I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are many mysteries and levels of story in Eye of Newt. Sydney St. Charles is a hereditary witch. She lives in Manitou Falls, Colorado with her Aunt Lillian and her three familiars: Chasdick the golden retriever, Annie the cat, and Mercy the parrot. Sydney also has two brothers and their lives are rather complicated as well. Those complications provide some interesting and entertaining characters as well.

Sydney sees what appears to be a homeless man at the grocery store, and picks him up, offering him work because she feels sorry for him. He's not so much homeless as he is an amnesiac. Sydney christens the man John Elway because Sydney is a Denver Broncos fan, John has a memory of a woman riding a white horse around the stadium before home games, and he tells her he thinks his name may be John. We get to meet many local characters who interact with Sydney and her family.

Clive Newton of the rock group The Newts has been murdered and some of his body parts are being received by various persons. Clive's death is only the first mystery of several mysteries. Not to mention the mystery of just who John is and the mysteries written about in Chastity's journal. I was kept guessing right up to the revelations as to who killed who.

There are also transitions between now and 1692 Salem via Chastity's journal entries. Chastity is a long deceased relative of Sydney's who was also a witch along with her two sisters, Anne and Mercy. Names look familiar? (no pun intended LOL) Sydney's "familiars" are named for the three sisters, even though Chasdick is male, Aunt Lillian swears he is Chastity reincarnated. Chastity's life, those of her sisters and all their collective trials and tribulations were very well done and made me want to learn more about them as well.

I can't even begin to do this wonderful book justice. All of these characters seemed so real because of how well written they are and I felt as if I'd made new friends and met some really interesting people. Mercy the parrot is one of my favorites, and well worth reading the book for all by herself. I haven't had birds in my home since my childhood parakeets that were gifts from my late grandfather, but I may have to get a parrot now. Mercy's dialogue had me laughing out loud even when at a totally miserable doctor's appointment. I certainly hope this will be the beginning of a long running series, both about Sydney's adventures and about her 1692 relatives adventures.

Thanks, Deni for letting me read this ARC and for such an enjoyable book!