Book Reviews of Witch Way to Murder (Ophelia and Abby #1)

This is the first of the Ophelia And Abby Mysteries. The list, in order is:
1. Witch Way to Murder (2005)
2. Charmed to Death (2006)
3. The Trouble with Witches (2006)
4. Witch Hunt (2007)

I really enjoyed this book and I plan to get the rest of the series. From FantasticFiction.com:

Ophelia Jensen wishes she was just your typical, thirty-something librarian. Unfortunately, she's been burdened with psychic powers -- an unwanted "gift" she considers inconvenient at best and at worst downright dangerous. Her kindly old grandmother Abby, however, has no compunctions about the paranormal, being a practicing witch with unique abilities of her own.

And sometimes the otherworldly arts do come in handy -- like when the arrival of a mysterious, good-looking stranger to their normally tranquil corner of Iowa seems to trigger an epidemic of catastrophes, from the theft of bomb-making materials to a murdered corpse dumped in Abby's backyard.

Luckily Ophelia and Abby are on the case and determined to make things right. But it'll take more than magick to get out of the boiling cauldron of lethal trouble they're about to land themselves in.

Lots of fun. My favorite things about it are the lack of bad words and sex. I prefer the romance, mystery, and paranormal characteristics to the down and dirty details. If you're like me, enjoy a good mystery w/o the gory details, great characters, and lost of actions - You'll Love Ophelia and Abby!

Title: Witch Way to Murder
Author: Shirley Damsgaard
ISBN: 9780060793487/ Avon, 2005
Protagonist(s): Librarian Ophelia Jensen and her grandmother Abby
Setting: present-day "Summerset", Iowa
Genre: Cozy Mystery, #1 Ophelia & Abby mystery
Rating: B

First Line: Rising panic clenched my stomach.

Abby is a 73-year-old grandmother whose greenhouses are filled with herbs and flowers. She has acres of woods with No Trespassing signs. She also keeps a very low profile in small town Summerset because... she's a witch. Her 30-something granddaughter, Ophelia Jensen, is a librarian, a hermit, and a doesn't-wannabe witch. She has the talent, but she doesn't use it because she thinks it doesn't work. When a rash of thefts in the area and a handsome stranger appears in town, Ophelia is rudely dragged from her comfort zone and forced to make some tough choices.

Damsgaard's plot, pacing and characterization were all just fine. The problem I had with the book was Ophelia. Since she's the main character, that's quite a problem to have. Her unrelieved grieving over the death of her best friend four years ago, her denial of her abilities and their usefulness all annoyed the pudding out of me. I wanted to get a handful of her neck and yell, "Put on your big girl panties and DEAL WITH IT!"

Thankfully by book's end, Ophelia had come to terms with a few things, and the book ended on a good note for me. Witch Way to Murder went from the first book in a series I had no interest in following to the first book in a series that I want to find out what happens next. Good save, Shirley!

I found this book delightful. In fact, it was my first "cozy". I enjoyed the relationship between Ophelia and her grandmother, Abby and how different Abby is from a 'normal' grandmother. It seems that Ophelia doesn't go out and search for bodies or trouble, it seems to find her. I'm anxious to read the next in the series.

Makes's you anxious to read her next book. I couldn't wait to turn pages to find out what happened next!

Great book, and wonderful beginning to this series! Ophelia is a single woman, who works as a librarian in a small town. She moved to the town to be closer to her grandmother, Abby, after the murder of her best friend. Abby is clairvoyant and practices white magick, and believes Ophelia to have similar gifts. While Ophelia respects her grandmother's gifts, she would prefer to work within a more practical realm. When strange things in the town start happening, she realizes she may need her gifts after all. Ophelia is an intelligent character, and while this is a cozy mystery, it does have a serious tone to it. I look forward to reading more of the books in this series.

ophelia and abby #1

Loved this book! I'd already read the second book in the series, and wanted to find out more about what had happened to Ophelia i the first book ,since there were references to that one in the second book . Look forward to more in this great series!

An enjoyable quick read. Looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the series

I really liked this book. The series has lots of potential.

excellent, really enjoyed reading.

Fairly common plotline of an amateur sleuth. Enjoyable read. Just a dabble of the paranormal, but not much.

Very light, quick read. I found I really didn't care about any of the characters, which to me indicates a not-so-well written book. Can't recommend.

enjoyable light murder mystery. midwest setting. i expect it will be fun to follow development of the main characters in the series' books.

I thought it was a really cute book. Nice light read

Very enjoyable. I really liked this book. It's a light read.

Not one of my favorite cozies, but maybe because the main author is so adamantly against realizing her powers.

An interesting story. Looking forward to reading more in the series.

A story about two witches and the trouble they get into.

This is a great cozy mystery! It has all my favorite things, books, witches, mystery, and suspense. I highly recommend this one!

Great book, can't wait for the next one.

I really enjoyed this witch-y mystery, though I felt the ending was somewhat telegraphed fairly far ahead---or maybe I'm psychic! I wishlisted the other titles in the series and am looking forward to reading them.

Very fluffy but cute.

This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I wasn't sure how well the paranormal aspects would integrate into a mystery, but it was very understated, and I really liked the characters.

A quick fun read.Iloved this book.I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

Good book. Very quick reading. Kept you guessing until the end.

Great read

The first Abby and Ophelia mystery. I love these books and can't wait for more to come out.

2nd in the Ophelia and Abby mystery series

5 years ago Ophelia forsaw the murder of her best friend but was unable to prevent it. Now another friend is gone, killed in almost identical fashion. Now Abby and Ophelia may be next on the killer's unless they take matters into their own hands.

Ophelia Jensen wishes she was just your tyical, thirty-something librarian. Unfortunately, she's been burdened with psychic powers--an unwanted "gift" she considers inconvenient at best and at worst downright dangerous. Her kindly old grandmother Abby, however, has no compunctions about the paranormal, being a practicing witch with unique abilities of her own. And sometimes the otherwordly arts do come in handy--like when the arrival of a mysterious, good-looking stranger to their normally tranquil corner of Iowa seems to trigger an epidemic of catastrophes, from the theft of bomb-making materials to a murdered corpse dumped in Abby's backyard. Luckily Ophelia and Abby are on the case and determined to make things right. But it'll take more than magick to get out of the boiling cauldron of lethal trouble they're about to land themselves in.

Great book!

Clever and good plot line.

Ophelia Jensen is a librarian who has been given psychic powers, which she doesn't want, and tries her best to ignore. Her grandmother Abby is a practicing witch, even though she keeps this fact somewhat secret from the residents of their small town. AFter a stranger comes to town and starts asking probing questions, crimes begin to occur more frequently, including murder.

1st book in a new series about Ophelia and Abby, granddaughter and grandmother witches. I like it very much and look forward to the next book coming out soon.

good 1st book of a series. I will look forward to the next

Ophelia Jensen is a reluctant witch. She wants so badly to be normal but it is in her genes, her grandmother is a witch and it seems like the harder she tries to ignore it, the more the fates shove it in her face. This is a wonderfully funny book with 2 of the most unusual sleuths you will ever meet.

Cute. Just ok though. Not nearly as good as Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking series, Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series, or Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels. Also try Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series (witches, sorcerers, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, etc).

The first book in a new mystery series with a librarian/wiccan protagonist.

Great new series involving a librarian, a witch and a mysterious stranger to town. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A good mystery. Quick read, but a lot of fun!

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