4 Stars from me
This is such a hard book to review – it held me captive right up until the end. I guess the end is going to be a bit marmite… If it had ended just before the end, that would have worked better for me. So, I’ve dropped a star for that but honestly feel a bit mean as the book really did hold me in the palm of its hand.
The actual story of who killed Christian Shaw is superb. Trying to follow the information to establish whether her friends Eliza and Isobel really are witches, or just believe they are witches, or were all playing and something else killed her absolutely captured my imagination.
Harriet Tyce is skilled at taking the reader on a journey, trouble is she keeps sneakily changing the direction! It’s dark, it’s interesting and it gets under your skin.
This is a really good read, for those who love witchlore and for those who just love a well crafted psychological thriller.
Blurb: When 18-year-old Christian Shaw is found dead in an Edinburgh park, the city reels – and the shock only deepens when police charge her best friends, Eliza Lawson and Isobel Smyth, with her murder.
As social media explodes and headlines scream for justice, rumours of bullying spiral into something darker: whispers of rituals, obsession, and a teenage pact gone wrong.
Matthew Phillips, a respected heart surgeon, is reluctantly called for jury duty. But as the trial unfolds – and the girls reveal a chilling defence no one saw coming – he begins to question everything: the motives, the evidence, even his own judgement.
Who’s telling the truth? Who can be trusted?
And what really happened to Christian Shaw?
Let the Witch Trial begin . . .
Read and Rated 