It became apparent to me early on in Opal Fire that Annino was trying to capture the essence of the movie Practical Magic and infuse her novel with it. Unfortunately, Annino was far from successful at this attempt. Opal Fire was meant to be a quirky paranormal chick lit mystery/romance and therefore; essentially a light read. Opal Fire was so over written that at some points it became difficult to keep my eyes on the page. Did we really need every single detail of what Stacy ate and why? Was I really supposed to be amused that her grandparents, who have difficulty getting alone, went on a marriage retreat and then sent her text messages about it? Why was that even in the story? Even more importantly, why should I care?
Stacy spent most of the time in Opal Fire chasing her own tail. It became apparent very early on who the murderer was and how Stacy failed to connect the dots amazed me? The big Perry Mason like confession was supposed to be startling but I couldn't get through it fast enough. It was all just so bloody obvious. Furthermore, when are writers going to realise that having the antagonist confess and then connect the dots for the protagonist is a cheap device?
