Mystery Monday Postscript

Allison lent me her series of Ophelia and Abby mysteries by Shirley Damsgaard. I read the first and second books in the series in the last couple weeks.

Witch Way to Murder:
Allison's review can be found here.
I really enjoyed this small town mystery. It didn't feel as fluffy as some other mystery series out there (ie: Killer Heels and Murderers Prefer Blondes). I really like all the characters found in this small Iowa town. I think part of the appeal for me was the link to Iowa (where I grew up). Iowa City is also mentioned as well as Minneapolis. I guess I felt a bit of a connection. I liked that the characters were all realistic and not too cheesy or over the top. I also liked that Ophelia wasn't sure whether she even wanted to embrace her psychic abilities. I jumped right into #2 after finishing this one. I couldn't wait to see how the story continued. This was very enjoyable escapist reading.

Charmed to Death:
Allison's review can be found here.
I really liked this entry in the series as much as the first. Some of the mystery from the first book (ie: her best friend's murder) is revealed in this installment and in fact becomes the central storyline. Ophelia does learn to accept her psychic gifts and works to make them stronger. I really like her relationship with her grandmother Abby as well. My only gripe is that I did guess the killer very early on. It seemed very obvious to me. Allison also guessed the killer. I hope the others aren't quite so easy to figure out.

Just wanted to throw my two cents out there as another opinion on these books. I started The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman on Friday the 13th. I thought that was rather fitting. :-) Hopefully, I'll get a review of it up soon.

Happy Monday to everyone and Happy President's Day (hopefully many of you enjoyed a work holiday today!).