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42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
delightfully different mystery...., October 12, 2005
Ophelia Jensen is a small town librarian, hiding from a painful past in Summerset, Iowa. Ophelia's grandmother, Abby, is a warm hearted, nurturing woman who uses her psychic gifts and the healing arts learned in Appalachia in helpful ways.
Ophelia isolates herself and fights against the psychic powers passed down through the generations in her family. Life has been safe and quiet in Summerville. Unfortunately for Ophelia, it doesn't stay that way. Unknown thieves have been stealing
anhydrous from surrounding farms. Then the local newspaper office is trashed. Finally a handsome stranger shows up at the library masquerading as a chemical salesman. Ophelia dislikes him from first meeting and suspects he isn't what he seems but his attraction to the shy librarian is immediate. Romance is
the last thing on Ophelia's mind. Odd dreams have been disrupting her sleep, and she finds a corpse while walking in the woods. Abby warns Ophelia of a hidden danger, tries to keep her safe, but there's only so much white witchcraft can do for an uncooperative subject. To survive, Ophelia must
acknowledge her psychic gifts and use them.
Abby and Ophelia are appealing characters who use psychic powers to navigate their way through danger. The small town Iowa locale is ideal. If you want a different twist in your mysteries, I recommend you give Damsgaard a try.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bewitching Mystery, September 5, 2006
Ophelia Jensen has built a wall around her heart ever since a close friend was murdered four years ago. Considering she has psychic powers, this wall is not easy to maintain, especially since her grandmother, Abby, is a witch who keeps urging Ophelia to embrace her gift. Ophelia has been able to resist Abby so far, but her resolve is threatened by a series of events. Handsome stranger Rick Davis arrives in town, claiming to be a chemical salesman, but asking far too many questions about the rash of fertilizer thefts the town has been experiencing. Ophelia doesn't trust him and does her best to avoid him, but he's persistent, and they are drawn together when Ophelia discovers a dead body. Already plagued by nightmares that may be related to the dead man, Ophelia wants nothing further to do with Rick. But, as Abby keeps reminding her, this is fate and she has no choice. As events unfold Ophelia finds out that her town and the people living there are not what she thought they were.
When I bought "Witch Way to Murder", I thought it would be a light, frothy read, sort of the book equivalent of "Bewitched". Instead, it was a complex and rewarding book. Ophelia is a great character, so intent on not getting hurt again that the walls she's built inside have kept her from really knowing people, like her coworker Darci. Ophelia's past is slowly revealed throughout the course of the book, so readers learn why she is the way she is, just as she herself does. Abby is another good character, content in who she is and not caring what other people think. I found Rick, with his incessant questions to be annoying at first, but he grew on me as a character once his true reason for being in town was revealed. The magick that Abby (and Ophelia to a lesser extent) perform is totally believable, as is Ophelia's struggle to accept her gifts and her past. The mystery itself is a bit darker than in most cozy mysteries, but pretty easy to figure out, since it's obvious from the beginning who the bad guys are. But that's fine, it's the characters that drive this book and make it worth reading.
Well done!
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good mystery..., September 4, 2005
Ophelia Jensen is a witch. She has unwanted psychic powers. It causes more problems than anything else. Ophelia wishes they would go away so she could be a normal person, a normal, boring librarian. However, the powers DO help her and Abby solve mysteries.
Abby is Ophelia's grandmother. Unlike Ophelia, Abby enjoys being a witch. She does not see the results as problems. Abby views them as challenges and she enjoys a good mystery. So when a body is found in Abby's backyard, the two witches do what they do best, meddle.
**** I love this series! The author does not simply give her readers a mystery. She takes them to the edge of reality. Fantastic! ****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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