The Witch Is Dead: An Ophelia and Abby Mystery Book 5

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

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!

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.

Tink, a fourteen year old medium, starts to have visions of the dead walking towards her in a wooded area. Psychic and practicing witch Ophelia Jensen, who hopes to adopt her, tries to help Tink understand her powers. Ophelia's worries ratchet into high gear when they go to meet Great Aunt Dot at the airport only to see Mr. Buchanan assisting the nonagenarian witch who sees fairies. Tink gets an "icky" feeling and soon after Mr. Buchanan is murdered in his funeral home office. Tink feels guilty because she failed to warn Mr. Buchanan. Hoping to get the teen's mind off of her woes, Ophelia takes Tink camping, which ends up disastrously. Her puppy finds a skull and when Tink sees it she screams that she is being punished for not alerting Mr. Buchanan. Campers hear her lament and the townsfolk believe she knows something about the homicide. When Tink is kidnapped, Ophelia assumes the killer has her; Aunt Dot says Tink is alive because the fairies protect her. Ophelia investigates with the help of a sexy DEA agent; as they follow the clues, they solve a couple of crimes not involving Tink. The characters in THE WITCH IS DEAD are endearing because they are fascinatingly eccentric. Aunt Dot steals the show with her obsessive compulsive need to solve a murder, which the nintyish witch sees as a grand adventure while her Dr. Watsons are mythological creatures invisible to everyone else. The plot moves forward at a rapid pace yet is colorfully descriptive so the reader can vividly picture the goings on. This amateur sleuth fantasy is one of the sub-genre's best sagas. Harriet Klausner