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.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for this eCopy to review

I recently read The Witchfinder’s Assistant by Ruth Goldstraw, and it was a fascinating journey into 17th-century England. Set in the small town of Wem during the Civil War, the story follows John Carne, a former cavalryman who becomes the assistant to a Justice of the Peace. The town is gripped by fear and superstition, and when a body is found with its mouth pierced by thorns, the Justice is quick to suspect witchcraft.

The historical setting is richly detailed, and Goldstraw does an excellent job of capturing the tension and paranoia of the time. The bleak moors and the snug, wood-panelled rooms create a vivid backdrop for the unfolding drama. John Carne is a compelling protagonist, torn between his duty and his own secrets, which add depth to his character.

One of the strengths of the novel is its exploration of the themes of prejudice and fear. The townspeople’s quickness to blame witchcraft for their troubles is a poignant reminder of how easily fear can lead to injustice. The mystery surrounding the murder kept me engaged, and I appreciated the way the story delved into the darker aspects of human nature.

However, there were moments when the pacing felt a bit slow, and some of the secondary characters could have been more developed. Despite these minor issues, the book’s strong atmosphere and intriguing plot made it a worthwhile read

The Witchfinders Assistant by Ruth Goldstraw is set during the 1600s. John Carne gets a job as the assistant of the town magistrate, who believes there are witches everywhere.

I did enjoy this book for the most part but some of the dialogue, especially from the magistrate, was quite cringe and I found myself rollingy eyes at some points. The characters are well written and the plot is interesting but as I've said some of the dialogue slightly ruined it for me and the ending was a bit predictable, however I would recommend it to people who like easy to read historical fiction.

A fascinating historical murder mystery, The Witchfinder’s Assistant is both enlightening and gruesome at times, though there is also plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour to lighten the tone. Set in and around Wem, Shropshire in 1643, this story is carried both by the main plot, the search for a mass murderer, and by the suspicion, malicious gossip and over-the-top religious beliefs of some characters. The moss bog in which the first bodies are found is almost a character in its own right given the fear that surrounds it. With rumours of witchcraft associated with the deaths, there’s plenty to keep readers interested. At the centre of the story is John Carne, former Roundhead soldier, who was crippled after saving one of his men. and his wife Zipporah, who was thrown out of her family home prior to her marriage to John and who is branded a whore within the town of Wem. Both John and Zipporah are well-educated and while they have an unusual marriage, they work together well to identify the clues. I loved his methods of guiding the thinking of magistrate Sir Moreton Spibey, a Puritan with a strong belief in and fear of witches. I also loved Zipporah’s temper and the way she manages John and her household. She kept me guessing as to what she’d do next. There are plenty of red herrings throughout this story and the finger of blame is pointed in any number of directions to keep readers guessing, but for me it was John and Zipporah and the stellar cast of secondary characters that made this book a thoroughly enjoyble and entertaining read.

Fighting superstition and injustice with faith and professionalism amidst the English Civil War.

This is an engaging and absorbing historical novel set in a period when political, military and religious differences had separated most factions in England from the counsel of those who might have restored mercy and sanity and the author does a good job of conveying this. Sometimes this makes for an uncomfortable read, but it’s still compelling.

Parliament has the best of the soldiers and it is only they, and the servants and farmers, who supply any degree of professionalism. The Royalist soldiers are more of a rabble and feared by ordinary people. Parliament and the New Model Army will win, in part because they give ordinary people less to fear and resist, but also because they concentrate their efforts on the right objectives.

But members of Parliament and the magistrates acting in their name (but under no effective discipline during this period) have little concept of professionalism whilst the clergy on the side of Parliament are effectively in a bidding war with each other to prove their radicalism and “piety” in order to gain preferment once the war is won. They are all for rooting out evil and hanging it, whilst only a brave minority of Christians and those otherwise at the bottom of the social structure are feeding the poor and comforting the sick. In this splintered society, with “moral” leadership from the incompetent while the men of sense man the ramparts, predators of more than one sort have almost a free run. Except that Master (and former Captain) John Carne was too injured at the battle of Edgehill to man a rampart in the foreseeable future and is obliged to move, with his “strange” and somewhat vulnerable wife, to live in a small Shropshire village and seek employment with the excitable and agenda-driven local magistrate.

What starts out as an exercise in protecting his employer from embarrassment, soon sees Master Carne trying to protect an innocent from his employer’s desire for a witch-hunt , then solve a very real murder, then several murders, all in a community that would be better served by completing its physical defences against an inevitable Royalist attack. Then his employer, apparently frustrated by Carne’s patient dismantling of the first witch-hunt, comes for someone much closer to Carne. He has to summon his strength, his logic and his faith that his God does not do or countenance such evil, to win the fight.

(The next paragraph may need to be excised in order for this review to pass the Amazon “swim test!”)
At first sight the nonsensical nature of the unchallengeable assertions of fact by authority figures in the witch trials makes their evil seem comfortably far away from us in the 21st Century, but whilst the legal system now has safeguards against such obvious nonsense, the nonsense that can be presented by prosecution counsel, admitted by the judge and go unchallenged by defence counsel just as long as it’s wrapped up in chants of pseudo-scientific jargon and backed by screens of state-funded power-point charts, is essentially the same. And the effect of baseless accusations backed by “evidence” made unchallengeable by false-science rather than false religious dogma also has EXACTLY the same effect of causing the innocent target of the accusations to doubt their own grip on reality and thus doubt their own innocence. In the 21st Century as in the 17th Century, real criminals known just how to exploit this sort of dogma and the madness it brings. This is an historical novel for our own times.

This was not a novel that was easy for me to get into, nor do I feel like I can say I enjoyed. This was definitely a novel that was outside of my comfort zone but it fell flat for me. This was an extreme slow burn and was too slow for me as my attention didn’t stay captured. I was provided an ARC by Netgalley and the publisher.

I loved this book. Full of mystery and lore about with raft. Historical fiction has become a favorite genre of mine and I love when it's as well written as this.

john Carne has served his country in the early years of the Civil War and been severely injured in the leg. He returns home to his wife Zipporah and, desperate for employment, takes up work with a witchfinder, Moreton Spibey. However, he doesn't really believe in witches and has quite enough on his plate without them, as his wife is cold and unloving.

Then Spibey's son in law goes missing, and two leathery bodies emerge from the bog, staked together and pierced with thorns.

The story is told very well, with a great historical setting. I was a little irritated initially by Zipporah's animosity towards her kindly husband, but as events transpired the reader learns why and becomes more sympathetic. The fear of witches was very real at this time and the mob was easily roused against women they perceived to be witches.

The plot is detailed, and while I worked out part of it, the final denouement was a surprise, and was told in a thrilling and interesting manner. Wickedness can sometimes be hidden behind a fair face. I enjoyed it very much.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK and One More Chapter for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love books that explore witchcraft so I knew this was one for me, I was excited by the setting of Shropshire and the characters were well thought out.

I had high hopes for this book as it had an interesting premise. However I really struggled. Very slow going and I found my attention wandering. probably being set so long ago in the past didn't do it for me. I liked John as a character just overall wasn't a fan.

I just didn’t care for this book at all. It sounded interesting. Perhaps I would have liked it more if it hadn’t been set so far in the past.

Those looking for a cheery witchy novel should look elsewhere or perhaps give this a try. It's a well researched and intriguing look at England in 1643, Set in the small town of Wem, it's about prejudice, fear, murder, and much more. The characters are well drawn and either sympathetic or mean, Goldstraw's an excellent storyteller- this one pulled me in and kept me reading. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. For fans of historical fiction.

The Witchfinders Assistant is set in the 17th Century in the village of Wem during the Civil War when people believed in Witches and Witchcraft .There are some good characters I specially liked John and Baccy .Bodies are turning up and John's job is finding the murderer and trying to prove it was not a Witch ! A slow burner but it soon picked up to an exciting pace a good story with a satisfactory ending .

I am always interested in reading a book where witchcraft and sorcery are promised from the plot line or the title, so thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to review this one. It’s a slow burn from the start, building the plot and introducing the characters, but I continued to read. I would describe this more as an historical murder mystery, with the witchcraft element more of a side plot, so not quite what I was expecting, but I did continue to read until the end, but did scan read at times. I wouldn’t purchase this book, but would pick it up at the library or read via kindle unlimited.

Witchcraft and murder in the 17th century. Books set in this era tend to be about courtiers and royalty. This one is about the people of a small town. Women are second-class citizens, blamed for the sins of men and ducked to prove whether they’re witches or not. The protagonists Zipporah and John are an odd couple, he besotted with his wife, her distant. The reason comes eventually. A we’ll-paced and enjoyable story, if a bit slow to start.

I really didn’t enjoy this book, the only character I liked was John. It actually made me laugh at times. Not like other witch books I’ve read.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

It's been sometime since I last read a historical fiction novel, so when I came across and received a copy of this book in Netgalley, I thought I'd give it a try. And I found that I ended up enjoying this book more than I initially thought I might. I felt like this was a good 'filler' read in between books that I've been meaning to get to. The more I read, the more I became invested in the story and was curious to see how the story would end and who was behind the murders that popped up throughout the story. Overall, if you're into historical fiction and murder mysteries set in the English countryside, I'd suggest giving this book a try.

This was a very immersive piece of historical fiction which was written well with realistic characters and a real sense of time and place
It was mysterious and quite emotional at times especially in the way women were treated and accused of witchcraft
The writing flowed well so I found this a quick and enjoyable read
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc

3.5 ⭐


Things are not going well in Wem, what with civil war, witchcraft and general small town fighting... its a lot!
Mostly I enjoyed this book, it was paced nicely, and had a few tests that added extra trouble to the plot.
I struggled with Zepphora though, a few things, that left me feeling really indifferent to her.
Things really pick up pace in the last chapters, and I got to the end having enjoyed my few hours spent with John, and his lot.