Howling Hag Inn Books in Order

The Howling Hag Inn books are magical mysteries linked by Nightshade, the cat detective first seen in Nicki Thornton’s Seth Seppi stories. Nightshade is convinced she is exceptionally good at solving cases, and the people around her have to decide whether to listen. In these adventures, the young humans facing the danger change, but the mix of magic, suspicion, and secret-keeping stays the same.

The first book, The Howling Hag Mystery, follows Raven Charming. Raven attends a school where a string of unpleasant events has people whispering about curses and a local witch. The rumors feel especially dangerous because Raven knows the alleged witch is her own sister, Rookery. The Charming family has magic, but Raven has a private worry of her own: she is the only one in the family who cannot do it.

That makes the case personal from the start. Raven needs to find out whether Rookery is really responsible, protect her sister’s secret, and stop the trouble at school before the blame settles in the wrong place. The story gives readers a school setting full of nerves, gossip, and uneasy alliances, with a mystery that asks who benefits when everyone is ready to believe the worst.

Nightshade is not a sidekick who waits quietly by the fireplace.

In The Poisoned Pie Mystery, Nightshade meets Oakmoss Hornbeam, a boy who seems to have terrible luck. After yet another near disaster, Oakmoss begins to wonder whether he is merely clumsy or whether someone has placed an ill-wishing spell on him. Nightshade helps him investigate a threat that leads into the more troubling corners of magic and Oakmoss’s powerful family.

The two books work as connected adventures rather than one long case. The Howling Hag Mystery begins with Raven and her family’s secrets, while The Poisoned Pie Mystery gives Oakmoss a fresh mystery and a new reason to need Nightshade’s help. Readers can expect clues, rival explanations, magical rules that matter to the plot, and young characters who must speak up when something feels wrong.

The tone is spooky without losing its sense of fun. Curses, ill-wishing spells, and suspicious adults bring real stakes, but Nightshade’s confidence adds a lively, often funny edge. Start with The Howling Hag Mystery for the fuller introduction to this corner of Thornton’s magical world, then move to The Poisoned Pie Mystery for another case with the cat at the center of the investigation.