shirley@shirleydamsgaard.com
 

  THE OPHELIA AND ABBY MYSTERY SERIES

1. WITCH WAY TO MURDER—AUGUST, 2005 ISBN-10: 0060793481

 

Thirtysomething Ophelia Jensen wants to live a quiet life as a small town librarian. She's created a comfortable existence with her kooky, colorful grandmother Abby, and if it were up to her, they could live out their days––along with Ophelia's dog Lady and cat Queenie––in peace and quiet. But, to Ophelia's dismay, she and Abby aren't a typical grandmother/granddaughter duo. She possesses psychic powers, and Abby is a kindly witch. And while Ophelia would do anything to dismiss her gift––harboring terrible guilt after her best friend was killed and she was unable to stop it––threatening events keep popping up, forcing her to tap into her powers of intuition. To make matters worse, a strange––yet devastatingly attractive––man is hanging around Ophelia's library, and no matter how many times she tells him she's sworn off men forever, he persists. Soon this handsome newcomer reveals he's following a lead on a local drug ring, and then a dead body shows up right in Abby's backyard. And much as Ophelia would like to put away her spells forever, she and Abby must use their special powers to keep themselves, and others, out of harm's way.

 

 

2. CHARMED TO DEATH—APRIL, 2006 ISBN-10: 0060793538

 

Ophelia Jensen's good witch granny Abigail revels in her paranormal powers. But Ophelia never asked for her bothersome psychic abilities -- especially since they proved worthless when the thirty-something librarian's best friend Brian was murdered by a still-unknown assailant.

 

Now, five years later, another friend is gone, killed in almost identical fashion. Even dear old Abby isn't safe, distracted as she is by her fight to prevent a massive, mega-polluting pig-farming operation from invading their small Iowa town. And Ophelia can't count on her snarling, scoffing nemesis, police detective Henry Comacho, to get the job done, so she'll have to take matters into her own hands. Because a common thread to the crimes -- and a possible next victim -- is suddenly becoming troublingly apparent . . . and it's Ophelia Jensen herself!

 

 

3. THE TROUBLE WITH WITCHES—AUGUST, 2006 ISBN-10: 0060793589

 

When psychic librarian Ophelia Jensen is awakened in the middle of the night by an old friend, Rick, he amusingly asks, "Know where I can find a good witch?" But Ophelia soon learns that her friend needs help with a situation much more serious than his initial teasing suggests. Rick's friend's daughter has disappeared, and it seems that a strange pseudo–religious scientific cult the young woman recently joined may be responsible.

 

But Rick is having a hard time penetrating the secretive cult, and enlists Ophelia to help, hoping her magick skills and special knowledge will help uncover the mysteries of the suspect group. Ophelia and her kindly witch grandmother Abby jump at the chance to use their powers to help their friend, and travel to Minnesota to pose as vacationers. And with the help of a young psychic and a Native American Shaman they meet along the way, the witches hope to save the young woman before she's lost forever to the clutches of this harmful cult.

 

 

4. WITCH HUNT—MAY, 2007 ISBN-10: 0061147117

 

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.

5. THE WITCH IS DEAD—AUGUST, 2007 ISBN-10: 0061147230

Psychic librarian Ophelia Jensen has an exciting life––solving supernatural mysteries with her Grandmother Abby and her adopted teenage daughter, Tink, who also happens to be a medium. But, all Ophelia really wants is to create some normalcy and routine.

When Ophelia's elderly Great–Aunt Dot comes to Summerset, Iowa, for a visit and is out from the watchful eye of her older sister, Dot is determined to find a little fun and excitement, too. The gruesome murder of a funeral director in a neighboring town gives her just that. She's heard stories of Ophelia and Abby's adventures and she wants one of her own, but Ophelia is dead set against it. She's had enough murder and mayhem, thank you very much, but her spry great–aunt has other ideas. And it seems that even the Fates are conspiring against Ophelia, when Tink starts dreaming of ghastly ghosts imploring her for help Ophelia knows that there is another adventure about to unravel.

BOOK 6's  planned   release October, 2008

BOOK 7's  planned   release October, 2009