Title: Witch Way to Murder
Author: Shirley Damsgaard
Place/s visited:
- Summerset, Iowa
Thoughts:
I was quite excited to read this one as it presented a great, new opportunity for me to enjoy a new book. The story had a slow start but the action and mystery sure did pick up right towards the later part of the novel.
Ophelia Jensen is a librarian at a small public library in Summerset, Iowa. Unbeknownst to other residents, Ophelia and her grandma Abby possess psychic gifts although Ophelia is quite adamant about not using it after it had seemed to fail her by not preventing her friend Brian’s murder when she was still working at the University of Iowa.
Fast forward four years, her talents started manifesting again following a murder whose victim Ophelia and one of the other main characters, Rick, found. What ensued was a bizarre mix of petty crimes and incidents which dropped hints and clues here and there leading towards the big finish, some romance, which, although quite obvious, did not develop that naturally to my taste, some humor provided by the protagonist’s sidekick, Darci, and a quite satisfactory ending.
The mystery in itself was a bit convoluted although the author tried her best to tie things up at the end. While I like that Ophelia did finally want to move past her reticence and reluctance in using her gifts, there were times when she was just a tad irritating in insisting on locking away her potential. Her moments of helplessness were quite maddening, too. Rick, on the other hand, while described as charming by the author, was just annoying at the start after dogging Ophelia and the others with his questions. He later mellowed and started redeeming himself in my eyes. Trust me, it took a really long time before I started to be okay with him. Haha!
My favorite characters would have to be Darci and Abby. Though they weren’t as fleshed out as Ophelia in characterization, they’ve more than made up for it with their spunk, wit and humor.
For my final notes, I would gladly return to Summerset and revisit these characters but that may take a while as I have decided to explore other books for the Paranormal Reading Challenge 2017. (I have just updated the list of what books I’ll be reading and reviewing for that particular challenge so you might want to check that out. ^_^)
If you’re into witches and cozy murder mysteries, then Witch Way to Murder is a good choice to pass the time especially on a cold, rainy afternoon like we’re having in Cebu today.
