Constance Barker's "The Witching on the Wall" had a few spelling, grammar and punctuation errors; not enough to toss a reader out of the world she created, but enough to give this reader's brain pause at times. The mystery itself was decently written with some well placed red herrings; although this reader did figure out who the murderer was fairly early on, following Barker's path was still a kind of entertaining road to travel on a rainy afternoon. The settings were visual enough to get a feel of Barker's world; this reader could almost feel the breezes wisp across her face. Although this reader couldn't quite taste the clever cupcake concoctions Cloe created for protagonist Bailey, she will admit some of them made her tummy grumble while she realized she was drooling with hunger! Be that as it may, this reader simply could not connect with any of the characters in the entire tale and when this reader is unable to empathize with or for a character, it then becomes a challenging and tedious read for this reader. Is that the fault of the writer? Not necessarily. Sometimes a physical trait will allow a reader to empathize with a character, sometimes a personality trait will draw a reader in, and sometimes it takes a combination to reach a certain reader. Bailey tends to chew on her lower lip when deep in thought or puzzling something out. So does this reader, actually. However, in this case it just wasn't enough to draw this reader in and truly 'feel' for or with Bailey. The characters were simply not developed enough to draw this reader fully into the story, they appeared one dimensional to this reader. Constance Barker is a talented and creative writer, her words just don't 'speak' to this particular reader. Therefore, this reader will recommend the writer - but likely will not read any more of her works. ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on February 22, 2017. **
