Witch Hunt (Ophelia & Abby Mysteries, No. 4)
Four installments into her paranormal mystery series (afterThe Trouble with Witches), Damsgaard delivers a scattershot whodunit that's more tedious than tricky. When her friend's cousin is charged with murdering a member of a motorcycle gang, librarian and returning heroine Ophelia Jensen reluctantly agrees to use her psychic gifts to help clear the woman. It's no easy case, however: the suspect, Becca, was found in bed with the dead man, her fingerprints all over the knife that killed him. A reading of the runes persuades Ophelia that the answers lie in the victim's past, and soon she's spinning theories and digging into an old crime that may have involved other gang members. At the same time, Ophelia has more personal concerns to deal with, including her foster daughter, budding medium Tink, and her own long-ignored abilities, which she's hoping to hone with the help of her gifted grandmother, Abby. Although the psychic elements are fresh and well handled, the heroine's habit of leaping to erroneous conclusions and brushing off obvious clues may frustrate mystery fans.(June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.