I enjoyed this story. The characters and setting was nice. The story kept me interested and guessing as to what was really going on. I do feel like it could've been a tad bit shorter, the middle was a little slow. I would read more by this author.

Badly wounded fighting for Parliament and estranged from his family, John Carne, has married a woman he loves but who is troubled and moved to the small town of Wem. Finding a role as the assistant to the local magistrate, John is shocked when a couple of bodies are dragged from the local march, murdered and mutilated. This sets his leader into a frenzy of fervour to find witches in the neighbourhood. However, as more bodies are found, John is convinced that the crime committed is more prosaic.
I rather enjoyed this book as it is a mix of historical fiction and a good whodunnit. It's not too demanding, I didn't find it 'haunting', but it is cleverly plotted. There are some interesting themes explored such as victim shaming and post-natal depression which lift it above the norm.

This was an entertaining historical read but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

The author does a great job of creating the historical setting - the aftermath of the English Civil War and Puritan beliefs. This is also shown in the way people treat and who they defined as ‘witches’. There’s also reference to King James’ infamous work Daemonologie, and how witch trials were conducted, which added to this picture.

The novel was a bit of a slow burn for me, and seemed to focus more on relationships and connections than the hysteria and darkness of ‘witches’ and witch trials which is what I was expecting. John’s relationship with Zipporah is complicated, which adds some interesting conflict, but it felt one-sided. There were hints of it developing the further we got into the novel, but I couldn’t quite get to grips with their dynamic.

Overall though, it was a good read firmly rooted in its historical setting and explores themes of suspicion, murder, jealousy and witchcraft.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

A spellbinding historical tale of witchcraft, secrets, and murder!

Such a perfect, witchy read for some early autumn evenings! I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the history around the English Civil War – and was even more captivated by the murder mystery that spurs this story from the first page all the way through to the end. The settings in this novel really add to the haunting atmosphere that ticks beneath the plot as John and Zipporah work together (and work through secrets of their own) to unravel the culprit behind a series of chilling murders.

Definitely an eerier read for me, but still very much my cup of tea!

The Witchfinder's Assistant is a mystery that holds elements of the possible use of witchcraft to murder and the questioning of it by a skeptic who is assisting a man known for his witchfinding abilities. As the story progresses, we get full stories off all involved and learn that society and its perception of a variety of things can greatly affect how people are seen and how wrong perception (and belief) can misinterpret situations and lead to irrationality.

Even with this depth, The Witchfinder's Assistant is a great mystery that is entertaining, suspenseful and full of great storytelling!

A historical book with witchy undertones. Full of interesting facts and characters. This was a different read for me and I really enjoyed it. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Set in 1643 during the English Civil War, this is a time that I haven't read much about within my love of historical fiction.. this book is a well written murder mystery set in a small village .
It was an enjoyable read if you like this era.

The Witchfinder’s Assistant is a captivating historical murder mystery set in 1643 Wem, Shropshire, blending enlightenment with gruesome elements and sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek humour. The narrative centres around a chilling search for a mass murderer, navigating the treacherous waters of suspicion, malicious gossip, and the extreme religious beliefs that permeate the community. The moss bog, where the first bodies are discovered, adds a haunting atmosphere, embodying the fear surrounding witchcraft.

At the heart of the story are John Carne, a former Roundhead soldier whose bravery came at a personal cost, and his wife, Zipporah, who faces societal scorn as a branded outcast. Together, they form an unlikely but effective duo, utilizing their intelligence and education to unravel the mystery. John’s clever guidance of the Puritan magistrate, Sir Moreton Spibey, highlights the tension between reason and superstition, while Zipporah's fiery spirit and resourcefulness keep readers on their toes.

The plot is rich with red herrings and shifting blame, ensuring that the mystery remains engaging until the end. However, it's the dynamic between John and Zipporah, along with a stellar cast of secondary characters, that truly elevates this novel into a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read. With its blend of intrigue, humour, and historical detail, The Witchfinder’s Assistant is a compelling journey into a time when fear and suspicion ruled.

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When a dead body is discovered with thorns forced through its mouth a pious witchfinder goes to the scene and determines that witchcraft is involved. His assistant, John Carne an ex-cavalry man with a damaged leg and secrets of his own that he's desperate to keep hidden determines to try and find the culprit rather than standing back while the witchfinder persecutes an innocent for the murder. This book is beautifully written and a thoroughly absorbing read. I found it impossible to put down and recommend it highly.

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.An

I'm quite into reading witchcraft books,at the moment , so very much looked forward to this one.
Not quite what I was expecting , and it left me not knowing if I enjoyed it or not , but it was quite different from the other titles I have recently read.
I did read it all , but for me , some of the characters didn't quite get there and left me wanting just a little bit more.

The Witchfinders Assistant by Ruth Goldstraw, John Carney got a job as the witch finders assistant he has no money and he’s living off the kindness of his brother Dick, all because he married an unwed pregnant woman name Zipporah Goodmen. Sir Spivey is a godly man and John even starts to like him but when they find a pregnant woman dead tethered to a man by a spike, with thorns in strangest places. Spivey believes it is the work of witches and warlocks and this is whenHe sees apart of magistrate Spivey that he doesn’t like.
Due to rumors his employer focus his attention on an inlet out of town and although The magistrate doesn’t like it when he cannot make that stick thanks to John’s interference he starts looking closer to home. I found this book had a lot of suspending of belief in it but for some reason I didn’t want to stop reading it even when I got so sick of John wanting Zipporah to return his love because that just became old but the whole thing with the babies and who did it ET see I had to finish the book I did find it entertaining and although there were a couple of times I wanted to smack Spivey upside his head he did make me lol more than once. Not to mention the great historical detail. I definitely recommend this book and although it wasn’t the greatest story I thought the mystery was awesome. #NetGalley,#HarperCollinsUK, #RuthGoldStraw, #TheWitchfinder’sAssistant,

Set against the backdrop of the English Civil War, The Witchfinder’s Assistant follows John Carne, wounded he returns to his home in Wem, where he lives with his enigmatic wife, Zipporah. Unable to fight further, John takes a position as an assistant to Sir Moreton Spibey, a local magistrate on a mission to eradicate witchcraft.

As John delves into village life, he uncovers dark secrets and the hidden tensions within his own marriage. The narrative skillfully reveals the superstitions and prejudices of the townsfolk, especially as they hunt for those responsible for a string of mysterious deaths. The author effectively captures the troubled atmosphere of the seventeenth century, blending historical detail with a gripping murder mystery. Overall, this intriguing historical fiction highlights the era's biases and practices, making for a compelling read.

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.