📖 Book Review ~The Witchfinder’s Assistant by Ruth Goldstraw

Harper Collins
One More Chapter 
Ebook 13 September 2024
Paperback 26 September 2024
My thanks to the publisher for the copy of the book

Sometimes I can almost remember what it was like before—

I was about God’s business—

But I cannot even write my own story.

THE TOWN OF WEM, SHROPSHIRE 1643

Civil war is ripping England apart.

Families are divided, emotions run high.

Whether on the bleakness of the moors or in snug, wood-panelled rooms, danger lurks.

A body is found, its mouth pierced with thorns.

The Justice of the Peace, a godly man, is certain that witchcraft is involved.

Only his assistant, former cavalryman John Carne, looks for reason where others see demons and witches.

But John has secrets of his own – secrets that concern his cold and distant wife. And it’s not long before the darkness that has engulfed Wem grows darker still…

📖 My Review..

With the English Civil War raging, Parliamentarian, John Carne has returned, badly injured, to the town of Wem where he lives with his wife, Zipporah. The Carnes have a strange marital relationship which is full of hidden secrets which are revealed as this chilling story gets underway. John’s injuries preclude any further involvement in the war so he considers himself fortunate to be offered the position of assistant to Sir Moreton Spibey, a local Justic of the Peace, who is determined to root out the scourge of witchcraft. 

John quickly becomes immersed in the life of the village where he discovers that dark forces lurk in the shadows of this seemingly quiet place. The story flows well and I enjoyed uncovering the secrets between John and Zipporah who are both fascinating in their own way. The superstitious bigotry of those townsfolk who are in charge, especially in their search for those who may be responsible for a series of unexpected deaths, is done with a authentic historical feel and I think the author has succeeded in bringing the troubled seventeenth century alive.  

The Witchfinder’s Assistant is interesting historical fiction which looks at the prejudices and practices of seventeenth century life and brings it all together in a fascinating historical murder mystery.

About the Author

Ruth Goldstraw was born in 1956 in Coventry and studied archaeology at University College, Cardiff. She worked for seventeen years as an antiquities restorer at the British Museum,sometimes working on site in excavations, both in Britain and abroad. after that she lived in Shropshire for sixteen years, working at the county court. The bleak beautiful the Mosses in the north of the county, and the history of the area inspired her to write The Witchfinder’s Assistant.

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