Mystery and Mayhem in Salem: A Book Review of Dream Stalker by Nancy Gardner
I'll be honest: what made me choose to read this story was 1) I love mysteries and have been trying to read more about witchcraft and Wicca; 2) The story had some Scottish characters; and 3) I immediately thought the Writing the Broomstick podcast duo, K.T. Anglehart and Genny Methot would love this story, so I snatched up the ARC!
The ARC I received had a few issues with names and other details, but I've been told that they will be fixed in a later edition of the story. So, some readers may have a version where they're given a description of someone and then Lily suddenly calls them by their name, for instance. Please keep this in mind. It's still an exciting read!
Trigger warning: The book contains suicide, drugs and murder.
You Should Read Dream Stalker if...
- You love characters who embrace Wicca.
- You want to solve a mystery.
- You long to travel to Salem.
- You're partial to dream states.
- You want to learn about plants and their properties.
 |
| Photo by Emily Underworld on Unsplash |
Summary
Dream Stalker by Nancy Gardner plunges readers into the mystery of Jolene Williams' death with a bewitching atmosphere of Salem and Wicca elements. Lily Scott was destined to be a dream-walker when she was born with a firefly-shaped birthmark. But when she is forced to wait until she's older to learn about dream-walking, she steals her Nana's Book of Secrets and is almost killed in the Shadow Land when she is captured by the Dream Stalker.
Years later, her friend, Kitty, commits suicide after asking Lily to find a truth by dream-walking. Perplexed, Lily is then faced with her estranged daughter arrested for murder, and her sister's homeless shelter is threatened. Lily does all she can to solve the mystery and bring her family back together again, including dream-walking after three decades. Will she survive the dream-walk? Can she solve the mystery and clear her daughter's name?
-- SPOILERS AHEAD--
 |
| Photo by Katherine Hanlon on Unsplash |
Characters
Lily Scott: She is a self-proclaimed witch after having learnt Wiccan ways from her Nana. She is a curious individual. She owns a Vespa and takes care of the dog, Merlin, after Jolene/Ashley's death. Lily is a kind individual and doesn't dabble in black magic, but is knowledge of those ways. She regrets not staying in contact with Sarah more and protecting her from her abusive boyfriend. Lily owns an herbal studio called Healing Thyme above Honey's barbershop. Lily was born with a firefly-shaped birthmark, which is the sign of someone who can walk through people's dreams. Lily's Nana is also a dream-walker.
Sam Scott: He was a criminal defence lawyer and close friend to Martin. He used to volunteer at a local soup kitchen. Sam died two years ago. He lived with Lily in their current house for 25 years.
Sarah Scott: She is Lily and Sam's adopted daughter. She was born in China and adopted by Lily and Sam when she was three. She loves Tai Chi and steampunk. Sarah learnt how to make a peace garden from Lily when she was being bullied at school. Towards the end of high school, she was in a bad relationship. She was arrested and went to jail for attacking her abusive boyfriend. Sarah went to Ann for help instead of her mother once she was released. Sarah wants to learn more about her biological parents.
Honey Campbell: She is Lily's landlord and good friend. She owns a barbershop under Lily's herbal studio. Honey speaks with a Scottish brogue and blunt manner. She had a boyfriend who was a burglar, but then he left her holding the bag and Lily's husband was her lawyer. She lived with Lily and Sam for a while.
Martin Seguin: He was in the FBI, but his wife and son were in a violent car crash, so he moved to Salem to make a fresh start. He now works as an accountant and runs a Tai Chi studio. Martin is from New Orleans and speaks with a drawl and often calls Lily "chère." Martin used to have a string of girlfriends, but in recent years, he's had fewer girlfriends. He was close friends with Sam and used to go fishing. He shows a romantic interest in Lily.
Kitty: She was a high school biology teacher and grew up as Lily's best friend. Kitty had to retire because she developed early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. Lily and Kitty had grown apart, so when they met up again, Kitty was homeless. Kitty was able to secure a bed at St. Bridget's, the homeless shelter run by Ann. She was getting medical help from Dr. Tom. Kitty was acting as a go-between to help Lily reconnect with Sarah.
Ann MacAskill: She is Lily's sister and a nun who runs St. Bridget's Homeless Shelter. She had a child with a firefly-shaped birthmark, but hasn't told Lily. Ann is devoted to helping the women at the shelter and tries to stop Mother Superior from closing them down. Ann is more understanding than Lily thought because Ann kept Nana's Book of Secrets, which she may have saved from their father's intent to destroy it. Ann can be harsh towards Lily, such as hanging up on her when she learns that Lily is a little drunk.
Olga Williams: She was an elderly woman and a low-key philanthropist who helped to financially support St. Bridget's. She got sick and passed away, but Ashley was responsible for that.
Jolene Williams, aka Ashley Novak: She is a conniving woman, con artist and high-school sweetheart of Theo. She is also the High Priestess of the Dark Moon Coven and deals with black magic. She orchestrated the death of the real Jolene and Olga.
Theo Utkin: He is the high school sweetheart to Ashley and High Priest of the Dark Moon Coven. He has a gambling problem. His mother was Salem's first and most famous Wiccan who started the annual Haunted Happenings parade and ran a fortune-telling tea shop. Theo is unable to live up to her example and struggles to run her shop. He helped Ashley with murdering the real Jolene and was privy to Olga's murder.
Dr. Tom: He is trusted by the women at St. Bridget's. Dr. Tom has a biochemist stepson named Farley. Dr. Tom is on the city zoning committee. He killed Jolene/Ashley when she tried to blackmail him about experimenting on the homeless women.
Nana, aka Sadie MacAskill: She was a self-proclaimed witch and taught Lily to connect with nature. She died saving Lily from the Dream Stalker, but her spirit resides in the Shadow Land.
 |
| Photo by Juli Kosolapova on Unsplash |
What I Liked
I have travelled to very few places. The only place that I've been to outside of Canada was a high school trip for three days in Salem, Massachusetts. I have to go back one day and do what I want to do and see the historical sites now that I've delved more into Salem and its history. I was a fan of the show Bewitched and only remembered when I was there that a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stevens had been erected near the witch museum we were visiting. Later, I glimpsed the statue from the bus we were on as we passed by it, but of course, we weren't allowed to divert from the school's schedule. I was majorly disappointed, to say the least.
One of several ways that I've learned more about Salem is by playing Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem. A lot of the information about the witch trials was well-researched and matched some of what I had learned from my trip to Salem, as well as from the show Bewitched and the movie The Crucible.
Writing Style
Lily reminisces throughout the novel about when her husband and friend were alive and other aspects of her life. But Gardner doesn't info dump, which I appreciate. She provides the necessary details at the appropriate times, helping the writing and story to flow.
We get a nice sense that Gardner knows Salem because of the descriptions. She references various streets and adds atmosphere with the mention of tourists and the local events, such as the Haunted Happenings parade.
Famous Detective
Because Lily wanted to learn about dream-walking before she was 21 years old, she had to snoop around for Nana's guidebook, the family's Book of Secrets. Lily makes a comparison to being Nancy Drew, which I love. Later on when Lily breaks into Jolene's house to steal her Grimoire, it reminded me of the classic Nancy Drew investigation scenes, especially since many of Nancy's mysteries deal with a will. Lily is as resourceful as Nancy and saves herself in the end.
*SHOUTOUT to It's a Clue podcast hosted by Karen and Kelly. It's only because of them that I knew what a B&E was when I read this book. Martin uses the abbreviation while talking to Lily. I've watched a lot of American law/police mystery shows, but hadn't heard that abbreviation. I have, however, heard of the shows abbreviating "victim," to "vic" within the last few years, which I don't agree with. I find it's already a short word and feels a bit disrespectful, especially when the victim is dead. I first heard "vic" on the Hawaii 5-0 remake and later on Instinct.
The Medicine Cabinet
From my vast reading and watching of mysteries and (romantic comedies), I know that looking in one's medicine cabinet is a snoopy thing to do, so I laughed when Lily looks in Jolene's cabinet even though she needs to hurry up and get out of there.
I found this article that discusses why people are driven to doing this. The obvious reason is that we know the bathroom is a private space, so if the hosts didn't remove their personal belongings, you'll be able to see things you may not know about them. But we don't only gather information from the medicine cabinet, but also from the rest of the house.
"People engage in this information gathering exercise automatically. It confirms what we think we know about the person, but it also affirms a sense of likeness. A degree of conformity is necessary for social cohesion."
Religion and Plants
I think Gardner chose to name Ann's shelter "St. Bridget's" because Brigid (there are many alternate spellings and I prefer this one) was a pagan goddess and later used by Christianity. This shows the link between Ann and Lily since they have differing religious beliefs, but can still get along. The pagan goddess represent hearth and home among other things, making it an appropriate goddess and saint for a homeless shelter.
Throughout the story, we are given details about plant properties and their many uses. I love learning about this type of thing and have been finally using sage sticks recently.
Here are a few excerpts:
"I repotted the tender plants that wouldn’t survive a Northeast winter: the parsley, mint, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, and basil. Then I mulched the more winter-hardy plants, the sage and oregano and chives.” - Chapter 30
"Fortunately, I still remembered the recipe for Nana’s dream-walking tea from that long-ago reading of her Book of Secrets: roots of valerian, mugwort, and Silene capensis, also known as the African dreaming root. I went to my herbal pantry and measured out the powdered herb. A few nights ago, a full moon shone brightly and energized the full glass mason jar I’d left on the lawn." - Chapter 19
Feverfew is also mentioned in the book, which is funny because the first time I had heard of that plant was in the game Midnight in Salem. I have to look to see if it exists outside of Salem. I imagine that it does.
*If you're interested in learning more about plants, check out episodes 12 and 13 on the Writing the Broomstick podcast!
We also get a look at Jolene's altar, which is one that leans more towards black magic, so I enjoyed learning about that.
In the last little while, I have been delving more and more into Wicca, magick, as well as pagan beliefs. I recommend checking out ASMR videos, such as the potion-making videos by Whisperwind ASMR and a recent Beltane collab that deals with many gods and goddesses, including Brigid. Also, check out Johanna Polle's prints and Magick at Home book. INVICUSARCANA is also a fantastic wand shop to browse through.
The Culprit
In terms of figuring out the culprit, Dr. Tom and Martin were my main suspects.
The first time we meet Dr. Tom is in Lily's herbal studio and he is startled by her arrival. It made me think that he was jumpy about something, plus he is a doctor and has a connection to Kitty since he helps out at Anne's shelter. In this same scene, we learn he has a connection to Jolene since he's on the city zoning board and apparently trying to prevent her from knocking the shelter down for condos. I just wasn't sure what his motive was.
Martin was on my list of suspects because he lives next door to Jolene and his alibi is that he stayed over at his administrative assistant's. Earlier, Lily has asked Martin is he was dating Mimi, but he evaded the question. Later, we find out that he was in the FBI. Martin's motive would be tied to anything to do with Lily because he cares about her, or I thought that there was a slim chance that he was one of Jolene's many lovers. He had been scoping out Theo's store earlier and then, Lily found Theo dead, so I thought it was possible that Martin made it look like a mob hit. But as the story progressed, Martin seemed to be more of a Ned to Lily's Nancy, so I did eventually strike him off the list. Additionally, the evidence that Dr. Tom was the one was building up. For example, Rose's reaction when she notices Dr. Tom at Lily's and the point of origin for the bomb at Lily's house was in Sam's office where Dr. Tom watched Lily put the evidence.
In the end, I hadn't figured out Dr. Tom's motive, but I had suspected that his stepson was involved after he meets with Lily.
I like how we see Sarah's memory of how she defeated her abuser and Lily says she wasn't so sure if she would have done it the same way as Sarah if she had been in her shoes (i.e., not killed her attacker). Then, Lily is in the same type of situation as Sarah and does not kill her attacker.
Storylines for the Next Book
When Lily meets Ann early on, she makes a comment about Ann not being able to know what it's like to think that you've lost a child and Ann has a "strange look." This plot line is revisited much later when Lily finds a photo of Ann's child and realizes the truth. Not only does Ann have a child, but that child has the firefly birthmark, which means that they are a dream-walker. This will hopefully be dealt with in the next book.
Martin and Lily have taken their relationship to the next level and have much to discuss, so I look forward to seeing this develop.
And we also have much more to learn about Shadow Land and the Stalker. Additionally, Lily found Nana's Book of Secrets in Ann's things.
 |
| Nataliya Melnychuk on Unsplash |
Title
The title of the book is Dream Stalker. Unfortunately, we are briefly introduced to the Dream Stalker, who makes a few appearances when Lily is in Shadow Land. However, we aren't given any information about them except for their physical appearance. I'm not even sure how they know when and where Lily is in Shadow Land. Nana's Book of Secrets mentions that something bad happens when the Stalker captures dream-walkers and Lily finds that out first-hand. But aside from his appearance and that he shows up suddenly from underneath the cracks in a person's dream cavern, nothing is explained. The majority of the story focuses on Kitty and Jolene's deaths, as well as Sarah's arrest and saving Anne's shelter. So, I was rather disappointed since the title of the book doesn't accurately reflect the story. I find we should have had more encounters with the Dream Stalker or longer ones.
Readers may be a bit confused by the cover because the title says Dream Stalker, but the Stalker in the book wears a black cloak and Lily wears a sapphire robe.
The Herbal Studio
When I learned that Lily has an herbal studio, I thought she would be there at some point or mention something like "after work, I did x, y, z." But Lily never works at her studio. She goes to it to talk to a few characters, such as Dr. Tom and his step-son. I was wondering throughout the book how Lily has any clients or makes money, even though she mentions that she's comfortable financially.
Another strange aspect of her herbal studio is that people show up there when she isn't there. I'm very confused by this because her studio should be locked if it's closed. Yet, Honey calls Lily at least twice to tell her that someone is at her studio to see her. I guess Honey, who is the landlord, lets them into the studio to wait for Lily, but it's rather irresponsible to allow people into the studio while she remains in her barbershop with clients. What if they steal from Lily?
The third confusing issue is that Honey calls Lily when Lily's studio is closed. For a while, I couldn't understand why Honey was the one calling Lily. I thought perhaps people were arriving at the herbal studio because it was open, so then, if it was open and Lily wasn't there, an employee should be the one calling Lily. But this is not the case. Lily does not have any employees, so Honey is the one who calls Lily. I'm also guessing that the entrance to the herbal studio is inside the barbershop since Honey is aware of who's arriving at the studio.
Honey
I was a little disappointed that Honey doesn't have more a role in the story. It does start off well for her; we get some Scottish words and learn about a Scottish dish, but that's where it ends. Even Lily doesn't mention much about her own Scottish heritage. Hopefully, there will be more in the next book!
Handwriting Clue and the Law
I do love that Lily found a clue in Jolene's Grimoire, but because it was obtained illegally, I don't think it will be admissible in court. But maybe that doesn't matter since Martin's FBI friend analyzes the will's signature and discovers that it's a fake.
Going back to Lily breaking into Jolene's house while it's still a crime scene, Lily is already in the house and Honey is outside standing guard, but Martin shows up in the house to, I think, retrieve Lily or to make sure she's okay. I found it funny that he is mad at her for committing a B&E and yet, he did it as well. It's a little strange.
Ann's Accident
I'm confused by the people who know about Ann's accident. Lily arrives back at the shelter to find out that Ann left in a hurry wearing Lily's leather jacket and driving her Vespa because she saw a text from Farley on Lily's cell phone. (Lily's doesn't lock her phone?) So, we are led to believe Ann is going to stop Farley from committing suicide at Gallows Hill. But Lily arrives at the place and Ann is nowhere to be found. Lily finds out from Detective Petrov about Ann's accident. When Lily is at the hospital, she calls Flo and Rose at the shelter to tell them about Ann's accident, but Flo says, “We know. That bitchy boss of hers sent a clueless jerk to tell us.”
I don't understand how Mother Superior knew about Ann's accident. We learn later that Dr. Tom ran Ann off the rode as opposed to having an accident because of the weather and not being a good driver on a Vespa. But it wasn't him who went to the shelter to tell them because, even if he was in disguise, there would be no point to him telling them about Ann. So, I don't know how Mother Superior knew about Ann's accident before Lily. And what would be the point of sending someone to tell them? Doesn't the shelter have a landline? Mother Superior or "the clueless jerk" could have called instead. Detective Petrov doesn't mention having called Ann's order, so....? Maybe I missed something.
Flo and Rose
We learn that they escaped from the man who rounds up all of Ann's homeless ladies from the shelter because she's in the hospital and unable to do her duties. And Detective Petrov tells Lily, once the culprit has been caught, that Flo and Rose reported Lily's kidnapping. But we never learn where Flo and Rose went with Merlin. Lily escaped from Dr. Tom's house and made it the area where her studio is, but she never sees them.
Martin's Mother
A little more than halfway through the story, Martin gets a phone call about his mother and Lily informs readers that "Martin often spoke of the close relationship he had with his mom." Unfortunately, Martin never mentions his mother before Lily's statement. This caused me to be suspicious. I thought that the culprit was somehow trying to distract Martin from helping and protecting Lily as she investigated Jolene's murder, but no, his mother was really in poor health.
 |
| Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels |
Conclusion
There were a few issues with the book, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless and loved learning about Wicca and plants. I want to see more of Shadow Land and the Stalker! It was also a thrilling mystery that, for the most part, was well devised. I can't wait to read the next one in the series!
Comments