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The Witches Ladder is the first of Dana Donovan’s paranormal mystery series starring Detective Tony Marcella. A group of young people with psychic abilities meet at the New England Institute for Research of Paranormal and Unexplained Phenomena, where under the guidance of Dr. Peter Leiberman, they conduct experiments and research in the realms of supernatural ability. When one of them is murdered, Detective Marcella and his partner Carlos Rodriguez are called to the scene. The murder victim was viciously slain and his liver removed, and Marcella suspects a cult is involved. When another of the group dies at the hands of the Surgeon Stalker, the rest decide to take matters into their own... More > hands and carry out their own investigation, with horrific results. Distrust and suspicion escalate and more of the group die. On whose side is beautiful witch Lilith Adams? Why does she give Marcella a Witches Ladder charm?

Marcella needs more than good old-fashioned police work to solve this case, Not only must he understand the supernatural abilities of the suspects, he must become a believer, and trust the power of the Witches Ladder.

Donovan uses the multiple person narrative mode, which isn’t for everyone, but in this case it works. There is a gritty, old-school, Sam Spade feel to Marcella‘s narration which made me immediately like the man. As the main protagonist, he’s a stand-up guy. At the beginning, as you meet the various characters, the pace of the plot is leisurely, punctuated by instances of eerie suspense, but as the story progresses the pace picks up, racing toward the climax. I’m one of those annoying people who can’t watch a mystery movie or read a “whodunnit” without knowing who did it almost from the beginning, but I had NO idea where this plot was going. This is a good first novel in what promises to be an exciting series (which, by the way, is already written.)

Rated R for gruesome murder scenes < Less

"The beginning of a wonderful series" I enjoyed the book a lot and highly recommend it. The Witch's Ladder is full of interesting characters with some well written scenes. Upon completion, I immediately purchased the sequel "The Eye of the Witch", this one blew me away. I'm hoping there is more to come and this will be a continuing series, for i already miss the characters and i'm dying to find out what happens next. This is an author to watch.