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The Death Pit
Scholar Terry Williams has come to Scotland to study the life of Catherine McCulloch, a 17th-century woman accused of "congress with the devil" and burned at the stake as a witch. But at the moment Terry arrives in Inverness, another killing has been the dismembered body of a beautiful young woman found at a nearby farm.
As police descend on the remote town, Terry digs into the past, uncovering a grim connection to Catherine McCulloch's death three hundred years before. And when a local group of partner-swapping Wiccans is suspected of murder--and more--the two cases come crashing together. Suddenly, in this rural corner of Scotland, Terry finds herself making friends, lovers, and enemies--because of who she is, because of what she wants, because of what she knows about a killer's twisted mind....
As police descend on the remote town, Terry digs into the past, uncovering a grim connection to Catherine McCulloch's death three hundred years before. And when a local group of partner-swapping Wiccans is suspected of murder--and more--the two cases come crashing together. Suddenly, in this rural corner of Scotland, Terry finds herself making friends, lovers, and enemies--because of who she is, because of what she wants, because of what she knows about a killer's twisted mind....
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
6 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Tony Strong
13 books117 followersTony Strong also writes under the pseudonym J.P. Delaney.
Tony Strong was born in 1962 in Uganda, though his parents came back to the UK when he was six weeks old. He read English at Oxford under the playwright and poet Francis Warner and then went on to work as an advertising copywriter at Ogilvy and Mather, an agency which had already bred writers such as Salman Rushdie and Fay Weldon.
Tony Strong has made more than thirty television commercials, including the celebrated BUPA 'You’re Amazing, We Want You To Stay That Way ' campaign, and the American Express campaign. He has won a BAFTA for a campaign aimed at reducing solvent abuse - one of the very few drug abuse campaigns that have ever been shown to have a measurable effect. Tony Strong was recently poached by Abbot Mead Vickers, whose main account is British Telecom. He has published four novels: THE POISON TREE, THE DEATH PIT, THE DECOY and TELL ME LIES. THE DECOY has been bought for film by Twentieth Century Fox for Arnold Kopelson. TELL ME LIES was recently adapted by Granada Television into a series entitled LIE TO ME.
He has also written under several pseudonyms, including Anthony Capella.
Tony Strong was born in 1962 in Uganda, though his parents came back to the UK when he was six weeks old. He read English at Oxford under the playwright and poet Francis Warner and then went on to work as an advertising copywriter at Ogilvy and Mather, an agency which had already bred writers such as Salman Rushdie and Fay Weldon.
Tony Strong has made more than thirty television commercials, including the celebrated BUPA 'You’re Amazing, We Want You To Stay That Way ' campaign, and the American Express campaign. He has won a BAFTA for a campaign aimed at reducing solvent abuse - one of the very few drug abuse campaigns that have ever been shown to have a measurable effect. Tony Strong was recently poached by Abbot Mead Vickers, whose main account is British Telecom. He has published four novels: THE POISON TREE, THE DEATH PIT, THE DECOY and TELL ME LIES. THE DECOY has been bought for film by Twentieth Century Fox for Arnold Kopelson. TELL ME LIES was recently adapted by Granada Television into a series entitled LIE TO ME.
He has also written under several pseudonyms, including Anthony Capella.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 13, 2015
One of the reviewer’s blurbs on the cover of this book praises the “erotic energy” in this book. Well, if one considers incest, rape and a bisexual protagonist who opportunistically engages in sex with whatever partner is at hand in order to titillate the reader erotic, then this is the book for you. Oh, the protagonist is female and writer is male. Go figure.
Says the author to himself, “I don’t have to realistically inhabit my main character, all I have to do is hang contrived plot devices (panic attacks, depression), add a variety of sex scenes with whomever is at hand, give her abilities and wherewithal the reader never would have thought she possessed at the beginning of the book and viola, I just might have a fully realized human being.”
Sure. Of course you will.
Sadly, the core mystery itself is intriguing and the police procedural bits are interesting in a CSI kind of way, but the huge drawbacks under cut what could have been potentially a decent addition to the mystery genre. Maybe next time.
Says the author to himself, “I don’t have to realistically inhabit my main character, all I have to do is hang contrived plot devices (panic attacks, depression), add a variety of sex scenes with whomever is at hand, give her abilities and wherewithal the reader never would have thought she possessed at the beginning of the book and viola, I just might have a fully realized human being.”
Sure. Of course you will.
Sadly, the core mystery itself is intriguing and the police procedural bits are interesting in a CSI kind of way, but the huge drawbacks under cut what could have been potentially a decent addition to the mystery genre. Maybe next time.
June 20, 2017
3 stars--I liked the book.
First, a warning. If you browse the reviews for this book, you'll notice a lot of readers took offense at the way the main character and her sexuality were portrayed. These complaints have merit, and this book has some "male writer writing bisexual female character" creepy moments. It also contains torture, animal violence, sexual violence, and child abuse.
Despite all this, I'm a sucker for the tropes of this book--mysterious cult activity, found journals/letters, a contemporary mystery that bleeds into the past--and I also love books set in Scotland. I enjoyed it, melodrama and all.
First, a warning. If you browse the reviews for this book, you'll notice a lot of readers took offense at the way the main character and her sexuality were portrayed. These complaints have merit, and this book has some "male writer writing bisexual female character" creepy moments. It also contains torture, animal violence, sexual violence, and child abuse.
Despite all this, I'm a sucker for the tropes of this book--mysterious cult activity, found journals/letters, a contemporary mystery that bleeds into the past--and I also love books set in Scotland. I enjoyed it, melodrama and all.
January 21, 2025
I read this book a while ago and started thinking about it because I have been watching “the most disturbing books ever” type videos on YouTube. This would be on my most disturbing list. It’s deliciously messed up. Unfortunately I couldn’t remember the title or author and it was driving me crazy. I finally figured it out with the help of Reddit. Recommended for those who like their books gross and gratuitous.
October 8, 2024
Really good, twisty turny book. An academic plans to research an alleged witch burned at the stake in the 1600s. This research puts her in the middle of several current day murders in a small Scottish village. Really good book for spooky season. I had never heard of it before, but I do recommend it.
May 31, 2015
This was an interesting murder mystery set in rural Scotland. It involves Wicca, honey bees, piglets and lesbianism. Terry travels to the small town to transcribe manuscripts and letters of a supposed lesbian Wiccan from the 1700s as part of her dissertation. A body is found on a pig farm in the death pit and within days more bodies are found by the forensic archaeologist. This novel has a number of twists in it and I certainly did not see the end coming. I learned a thing or two about Wicca and honey bees. And even some shocking things about Romanian orphanages. I'll definitely read more from Mr Strong, but I'm not sure he has very many novels under his belt.
November 25, 2017
When Terry Williams goes to the Scottish Highlands to research the letters of Catherine McCulloch, who was burnt as a witch in the seventeenth century she didn't expect to become involved in either a murder enquiry or a modern-day witches coven!
While the murder of Donna Fairhead is obviously a major theme of the book it's not the usual crime thriller as the police actually feature very little. The crime side comes in the guise of forensic archaeologist Iain Pullen & with this variant, the seventeenth century letters & the witchcraft angle it all makes for a very entertaining read.
While the murder of Donna Fairhead is obviously a major theme of the book it's not the usual crime thriller as the police actually feature very little. The crime side comes in the guise of forensic archaeologist Iain Pullen & with this variant, the seventeenth century letters & the witchcraft angle it all makes for a very entertaining read.
August 10, 2024
this book was absolutely incredible. i am so amazed that the authors mind could craft such a crazy story, but also a smidge concerned that he came up with all this in the first place. my only complaint is he thought he understood the minds of women and lesbians and he did not. the mystery itself though, so good.
December 28, 2025
Het verhaal begon heel spannend met een wat duistere locatie en atmosfeer. Echter werd het verhaal steeds minder en het laatste stuk was een wirwar aan vreemde beslissingen. Jammer dat het verhaal zoals op het begin niet waar kon maken. Wel leuk als geïnteresseerd bent in heksen
August 10, 2017
It started it real well and was hard to put down, however, it soon became tedious. The main character Terry was impossible to relate to, the entire premise was ridiculous.
August 29, 2017
Много слабо. Гейтарщина отвсякъде, някакви безсмислени инфодъмпове, на които само професор по литература би се зарадвал, безсмислена жестокост към котки… Ами не.
November 18, 2021
Interesting subject matter, but a bit disjointed.
January 12, 2023
I thought it might be a fun read, set in Scotland a place I love. It was not. Sex swapping witches murdering babies, big pharma propaganda. Bah.
Read
May 28, 2016This review will be full of spoilers but I'm so incredibly intrigued and horrified and offended and in love with this book all at once... It's as thought-provoking as it is frustrating, both as pagan lit and as LGBT lit. But as murder-mystery lit it isn't half bad.
This book is full of sexual fantasy in places that it really doesn't belong. On the one hand, the characters have really interesting depth, or the potential for depth perhaps? (Maybe it's just my mind giving them depth where it doesn't actually exist?) On the other hand, they're so sexually one-dimensional that I don't believe anything they say. The main character, who talks like a completely self-actualized feminist, plays right into every lesbian fetish fantasy you can imagine, jumping from partner to partner regardless of gender, playing with wax and whips and ex-boyfriends while supposedly dealing with deep depression and panic attacks. At one point she says, "I'm actually a bisexual, I suppose," (uh, duh?) but to make the rest of her actions believable she probably should have said that a bit earlier on. All I could think through a few scenes is, "This girl is not gay... Does this author know what lesbian means? Why is he still letting her say she's a lesbian and not even making her question it?"
Actually, a lot of the sex in this book seemed completely unnecessary and, for a woman, not all that believable. (Big spoiler here) A woman who has just been held captive for days, raped and frequently attacked with a cattle prod, and then had to take a morning after pill to be sure she isn't pregnant with her attacker's baby isn't likely to go into a skyclad pagan ceremony with a blindfold and a ritual flogging just hours later...
Also, a woman who is questioning her sexuality doesn't start off by grabbing another woman's inner thigh... And, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" is lame no matter who says it and should probably be deleted from all fiction everywhere.
And then there's the Wicca. Strong obviously made some attempts to accurately portray Wicca, but I'm not sure he spoke to any real Wiccans in that process. He obviously did his research... but not further than maybe one Janet Farrar book? He play into every single possible stereotype... A lot of what the characters said that was most factual about Wicca sounded awkwardly didactic at best.
But then he touched on how uncomfortable some gay people can feel in Wicca, a topic I've discussed many times with many different friends and found always interesting. I LOVE that he actually approached that subject. The polarity of Wicca, the focus on male and female energies, can make some followers of the religion really uncomfortable and I've known people completely turned away from it because of that. It can make people who don't fit a gender binary feel very out of place.
But this particular coven raised every single "This place is shady" red flag for me. The compulsory nudity, the sexual touching by the leader during ritual, the isolation from the outside world. I would have run... And probably would have posted a warning about them to all my Wiccan friends.
But then, this isn't really pagan lit or LGBT lit, is it? It's a murder mystery. And as a murder mystery I found the story itself completely captivating. Couldn't put it down. The way the author mirrored the historical research with the present day chain of events was brilliant. Even 3/4 of the way through I wasn't positive who the "bad guy" was, but then when I found it was a bit disappointing... but completely believable. Cliche.
There were some extra characters who had no story closure that probably should have been looked at. (The creepy teenager who slices up animals for fun? Why didn't he get a story? It seemed like a lot of characters were just movie extras, and not actually important. They didn't really need as much story as they had, unless he was going to take it a step further and give them actual story.
Have I gone enough directions with this review? I mentioned I'm really torn on this book, right?
I have absolutely no idea what star rating I would give this book... so I'm just not going to rate it... Just know, this is certainly not a good representation of Wicca or lesbians... but it's an interesting murder mystery if you're looking for that.
This book is full of sexual fantasy in places that it really doesn't belong. On the one hand, the characters have really interesting depth, or the potential for depth perhaps? (Maybe it's just my mind giving them depth where it doesn't actually exist?) On the other hand, they're so sexually one-dimensional that I don't believe anything they say. The main character, who talks like a completely self-actualized feminist, plays right into every lesbian fetish fantasy you can imagine, jumping from partner to partner regardless of gender, playing with wax and whips and ex-boyfriends while supposedly dealing with deep depression and panic attacks. At one point she says, "I'm actually a bisexual, I suppose," (uh, duh?) but to make the rest of her actions believable she probably should have said that a bit earlier on. All I could think through a few scenes is, "This girl is not gay... Does this author know what lesbian means? Why is he still letting her say she's a lesbian and not even making her question it?"
Actually, a lot of the sex in this book seemed completely unnecessary and, for a woman, not all that believable. (Big spoiler here) A woman who has just been held captive for days, raped and frequently attacked with a cattle prod, and then had to take a morning after pill to be sure she isn't pregnant with her attacker's baby isn't likely to go into a skyclad pagan ceremony with a blindfold and a ritual flogging just hours later...
Also, a woman who is questioning her sexuality doesn't start off by grabbing another woman's inner thigh... And, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" is lame no matter who says it and should probably be deleted from all fiction everywhere.
And then there's the Wicca. Strong obviously made some attempts to accurately portray Wicca, but I'm not sure he spoke to any real Wiccans in that process. He obviously did his research... but not further than maybe one Janet Farrar book? He play into every single possible stereotype... A lot of what the characters said that was most factual about Wicca sounded awkwardly didactic at best.
But then he touched on how uncomfortable some gay people can feel in Wicca, a topic I've discussed many times with many different friends and found always interesting. I LOVE that he actually approached that subject. The polarity of Wicca, the focus on male and female energies, can make some followers of the religion really uncomfortable and I've known people completely turned away from it because of that. It can make people who don't fit a gender binary feel very out of place.
But this particular coven raised every single "This place is shady" red flag for me. The compulsory nudity, the sexual touching by the leader during ritual, the isolation from the outside world. I would have run... And probably would have posted a warning about them to all my Wiccan friends.
But then, this isn't really pagan lit or LGBT lit, is it? It's a murder mystery. And as a murder mystery I found the story itself completely captivating. Couldn't put it down. The way the author mirrored the historical research with the present day chain of events was brilliant. Even 3/4 of the way through I wasn't positive who the "bad guy" was, but then when I found it was a bit disappointing... but completely believable. Cliche.
There were some extra characters who had no story closure that probably should have been looked at. (The creepy teenager who slices up animals for fun? Why didn't he get a story? It seemed like a lot of characters were just movie extras, and not actually important. They didn't really need as much story as they had, unless he was going to take it a step further and give them actual story.
Have I gone enough directions with this review? I mentioned I'm really torn on this book, right?
I have absolutely no idea what star rating I would give this book... so I'm just not going to rate it... Just know, this is certainly not a good representation of Wicca or lesbians... but it's an interesting murder mystery if you're looking for that.
September 16, 2015
It started off well but then just became boring! It had so much potential at first. There were so many avenues the author could have gone down e.g.
-the entire town are devil worshipers and have loured Terry there to sacrifice her
-Terry witnessing scary rituals
- the Wiccans being real modern day witches (with powers!!) being hunted
-Catherine being a real which and her soul coming back to do scary stuff.
-adult humans found in the death pit and are being scarified by the Wiccans
-the rich resident paying the murdered girl to be a surrogate then he kills her
but no: the wiccans are nice witches, Catherine is a Catholic (who cares?!?!), Terry randomly becomes a detective and flies to Romania, the lesbian farmer and Terry don't get it on, nothing too sinister is happening in Romania...zzzzzzz
It is advertised to be scary - when this is not in fact the case. Yes there were some gruesome bits which I liked, but there is something lacking with the manner in which the story line developed.
*am I the only one whose mind still boggles at Eric killing a deer and smearing the blood all over himself!??! What was that about.
*am I the only one who wonders why the police involvement suddenly stops being mentioned?
*what happened to Nicos (is that what he was called?)
-the entire town are devil worshipers and have loured Terry there to sacrifice her
-Terry witnessing scary rituals
- the Wiccans being real modern day witches (with powers!!) being hunted
-Catherine being a real which and her soul coming back to do scary stuff.
-adult humans found in the death pit and are being scarified by the Wiccans
-the rich resident paying the murdered girl to be a surrogate then he kills her
but no: the wiccans are nice witches, Catherine is a Catholic (who cares?!?!), Terry randomly becomes a detective and flies to Romania, the lesbian farmer and Terry don't get it on, nothing too sinister is happening in Romania...zzzzzzz
It is advertised to be scary - when this is not in fact the case. Yes there were some gruesome bits which I liked, but there is something lacking with the manner in which the story line developed.
*am I the only one whose mind still boggles at Eric killing a deer and smearing the blood all over himself!??! What was that about.
*am I the only one who wonders why the police involvement suddenly stops being mentioned?
*what happened to Nicos (is that what he was called?)
December 19, 2011
This isn't a book I would normally pick up and read but I liked it. Its a mystery, detective type story, easy to follow. I think my favorite part of the book aside from the story was the layout, at one moment Terry is in the library researching and then a couple of lines skipped and you were at the crime scene, kind of like television shows flip to each scene. I loved that each character was so defined for me that's something i like to look for because it's easier to keep up with who's who and not get characters confused, it almost makes them more real. I'll say that this is definitely for the adults obviously because it contains murder but also because of drug use, and sexual content.
December 23, 2016
This was so gruesome!!! It was too graphic for me, and I had to finish it in one sitting so that I wouldn't be left with some of those images in my mind!
I liked the comparison between witch trials and today's child abuse finding frenzy. There's a hilarious transcript.
One severe mistake: his heroine is an academic on a small grant, and then she takes an expensive trip with no mention of how she could afford it. Trust me, people on small grants can not take planes and stay in hotels without A LOT of cash finding.
A thriller worth reading.
I liked the comparison between witch trials and today's child abuse finding frenzy. There's a hilarious transcript.
One severe mistake: his heroine is an academic on a small grant, and then she takes an expensive trip with no mention of how she could afford it. Trust me, people on small grants can not take planes and stay in hotels without A LOT of cash finding.
A thriller worth reading.
August 30, 2010
Started off really well, a body is found is a death pit, full of dead pigs and the body was from a local Wiccan community. The main character arrives to write a paper on a local lesbian witch who lived in the 17th century. It started to fade a little bit in the middle and at the end it was all over the place including a trip to Romania. I enjoyed it but was slightly disappointed in the ending, could've been a lot better.
November 8, 2012
Forensic archaeology, Romanian orphanages, Scottish witch-burning and much more make this dense many-layered mystery. I almost stopped reading early in the book because it is pretty unpleasant reading at first. It begins with a body being found at a pig farm in the "death pit" where the unmarketable pigs are dumped. The forensic archaeologist has to dig through the pit and the description of that chore is really disgusting! I'm glad I continued reading as the story develops into a good mystery.
January 7, 2013
This is actually the first book I got of author Tony Strong, I found it in my sisters old books. The story is so captivating I couldn't put down the book. I love how in all his novels he always picks a strong female character to lead and the story never disappoints. I had read this first not knowing it was actually part of a mini series but that didn't ruin anything because this book stood on its own. I read all his books and Tony Strong never let me down!
March 19, 2009
One of those modern day, suspense mystery crime novels I find so much more tiring to read than my comfortable cosy mysteries and historicals. I liked Terry and her research, and Iain the forensic archaeologist - until the author just decided to abruptly abandon him, poor fellow. Good wiccans, bad fundamentalists. Was it true about Queen Victoria and the kilts? Must look it up.
September 17, 2014
This is an enjoyable and intriguing murder mystery, with twists and turns and an unexpected ending, set in a small Scottish village in which the discovery of a body in a gruesome 'pig pit' is revealed to have links to both the burning of a local 'witch' in the C17th and a modern Wiccan community in the area. It's a good read :) Definitely a 3 and a half.
March 21, 2013
3.5 stars. I enjoyed the book very much until the last couple of chapters. Strangely enough, I had no interest in the killers finale scenario. I really was only interested in who he, she or they were and why she, he or they did it. The epilogue redeemed the story for me.
May 14, 2015
There were lots of POV in the early parts of this book that made it seem overly complicated. Having said that I liked the characters and way the author would slip in comments that had this reader convinced the the storyline was transparent, but the ending is shocking
September 26, 2009
A really good exciting read, covering the seventeenth century witchcraft trials, as well as modern day Wiccans, via a few dead bodies on the way.
November 10, 2009
My kind of mystery/suspense novel. Plenty of complexity, twists and turns, unique settings, and good characterization. I'll be looking for more by Strong.
May 22, 2012
Liked it, but obvious errors in how things work made me think the author took a lot of shortcuts to add the drama.
May 11, 2018
Bizarre, but interesting.
July 26, 2017
This book was really good. Loved the Scottish Highland setting and the witch trial references.
April 14, 2014
Very good, unusual thriller
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews