In WITCH HUNT by Shirley Damsgaard, Ophelia Jensen, a witch
in training, is torn between science and the magical gift
passed in her DNA. Beside being the mother/legal guardian of
Tink, a teenager in all sense of the word, she is the
librarian of their small town.
Ophelia is feeling anxious. Why? Was it Tink? She calls
unexpectedly after a sleepover at her best friend Nellʼs
house. This sleepover should have been the turning point of
her popularity, but instead she returns home crushed, angry
and uncooperative.
Was it Darci West, Opheliaʼs
assistant and friend? She should be happy. Sheʼs got a
boyfriend, itʼs her birthday, and her cousin is visiting for
a week. Instead of dressing in her charming but outlandish
fashion sense, sheʼs wearing conservative clothing and
voicing self doubts.
Maybe itʼs the
recent death of the timid bank teller, Percy Gordon. His
uncharacteristic altercation with members of the recently
reallocated motorcycle gang is proof that something was
wrong, but did he commit suicide, or was he murdered?
Ophelia learns the truth about the disastrous sleepover. One
of the girls had brought a Quija board. A gifted medium,
Tinkʼs abilities and control are unpredictable, and she
refused to play. Now the girls wonʼt stop picking on her.
How can Ophelia stop the schoolyard harassment and yet keep
her word to Tink? Of course, Mr. Polaski, Melindaʼs father,
but speaking with him makes the school situation worse.
At Darciʼs birthday party thatʼs no biker babe with Adder.
Darciʼs beloved cousin Becca is hanging all over him as if
heʼs a Hollywood producer instead of a low-life biker.
Danny, Darciʼs boyfriend, may be good at performing, but
once he opens his mouth, heʼs as sensitive as a great white
shark off the Pacific coast. While heʼs telling Darci no,
Ophelia becomes the designated driver and they leave
Stumpyʼs Bar and Billiards for the bikerʼs bar, Viperʼs
Nest.
Cobra warns Ophelia itʼs not safe here. Although he scares
her, she refuses to be intimidated. Unnoticed, Becca leaves
with her biker. Itʼs a one night stand in hell. When they
see her again, she is screaming over a bloody body. One
death has quickly followed another. Ophelia is no stranger
to dead bodies. The Sheriff, the police, and her grandmother
tell her to stay out of the investigation, but this is
Darciʼs family. Even though all the evidence points to Becca
as their killer, her psychic intuition tells her
differently. Using her intellect and magick Ophelia grasps
at the vague psychic images for answers.
Abbey, her grandmother gives Tink a puppy. Why? Tink always
had her studies, and Ophelia was at the library. Another
responsibility she doesnʼt need. Unless she can discover why
Abbyʼs angry, she may not solve this case.
Tinkʼs peer pressure brings her to desperation. Thereʼs only
one way to stop the schoolyard teasing . Play the game. A
simple game, what can it hurt? For a talented medium, the
answer is a lot. Ouija boards can draw spirits, and many are
mean. Something gets lose, wants justice, and doesnʼt care
who it hurts to get it.
Ophelia discovers that the biker gang are extorting location
businesses. Are they also responsible for the fire that
takes out the building housing the Courier News? For her
house being vandalized? For her pets being traumatized?
If you are at all interested in the craft of White Magic,
but want it in a fictional book, WITCH HUNT by Shirley
Damsgaard is the book for you. It reads like a first hand
account of the tears and joys of having this gift/curse.
That was the plus side. The negative side of reading WITCH
HUNT is that Ms. Damsgaard leaves the reader with a lot of
questions at the end of the book. Characters and storylines
that seem unconnected to the plot are brought in with
seeming no reason, and left me hanging.
Small-town librarian Ophelia Jensen is finally starting
to embrace her lot as one of the "chosen"—a psychic and folk
magick practitioner, a.k.a. a witch. Expert loving guidance
from her magickally adept grandmother Abby helps—and
adopting Tink, an exceptionally talented teenage medium, has
given Ophelia's life new purpose . . . until a brutal murder
clouds the sunshine of their days.
Ophelia's
co-worker and best friend, Darci, is distraught when her
cousin is implicated in the small Iowa town of Summerset's
most recent murder—the violent death of a biker.
Unfortunately for Darci's cousin, it's her fingerprints all
over the murder weapon. She claims she's innocent, but it'll
take Ophelia and Abby more than a good incantation or two to
get to the bottom of this crime—what with ghosts, crooked
cops, secret identities, and a small army of outlaw bikers
thrown into this devil's brew.
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