by: Carmen Radtke
Series: Willowmere Mystery
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Release Date: August 15, 2025
Pirate loot and deadly feud …
So much for a peaceful next chapter: Novice witch Bex Merriweather has her hands full running a leading library and secretly studying magic under the critical eye of her opinionated familiar and mentor, cat Cosmo.
The last thing newly divorced perimenopausal Bex needs is more tasks needing her attention. But when a podcast connects a pirate treasure and voodoo magic with tranquil Willowmere and treasure hunters as well as occultists flock to the town, feuds erupt.
When a dead body is found, Bex and Cosmo can’t discount the idea that greed and black magic had something to do with the murder. But can she protect her secret and the town without exposing the truth about her inheritance? And is somebody already on her trail – somebody wishing her ill? With only her cat and her trusted circle of friends, Bex sets out to catch a killer before the treasure of a long dead pirate claims another victim.
Axes and Alchemy is the second case in this fun-filled series. Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries, magical mayhem, and heroines who believe it’s never too late for a new chapter—or a little witchcraft!
Pilar introduced her podcast interview partner as Marie Donegal, the last member of one of Willowmere's founding families.
Marie started by talking about her childhood, which led to more than a few pairs of eyes glaze over.
That boredom ended abruptly when she changed topics. “It was only on her deathbed that my granny told the story of why there was a name crossed out on the family tree. Many generations back, when the first Donegals settled here, the young daughter had met a man in the woods, a sailor hiding there. She’d fallen in love. It was only after the birth of her son that she discovered the truth about him. He’d been hiding here, together with a shipmate. What were they running from, you ask?” Her old voice shook. She wheezed a little.
Pilar let her recover before she gently asked. “What did your granny say?”
“The man whose name was blackened out forever, why, he was a pirate. He was working together with the man who stole the treasure map from Iron Jim Sallow. The map led them here, to our town, only back then it was nothing but a handful of log cabins.” Marie fell silent.
I looked around. The last time I’d seen an audience as rapt was at Bingo night when the jackpot had reached a thousand dollars.
The podcast continued with Pilar saying, “Thank you, Marie. We have another lady with us tonight, who can shed more light on the pirate connection. Wendy Fox, whose granddaughter Harper runs the Blue Moon Inn, also has quite a tale to tell.”
Harper pressed her knuckles into her mouth as she heard Nana Wendy thin old voice.
“Oh, there were always a few rumors about pirates along the coast. Sir Francis Drake and such. My great-grandfather swore it was true, about Iron Jim and a treasure. He swore ‘till his dying days that there’s pirate loot buried in the woods, and even more.” A wheeze escaped her.
Behind the bar, Pilar mouthed the next words in sync with her recorded self. “More than pirate treasure?”
“Oh, dear me, yes. Stands to reason. The pirates sailed the Caribbean, and they’d meet all sorts of voodoo and foreign witchcraft.”
I gasped.
Nana Wendy continued, with long pauses between words as she summoned her energy. “The rumor was, in the treasure chest is also the recipe for alchemy.”
“That’s transmutation, right?” Pilar sounded awed. “Like, gold from iron?”
“That’s what they said. And that the map still exists. Hid in an old book.”
Marie started by talking about her childhood, which led to more than a few pairs of eyes glaze over.
That boredom ended abruptly when she changed topics. “It was only on her deathbed that my granny told the story of why there was a name crossed out on the family tree. Many generations back, when the first Donegals settled here, the young daughter had met a man in the woods, a sailor hiding there. She’d fallen in love. It was only after the birth of her son that she discovered the truth about him. He’d been hiding here, together with a shipmate. What were they running from, you ask?” Her old voice shook. She wheezed a little.
Pilar let her recover before she gently asked. “What did your granny say?”
“The man whose name was blackened out forever, why, he was a pirate. He was working together with the man who stole the treasure map from Iron Jim Sallow. The map led them here, to our town, only back then it was nothing but a handful of log cabins.” Marie fell silent.
I looked around. The last time I’d seen an audience as rapt was at Bingo night when the jackpot had reached a thousand dollars.
The podcast continued with Pilar saying, “Thank you, Marie. We have another lady with us tonight, who can shed more light on the pirate connection. Wendy Fox, whose granddaughter Harper runs the Blue Moon Inn, also has quite a tale to tell.”
Harper pressed her knuckles into her mouth as she heard Nana Wendy thin old voice.
“Oh, there were always a few rumors about pirates along the coast. Sir Francis Drake and such. My great-grandfather swore it was true, about Iron Jim and a treasure. He swore ‘till his dying days that there’s pirate loot buried in the woods, and even more.” A wheeze escaped her.
Behind the bar, Pilar mouthed the next words in sync with her recorded self. “More than pirate treasure?”
“Oh, dear me, yes. Stands to reason. The pirates sailed the Caribbean, and they’d meet all sorts of voodoo and foreign witchcraft.”
I gasped.
Nana Wendy continued, with long pauses between words as she summoned her energy. “The rumor was, in the treasure chest is also the recipe for alchemy.”
“That’s transmutation, right?” Pilar sounded awed. “Like, gold from iron?”
“That’s what they said. And that the map still exists. Hid in an old book.”
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The Willowmere Mystery Series:
Heartbreak & Hexes (Book 3) releases November 27, 2025
She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist and screenwriter.
When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.
The shaken but stirring novel made it to the longlist of the Mslexia competition, and her next book and first mystery, The Case Of The Missing Bride, was a finalist in the Malice Domestic competition in a year without a winner. Since then she has penned several more cozy mysteries, including the Genie and Adriana Darling ghost mysteries and the Jack and Frances series set in the 1930s.
Carmen now lives in Italy with her human and her four-legged family. Although she possesses no witchy powers, she’s known to be easily held spellbound by animals.
Places to find Carmen Radtke:
You can follow the Axes & Alchemy Blog Tour here.
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