Shifting and Shenanigans – The 1st Of A Fun Magical Series by Elizabeth Pantley
Last Updated on April 22, 2026
In a world where it seems like thousands of books are getting published every month, it’s quite tricky to come up with something different. An idea that hasn’t been done before – especially in cozy crime.
After all, how many murder clubs do we really need? But I get it. An author makes a splash using a fun new format, and suddenly every publisher out there is crying out for the next sort-of-the-same-but-a-little-it-different writer.
So, dear reader, how about something out of the box? That’s what I got with Shifting and Shenanigans from Elizabeth Pantley, and it was such fun that I quickly read the first three books in the series, back-to-back.
There are currently 10 books in the Magical Cozy Mystery Book Club series, with number 11 on the way in January 2026.
The great news is that all of them are available with Kindle Unlimited – so if you subscribe, it’s well worth checking them out.
With that in mind, let’s chat about the books and what they are all about.
Meet Paige and Aunt Glo
Life isn’t going according to plan for Paige Erickson. She has just broken up with her boyfriend, has lost her job, and is generally not sure what to do next.
To make things worse, her great-grandmother, GeeGee, has just died. However, GeeGee has also given Paige and her adventurous aunt Glo the gift of a lifetime.
She has left them the Snapdragon Inn, a beautiful home in Cascade Valley, and with it, an amazing secret library that neither woman even knew about.
With nothing to lose, Paige and Glo pack up their lives and get moving, with absolutely no idea of the craziness that awaits them.
Frank and the Magical Library
Skipping ahead, the ladies arrive at the Snapdragon Inn and quickly discover the library, which, it turns out, is 100% magical and comes complete with a talking Siamese cat called Frank.
It turns out that the library only contains mysteries, and in order to keep it alive, the women must continue the long tradition of a book club, and it must, at all times, have eight members.
Cue the arrival of Zelda, the last remaining member of GeeGee’s previous book club. With three members down, there are five to go, so Paige puts up an advert on the community bulletin board.
Soon, an eclectic mix of eight members is formed, and it’s time for the first book club meeting.
Here’s the twist. All eight must choose a book they think they should read. They take it in turns to read the blurb and then decide on which mystery to tackle.
However, only Zelda and Frank the cat know what will happen. The moment a member opens the book and starts to read the first page, the entire book club is magically whisked away into the book to solve the mystery.
Shifting and Shenanigans
In the first book of the series, Shifting and Shenanigans, the book club finds themselves in farming country, where they must not only solve the mystery but first discover the body.
As they are already written into the book, they must get the lay of the land, figure out who’s who, and only when the whole mystery has been solved, can they return back to their normal lives.
This is the formula for each of the Magical Cozy Mystery Book Club series, so in the second book, they end up on a cruise ship, and in the third, they go back in time to the wild west.
It’s a really fun way to keep the stories interesting, and with each new setting, there are new characters and puzzles to be solved.
We also get to know the core book club members a lot better, but there’s a clever twist that keeps the members fresh each time (no spoilers, so you’ll have to read it to find out!).
Thumbs Up or Down
I don’t usually read paranormal cozy mysteries, not for any particular reason; it just isn’t a sub-genre I’ve gotten into.
However, this is a really fun series, and once you submit to the idea of a talking cat and a library that can transport you inside the pages of any mystery book, it becomes really entertaining.
What I will say is that the humor and banter between the characters does get better with each book, possibly because not only do they know each other better, but the author Elizabeth Pantley also knows them better.
If there was a downside, and it’s a minor quip, the majority of each book is focused on the characters and how they adapt rather than on a central mystery.
So, if you’re all about the murder and solving it, these may not be for you. But if you want a healthy dose of fun, a sprinkle of magic, and a bunch of lively characters, give Shifting and Shenanigans a go.
The Series
If you like the book as much as I did, here are the rest in the series:
- Shifting and Shenanigans
- Vampires and Villains
- Cowboys and Chaos
- Bakeries and Buffoonery
- Genies and Gibberish
- Secrets and Scallywags
- Sprites and Scuttlebutt
- Meditation and Mischief
- Carousels and Characters
- Puzzles and Premieres
Have fun, and don’t forget to bring your library card. After all, you never know where the next page might take you!
