Customer Reviews

The Witch Is Dead (Ophelia & Abby Mysteries, No. 5)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Ophelia and Abby series was possibly in need of some light relief after the sinister happenings in Witch Hunt (Ophelia & Abby, Book 4), and light relief is what we get here. Well apart from the mutilated corpses. Not too many laughs to be had there.

The delightfully dotty Aunt Dot, an elderly relative of our heroines, joins the regulars for this colorful yarn. I particularly enjoyed Shirley Damsgaard's description of the rotund nonagenarian, seen through the eyes of Ophelia, Head Librarian and resident witch in the sleepy town of Summerset: "[Aunt Dot] proceeded across the room like a steamroller, her head whipping from side to side as she took in the library." Well, it made me laugh. And she communes with fairies!

Although there are hints of what is to come in the story, much of the first half of `The Witch is Dead' is devoted to character development. We learn a little of the Appalachian-based members of Abby and Ophelia's witchy clan and, as ever, we join Ophelia in her day-to-day life. These novels are written in the first person from Ophelia's point of view.

As this series has grown, continual references are made to events in preceding stories. While this novel can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story, I would recommend that newcomers to the series take in the third instalment, The Trouble with Witches (Ophelia & Abby, Book 3) and the fourth, the aforementioned `Witch Hunt' before reading this fifth book.

Since its rather stuttering first instalment, Witch Way to Murder (Ophelia & Abby, Book 1), this series has blossomed into an enthralling saga with each new tale eagerly awaited. Shirley Damsgaard has created a regular cast of likeable and eccentric characters. I feel that Abby should be more prominently featured sometimes, though. She often seems a little sidelined and I sometimes wonder if the author wouldn't be more advised to label the series as `Ophelia Jensen Mysteries'.

Enjoyable read about a group of witches with psychic capabilities. I am not a complete fan of murder mysteries but this one provided some light moments with the addition of Aunt Dot, Ophelia's great aunt, from the Appalachian mountains. I enjoyed the psychic parts of the book as well as Aunt Dot's cavorting with fairies. However, for me the murders and dead bodies which are the murder/mystery part of the story were a bit gruesome. That being said this is still a worthwhile read and will keep you guessing about the mystery and chuckling at Aunt Dot until the end.

This was a thoroughly satisfying read. The characters of Ophelia and Abby continue to grow more intriguing, and my initial reservations about the introduction of Tink as a regular character are completely gone. Aunt Dot was a hilarious addition to a rather gruesome story, and the return of Cobra/DEA agent gave me hope for romance in Ophelia's future. The pace never lagged, and the parallel stories were fascinating. I cannot wait for the release of the next installment now!

This book is one of those books that you just can't put down... I'm not a person that can sit and read books for hours on end but all of the Ophelia & Abby mysteries are real "Page Turners". I think i read these books in a matter of days (2-3) as opposed to weeks-months.

I HIGHLY recommend these books to anyone who is into mysteries

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Psychic with Ophelia Jensen is getting ready to adopt Tink, a teenaged medium she is mentoring with the help of Ophelia's grandmother, Abby. Unfortunately the adoption hasn't exactly gone smoothly so far and is complicated by other things. The last thing Ophelia needs right now is another mystery to solve.

Now Aunt Dot has come to visit and is itching for an adventure. Fortunately for her, but not for Ophelia, when a local funeral director is killed in his own mortuary, too much just doesn't add up. Then there are the visions Tink has been having about corpses with missing body parts begging for help.

As if that wasn't enough, now Tink has been kidnapped! Ophelia and Abby must really get involved in solving the mystery, with the not so welcome help of Aunt Dot and her fairies. But is the kidnapping connected or is it a part of a completely different scenario?

The Witch Is Dead is the fifth book in the Ophelia and Abby Mystery series but is the first one I've read. While there were some parts of the story I was not up to speed on (like Tink's back story and a certain sexy DEA agent who keeps popping up), for the most part I had no problems following the story.

The mystery to be very well done and it kept me guessing as to what was really going on and who the guilty party was. There were one or two things I figured out right away, if not the motives for them, but generally, I was carried along with Ophelia, Abby, and Aunt Dot as they try to get to the bottom of things.

The Witch Is Dead is a fun to read cozy mystery, creepy crematorium owners, dismembered ghosts and body parts aside. There's enough humor to keep the story light in spite of the darker aspects of the story line. I am definitely going to have to go back now and pull out the books to read the whole series, starting with The Trouble with Witches so I can find out the whole story behind Tink.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, November 2007. All rights reserved.

I really enjoy this series! Anytime "SD" comes out with a new book in this series, it is always on my "request book" list! I enjoy Abby and the characters and it seems to keep me coming back for more!
More to come I hope!!! I really love paranormal books and this series is no exception!

this was a very charming light read. nothing here for the hard core goth but a clever and entertaining read. I wish the cat had had a bigger role in the story but it would be hard for a cat to bring home a skull!

this one was much better than the last one and the charactors are more well rounded. Ophelia still needs to get comfortable with her gift and can these gals be so dense??
I loved the auntie! she made the book in my opinion.. we need to see more of her.

Shirley Damsgaard has crafted a wonderful series of books. Ophelia & Abby are lovable characters and take you along on their magickal journey.
What makes a book or series good to me, is one that takes you completely out of what is going on in your life at this time and transports you into the book with the characters and story lines.
This series does exactly that.
I believe you need an open mind when reading them, to let the real magick come through.
PJ

Once again, Shirley Damsgaard has written a great addition to her Ophelia & Abby series. This time around, we meet Aunt Dot, part of the older generations of women in Ophelia's family who gives new insight into their gifts. Aunt Dot was a welcome addition to the series, & I hope we get to see more of her in the coming books.

I've actually grown to enjoy Tink as well. She seems to be what Ophelia needs & is becoming a full fledged member of the family. As always, Ophelia goes through personal growth, which gives this series a little something extra.