The Witch’s Grave by Shirley Damsgaard

The Witch’s Grave by Shirley Damsgaard

This is the 6th in the Ophelia and Abby Mystery series. I’ve read all of them, so of course I had to buy this one.

Ophelia Jensen is a psychic and novice witch. She is guided and helped by her grandmother, Abby, also a witch who learned most of what she knows in the hills of Appalachia. 

The story begins with Ophelia having erotic dreams about a stranger, but she soon meets this man of her dreams, exposé author Stephen Larsen, at a library fundraiser. Unfortunately, he’s shot right after their first kiss, and is left in a coma. Ophelia continues to have dreams, only now she’s a model in WWII Paris. What connection can there be to the present day happenings? And was Stephen the gunman’s true target, or was it Ophelia? Luckily for Ophelia, Abby is around to help her learn to trust in her gifts and solve the mystery, but of course Ophelia runs into her fair share of danger along the way. 

This wasn’t my favorite in the series. I can’t really put my finger on why. It was a good story, with the present echoing the past, and it was interesting how Damsgaard mangaged to pull all the various thread together. It seemed to lean more toward the magic and supernatural aspects and less toward the actual mystery than previous installments. It just wasn’t quite as gripping, for me. I can’t say this would stand alone, either; you really need to have read the others in the series before starting this one.

I like that Ophelia is beginning to trust her own gifts and hopefully Tink learned a lot during her stay in the hills, where she was sent for her own safety. Darci was around, but not really an integral part of the story, and I was hoping Ethan would show up, but he only talks to Ophelia once, telling her to stay out of the investigation. I guess this one was more about Ophelia’s growth as a witch and some aspects I’ve enjoyed in past books were left out.

This is a fun series, though – kind of a paranormal cozy mystery, if that’s a category.