Ophelia Jenson, smalltown librarian, is doing her best to settle into her new life as a surrogate mom to Tink (Tatiana) the 11 year old girl she and her grandmother rescued.

Unfortunately, just a mile from her home, The Vipers Nest has opened. The bar caters to motorcycle riders--and not the rich urban biker types. Everywhere she looks, she's seeing leather clad bikers and she, like the local newspaper editor, suspects trouble.

Trouble comes in the form of Becca, cousin to Ophelia's employee and friend, Darci and a failed California actress wannabe. On her first night in town, Becca takes up with Adder, one of the cyclists and ends up drugged and sleeping with his corpse. Everyone believes Becca committed the murder but Ophelia and Darci. The situation gets dangerous, because there are people with a vested interest in keeping things quiet.

Overall, the Ophelia and Abput-down read.

One serious character gaffe in this novel is Ophelia musing after a breakin destroys photos that the printed pic which was destroyed had been on the memory stick of her digital camera and now was lost to her. Hello! That photo had to be processed through a PC, where she should have kept a backup. I'm a librarian and most others I know are quite careful to make sure they have backups of important documents, photos, etc.

It was good, but not as good as the others.

I had a hard time getting into the story. The first 3 books just pulled you in from the first page; this one was a little work. For such a quick read, it took me a long time to finish it.

I was glad of the growth in the characters, but there was just too much hemming and hawing (the story stalled) about motherhood and bad boyfriends. The ending was not a surprise for me. I thought the clues throughout the story made the "bad guys" obvious. In fact, I knew who they were at their first appearance.

I will continue to read this series, because it is a good one. The characters are usually well developed, the mystery engaging, and the story well told. I recommend it.

I didn't think this series could get any better after the third installment, "The Trouble with Witches," but "Witch Hunt" is the best so far. We see growth in Ophelia and Abby's relationship and within Ophelia herself. Now that she has an adopted daughter, Tink, Ophelia's life is completely different. She seems to understand her estranged mother better than before, and I hope we might get a bigger glimpse of that relationship in the future. I'm also glad that Darci has become a strong, minor character. She acts as Ophelia's foil, yet they are the best of friends at this point in the series.

The mystery came to a truly shocking end. I had no idea who the killer was, and some of the characters had mistaken identities that I didn't expect. As usual, Ophelia uses her "talent" to help solve the murder, but the magic in this series is much different than any other series I've read. The magic here is very much tied to the earth, seeming to resemble folk magic. I enjoy the use of runes as well. With the addition of Tink and her ability as a medium, I can't wait to see what this series has in store.