids dead and 500 injured. But the bigger problem is just as sinister: the small pool of people with insider knowledge of the defect are beginning to disappear…

First there’s Irving Haraldson, a company engineer who discovered the defect before release and brought it to management with a furrowed brow. He was told every single battery would be replaced, release date be damned. And then he was discovered behind a Minneapolis pick-up bar with 3 bullets in his head.

Then there’s the capable albeit young corporate lawyer Lynn McDaniel, who was assigned to defend Cannon Brothers in litigation. After discovering the engineer’s memo and distributing it to her boss, Zach Evans, she turns up dead in the woods en route to a 4th of July party being thrown by Zach’s father-in-law: Cal Simpson.

Zach finds himself on trial for murder, with inimitable criminal lawyer Marc Kadella in his corner—and a nagging suspicion Cal knows more than he’s let on.

A bleak and accurate portrayal of the lewd world of financial crime, where not even children are protected from the greedy and power-hungry, Insider Justice is Dennis Carstens’s most intricate murder mystery yet—a heart-racing financial thriller that reads like a delicate puzzle, and a plot that twists and turns with meticulous precision—right up to its astounding conclusion.

Foiled is the Fourteenth mystery in the highly entertaining Dev Haskell Private Investigator series. Fun loving, back slapping, wrong guessing Dev is surprised when Bonnie, a one-night stand from ten years back, suddenly shows up in the office and hires Dev, along with his Golden Retriever, Morton to provide 'security' for she and her business partner Iggy while they complete a software project. Iggy turns out to have a number of issues, add to that the criminal activity of Niles Wegger as he attempts to insert a bug in the software and you've got Dev calling on former NFL tight end, Luscious Dixon for some special help. If you like Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey & Elmore Leonard - make room for one more!

"Faricy is America's hottest new mystery writer...and Dev Haskell is one of the looniest and most enjoyable characters inhabiting the world out there today."
The Dirty Lowdown

"Faricy is the next Carl Hiaasen."
Crime Scene

"I'm not sure what Faricy is drinking...but it really works!"
Behind Bars

FATHER DIVINE’S BIKES exposes the dark underbelly of 1945 Newark, New Jersey; a city that boomed during World War II but finds itself unable to cope with the peace that brings joblessness, despair and crime. As deeply-entrenched white enclaves are squeezed by the mass migration of blacks, escape routes for poor ethnic whites rapidly close. Two Catholic altar boys living in a world ripe for grifters, like Father Divine, soon learn that his promise of heaven on earth has hellish consequences.

In the autumn of 1945, a battle erupts when the city’s competing mobs end their truce. When it gets bloody, other criminal forces poise to move in. Black bookies, using Father Divine’s controversial International Peace Mission Movement as a front, recruit Joey Bancik and Richie Maxwell to run numbers under the guise of newspaper routes.

The boys' families welcome the few bucks they can put on the table. Meanwhile, their parish priest and two homicide detectives fear the numbers racket will entrap the boys in a world of crime.

Turf wars, murders, and a corrupt police department in bed with the mob form a dark and gritty backdrop against a story of post-war Newark and the violence that permeated it.

The annual Mystic Hollow Holiday Festival is right around the corner and Elly Blair is up to her elbows in gingerbread man cookies and magic spells. Running Mystic Cafe this Christmas season has Elly busier than ever, so when she's asked to train Mildred Melton on how to add magic to tasty dishes, Elly has no idea how she'll manage it all. Things only get more hectic when Mildred disappears after an encounter with a strange man. National Organization of Magic Detective Tom Owenton comes to investigate, but before he can solve the crime, he disappears too. Now Elly has to find Mildred and Tom. Missing magic spells and spells gone awry only add to the mayhem.