Zoë Kelly, a necromancer and medium, along with her adopted sister Susanna Quinlynn McMurty Jordan, Quin to her friends, who is a white witch, own and operate Witches’n’Whispers, an agency for dealing with issues from “Other Worlders.” In their latest big case, Leo ‘Killer’ Kulhaney, a professional basketball player, is being visited by the ghosts of his mother and two grandmothers and they are warning him that his stepmother is trying to kill his father. Zoë and Leo decide the best way to work on his case without the stepmother figuring out they are on to her is to pretend to be dating. With both of them being high profile, the press will be all over them and that should bring stepmomma out to see what is going on. At the same time, it appears a couple of mob boys want to recruit Zoë to work for them and they are not offering her an option. There is never a dull moment when you work with “Other Worlders.” Will Zoë be able to stop Leo’s stepmother before she kills his father, get rid of the mob guys, and appease the Other Worlders’ Council that is watching over her?

A Tangle of Tombstones by Kennedy J. Crosbie is an entertaining and fun beginning of a new series involving necromancers, witches, and other “Other World” characters. The characters of Zoë and Quin are charming, funny, and endearing. Ms. Crosbie also has a cast of secondary characters that add to the fun; there is Kathy and Robert, Zoë and Quin’s parents, Den, their gay office manager, four members of the Other World Council who seem rather involved in their lives, and a host of other characters that are drawn to this unique duo. This tale primarily follows Zoë as she deals with trying to solve her case and get a handle on her complicated life. And interwoven throughout the story is the theme that Zoë puts quite succinctly: “Family was not always about the people you were born to, they were the people your heart chose.” Zoë and Quin collect and add family members with everyone they become involved with and try to help. I loved this book and am delighted with the lighthearted and fun approach Ms. Crosbie has taken with this series. I can’t wait for a sequel featuring Quin and her problems. I highly recommend A Tangle of Tombstones and I’m looking forward to more books by Ms. Crosbie!

Reviewed by: Stephanie B.