Roberta Writes – Halloween Book Festival: Good Liniment, The Hat #5 by C.S. Boyack

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Good Liniment is my favourite The Hat book so far. C.S. Boyack has a new edition to this series, Goodbye Old Paint, available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Old-Paint-Hat-Book-ebook/dp/B0CJ7B84TW

What Amazon says

Someone is murdering members of the local witches coven. They turn to Lizzie and the hat for their unique skills that might help eliminate the killers.

A religious zealot might be a monster, but is still a human being. This task isn’t the same as staking vampires or shooting zombies. It isn’t the usual project Lizzie takes on for her night work.

This all takes place during a recovery period for Lizzie. She needs to keep her cover band together and find a new way of getting them gigs. More bands and less venues are making finances tight. The hat didn’t make things easier during her absence, by spreading rumors about why she took her sabbatical.

Someone killing others over a point of view insults Lizzie’s sensibilities. She has secrets to keep. Her employers have secrets, too. It doesn’t make for a comfortable working environment, but she agrees to do what she can.

Convincing her strong willed employers to stay indoors during all this poses another problem. Can she keep them alive long enough to finish her task?

Good Liniment is full of magic, magical creatures, and an entire underground community living amongst us.

The Hat Series consists of short novels that can be read in a single afternoon. They’re full of snarky, dark humor and can be easily read out of order.

My review

This is my favourite The Hat book so far. Lizzie is at home with her parents recovering from a mental breakdown following an unexpected death. The Hat has to perform some interesting antics to keep things going at the flat he shares with her during this absence, and also to get to Lizzie’s parents house and persuade her to come home. I enjoyed this unexpected introduction.

Lizzie is requested to meet with a coven of local witches following the murder of one of their members. Lizzie knows the dead member and is determined to help. She learns about the witches meeting place, a local pub and restaurant called Good Liniment, and gets to meet several new witches, all of whom are interesting and have their own quirks.

My favourite of the witches was the young Dash, a sixteen year old trainee witch who has recently been taken under the wing of the highly accomplished Cyrus.

This novella retains the dark humour of the other Hat books, but I found it’s subject matter to be scarier. Some of the events, and the reasons these events occur, reached deeper into the blackness of some peoples hearts, especially people who have fanatical beliefs. This aspect of the book was most relatable given the current state of the world.

A most enjoyable and entertaining read.

Amazon US purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Liniment-Hat-Book-5-ebook/dp/B09VHBFNT2

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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69 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Halloween Book Festival: Good Liniment, The Hat #5 by C.S. Boyack”

  10. This seems like a very intriguing and imaginative book. People with fanatical believes are so strange and scary but unfortunately common. I can certainly see how that relates to the current world like you say. Thank you for a great review.

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  13. What a wonderful review, Robbie! I loved this story. It showed a different side to Lizzie and she somehow became more vulnerable. This was my favorite C.S. Boyack book until I read Once Upon A Time In The Swamp. 🙂 Now, I’m looking forward to Goodbye Old Paint, soon. Thank you for sharing, Robbie and congrats, Craig!

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  17. I really enjoyed this Hat story, and I got a kick out of Dash. I thought the book’s cover was stunning. I’m going to start reading his latest, Goodbye, Old Paint tonight. Looking forward to it.

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  20. Wonderful review, Robbie. Congratulations to Craig for yet another stellar acknowledgment. I’m looking forward to his latest on my Kindle. 😊

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