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Greater Sins
'A striking debut, filled with folkloric mystery and yearning. Read it, then read it again' Amy Twigg, author of Spoilt Creatures
'A muddy, pastoral fable written with an equal measure of beauty and morbidity. Completely enthralling.' Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb
'An extraordinary sense of place and time, written by an exciting new voice' Radio Times (Best Books 2025)
Who will cast the first stone?
1915, the Cabrach, Aberdeenshire. An isolated Scottish community is disturbed by a strange discovery: a body in a peat bog, perfectly preserved. Two people haul the body from the ground: Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy local landowner, and Johnny, a nomadic singer and farm hand. At hearthside and inn, people whisper: what have we unearthed?
One unveiling brings others. For Lizzie, tenacious but trapped, the discovery reveals unanswered questions about her past while for Johnny, it threatens to uncover a history he’s trying to outrun.
As their stories entwine, a series of unsettling events befalls the isolated ruinous weather, a damaged soldier, strange occurrences that cannot be explained. Against the echoes of distant war, and with the boundaries blurring between right and wrong, everyone is looking for someone to blame…
'A muddy, pastoral fable written with an equal measure of beauty and morbidity. Completely enthralling.' Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb
'An extraordinary sense of place and time, written by an exciting new voice' Radio Times (Best Books 2025)
Who will cast the first stone?
1915, the Cabrach, Aberdeenshire. An isolated Scottish community is disturbed by a strange discovery: a body in a peat bog, perfectly preserved. Two people haul the body from the ground: Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy local landowner, and Johnny, a nomadic singer and farm hand. At hearthside and inn, people whisper: what have we unearthed?
One unveiling brings others. For Lizzie, tenacious but trapped, the discovery reveals unanswered questions about her past while for Johnny, it threatens to uncover a history he’s trying to outrun.
As their stories entwine, a series of unsettling events befalls the isolated ruinous weather, a damaged soldier, strange occurrences that cannot be explained. Against the echoes of distant war, and with the boundaries blurring between right and wrong, everyone is looking for someone to blame…
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
February 20, 2025
1915, the Cabrach, Aberdeenshire. Cabrach is an isolated Scottish community, and the storyline is set partly during the early years of WWI.
The locals of Cabrach have reluctantly begun to wave their menfolk off to war, but in the meantime, Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy local landowner, is collecting moss with another woman from the village to be used in bandages for the army, when they come across a box buried in the peat bog, and when they look inside they find the perfectly preserved body of a young woman. The body is lifted from her final resting place by Lizzie and Johnny, a nomadic farmhand, known for his charm and loved for his singing and storytelling in the local inn.
The community however, is uneasy with the discovery, especially as everything starts to go wrong soon after - there’s the atrocious weather that ruins badly needed crops, a young soldier returns from war, badly hurt both physically and mentally, and there are unexplained events to contend with too.
Beautifully written, this debut novel flitting between 1905 and 1915, (where we learn more of Lizzie and Johnny’s pasts), is steeped with suspicion, fear, passion and Scottish folklore.
Gabrielle Griffiths writing skills are impressive - her descriptions of the landscape are such that you can almost smell the faintly organic odour of soft peat. The opening paragraph in particular, describing Johhny’s whisky drinking ritual, totally held me in its thrall. The characters themselves are blessed with a strong sense of individuality, and, together with a storyline that is both atmospheric and emotional, it gripped this reader right from the off. Recommended.
*I was invited to read Greater Sins by the publisher and have given an honest unbiased review in exchange*
The locals of Cabrach have reluctantly begun to wave their menfolk off to war, but in the meantime, Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy local landowner, is collecting moss with another woman from the village to be used in bandages for the army, when they come across a box buried in the peat bog, and when they look inside they find the perfectly preserved body of a young woman. The body is lifted from her final resting place by Lizzie and Johnny, a nomadic farmhand, known for his charm and loved for his singing and storytelling in the local inn.
The community however, is uneasy with the discovery, especially as everything starts to go wrong soon after - there’s the atrocious weather that ruins badly needed crops, a young soldier returns from war, badly hurt both physically and mentally, and there are unexplained events to contend with too.
Beautifully written, this debut novel flitting between 1905 and 1915, (where we learn more of Lizzie and Johnny’s pasts), is steeped with suspicion, fear, passion and Scottish folklore.
Gabrielle Griffiths writing skills are impressive - her descriptions of the landscape are such that you can almost smell the faintly organic odour of soft peat. The opening paragraph in particular, describing Johhny’s whisky drinking ritual, totally held me in its thrall. The characters themselves are blessed with a strong sense of individuality, and, together with a storyline that is both atmospheric and emotional, it gripped this reader right from the off. Recommended.
*I was invited to read Greater Sins by the publisher and have given an honest unbiased review in exchange*
February 4, 2025
May 1915, The Cabrach, NE Scotland
The Cabrach is an isolated, small community where folk linger over their peaty whisky, wave lads off to war, where much is observed and later discussed with lively banter. Here, we meet Johnny, a nomadic labourer who sings for his supper and Lizzie, wife of the wealthy local landowner who lives in Blackwater House. The apparent peace of the area is disturbed when a preserved female body is discovered buried in the peat. Is it a ceremonial burial like many other peat bodies or something more recent and sinister? Two timelines, two points of view as their stories entwine in unexpected ways.
This is a very powerful and beautifully written debut from Gabrielle Griffiths. The setting positively oozes atmosphere, where a small community comes under a spotlight and so it’s very intense as a consequence and also claustrophobic as so little is missed. The backdrop of war adds to the atmosphere, as although it’s far away its presence hangs over the community and is deeply felt.
I love the way it’s told, Lizzie‘s narrative is very different to Johnny’s which contains much local Scottish vernacular which is totally suited to his character and social status. Although some of the words used are new to me, it’s not hard to work out their meaning. What emerges is a complex, character driven tale of relationships, with a portrait of a marriage, of people trapped by their past or by circumstance. There are a multitude of secrets and duplicity alongside a vivid portrayal of a community steeped in superstition and folklore, all under the watchful eye of the Kirk. The characterisation is exemplary as they spring to life in full technicolour. The storytelling becomes grittier, darker and more mysterious as the novel progresses and as pasts connect and coalesce.
Overall, this is a very well written evocative tale, capturing people, time and place colourfully.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to the publisher for the much appreciated EPUB in return for an honest review.
The Cabrach is an isolated, small community where folk linger over their peaty whisky, wave lads off to war, where much is observed and later discussed with lively banter. Here, we meet Johnny, a nomadic labourer who sings for his supper and Lizzie, wife of the wealthy local landowner who lives in Blackwater House. The apparent peace of the area is disturbed when a preserved female body is discovered buried in the peat. Is it a ceremonial burial like many other peat bodies or something more recent and sinister? Two timelines, two points of view as their stories entwine in unexpected ways.
This is a very powerful and beautifully written debut from Gabrielle Griffiths. The setting positively oozes atmosphere, where a small community comes under a spotlight and so it’s very intense as a consequence and also claustrophobic as so little is missed. The backdrop of war adds to the atmosphere, as although it’s far away its presence hangs over the community and is deeply felt.
I love the way it’s told, Lizzie‘s narrative is very different to Johnny’s which contains much local Scottish vernacular which is totally suited to his character and social status. Although some of the words used are new to me, it’s not hard to work out their meaning. What emerges is a complex, character driven tale of relationships, with a portrait of a marriage, of people trapped by their past or by circumstance. There are a multitude of secrets and duplicity alongside a vivid portrayal of a community steeped in superstition and folklore, all under the watchful eye of the Kirk. The characterisation is exemplary as they spring to life in full technicolour. The storytelling becomes grittier, darker and more mysterious as the novel progresses and as pasts connect and coalesce.
Overall, this is a very well written evocative tale, capturing people, time and place colourfully.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to the publisher for the much appreciated EPUB in return for an honest review.
March 30, 2025
Greater Sins tells the story of Johnny/Jack Nicol and Lizzie Brodie/Calder.
Set in 1915 the discovery of a woman's body in a peat bog begins a series of events that stir up memories of the past. Johnny and Lizzie bring the woman's body back to a farmhouse and begin to make enquiries about how she came to be in the peat. But as time goes on there is a change in the people who work the farms. Fear of the bog woman's influence spreads and seems to be affecting everyone. And the fear spreads violence.
The second timeline in 1905 tells us the histories of Johnny and Lizzie and how they have both wound up on Calder land a decade later.
This is a claustrophobic novel which has several strange twists that I didn't see coming. My feelings about both Johnny and Lizzie changed several times throughout the narrative along with feelings about other peripheral characters.
The characters are all quite nebulous and the story occasionally meanders a little too much but apart from a little wandering it was a great story. Not like anything I've read before. Certainly an author to keep an eye out for.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Doubleday for the advance review copy.
Set in 1915 the discovery of a woman's body in a peat bog begins a series of events that stir up memories of the past. Johnny and Lizzie bring the woman's body back to a farmhouse and begin to make enquiries about how she came to be in the peat. But as time goes on there is a change in the people who work the farms. Fear of the bog woman's influence spreads and seems to be affecting everyone. And the fear spreads violence.
The second timeline in 1905 tells us the histories of Johnny and Lizzie and how they have both wound up on Calder land a decade later.
This is a claustrophobic novel which has several strange twists that I didn't see coming. My feelings about both Johnny and Lizzie changed several times throughout the narrative along with feelings about other peripheral characters.
The characters are all quite nebulous and the story occasionally meanders a little too much but apart from a little wandering it was a great story. Not like anything I've read before. Certainly an author to keep an eye out for.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Doubleday for the advance review copy.
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July 6, 2025What an emotive debut novel this is, which held me in its thrall from beginning to end. Based in a small Scottish rural community in the early years of WWI, it is suffused with folklore, betrayal and jealousy. Revolving around the discovery of a perfectly preserved woman's body in a peat bog, the story expands into a tale of raw human emotion that is dark but exquisitely emotional. Griffiths' naturalistic writing style reminded me strongly of both Thomas Hardy and Benjamin Myers, and I became totally immersed in the inner and outer lives of her characters, playing out against the backdrop of war. Just wonderful...
April 14, 2025
First off thank you to Penguin books, author Gabrielle Griffiths and NetGalley for providing me a copy this in exchange for my review.
1915 Cabrach Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Great War rages on and Lizzie's husband William Calder, has signed up to fight, to keep watch of his wife and his business interests William's sister Jane has come to stay with Lizzie on their barren estate. But Lizzie is uneasy with her ever watchful sister-in-law who always seem to be too observant of Lizzie's doings and whom she speaks to. With William away Lizzie begins finding out that Jane is left as beneficiary to their home and business holdings if he does not return a fact that further reaffirms the coldness that lies in her loveless marriage Lizzie has tried in vain to improve. When Lizzie discovers a well preserved body of woman in a peat bog she asks Johnny a local singer and farm hand working nearby to assist in retrieving the body. But who is this woman and what are the circumstances behind her death? Together Lizzie and Johnny seek answers of her identity, but in this bleak landscape the superstitions of the Cabrach run wild and soon there claims of strange occurrences happening, that the dead woman's body is associated with the devil causing fear with some of the surrounding neighbors. There are also whispers that Johnny is interested in helping Lizzie in more ways than one and soon the attraction becomes mutual. The storyline jumps to 1905 when Lizzie meets her brutish husband William, the events leading up to their subsequent marriage and Johnny's checkered past.
This was a dark, gothic, atmospheric read, loved the feel of it and the Scottish brogue of the characters.
1915 Cabrach Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Great War rages on and Lizzie's husband William Calder, has signed up to fight, to keep watch of his wife and his business interests William's sister Jane has come to stay with Lizzie on their barren estate. But Lizzie is uneasy with her ever watchful sister-in-law who always seem to be too observant of Lizzie's doings and whom she speaks to. With William away Lizzie begins finding out that Jane is left as beneficiary to their home and business holdings if he does not return a fact that further reaffirms the coldness that lies in her loveless marriage Lizzie has tried in vain to improve. When Lizzie discovers a well preserved body of woman in a peat bog she asks Johnny a local singer and farm hand working nearby to assist in retrieving the body. But who is this woman and what are the circumstances behind her death? Together Lizzie and Johnny seek answers of her identity, but in this bleak landscape the superstitions of the Cabrach run wild and soon there claims of strange occurrences happening, that the dead woman's body is associated with the devil causing fear with some of the surrounding neighbors. There are also whispers that Johnny is interested in helping Lizzie in more ways than one and soon the attraction becomes mutual. The storyline jumps to 1905 when Lizzie meets her brutish husband William, the events leading up to their subsequent marriage and Johnny's checkered past.
This was a dark, gothic, atmospheric read, loved the feel of it and the Scottish brogue of the characters.
April 10, 2025
justice for Jane, you were never the villain my love
March 8, 2026
more bog woman, less cheese
May 4, 2025
Greater Sins is so mysterious, slow and sometimes vague that you’re not sure what you’re supposed to find out. The story weaves together folklore, buried trauma and the aching quiet rural life in a way that feels both poetic and isolated. It’s a story of secrets that leans heavily to guilt and the ache of unspoken love wrapped in a thrilling mystery that slowly unravels.
A tight-knit village is shaken when the perfectly preserved corpse of a woman is discovered in a peat bog. At the center of the story are Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy man and Johnny, a traveling singer and laborer with secrets of his own. When the two uncover the corpse, it sets off not just whispers in the village but also long-buried truths. Lizzie begins to confront parts of her past that have been sealed for a long time, while Johnny's past that he’s tried to escape is finally catching up with him.
The story also touches on the trauma of war, particularly through a badly injured soldier whose presence will further arouse the uneasiness that happens in the village. One thing that stands out in this story is the atmosphere and its lyrical prose. The author has such beautiful writing that each sentence builds a strong sense of place and mood. The village that often feels isolated is like a character itself in the story. However, maybe I was expecting something different, so I didn't feel invested much in the story. The woman's corpse doesn’t do much to drive the plot as I expected, despite the chaos it caused and ends up being just a symbolic thing. I found myself drifting through pages, waiting for something to explain or some sense of creepiness to happen.
Overall, the pacing is uneven and the story sometimes feels dragged and certain plot points didn’t hit the impact I think they were aiming for. I found myself already detached from the moments I wanted to be swept away by its ending. But I still appreciate what the author is trying to do here. Giving this solid 3 ⭐️ Thank you @timesreads for the review copy.
A tight-knit village is shaken when the perfectly preserved corpse of a woman is discovered in a peat bog. At the center of the story are Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy man and Johnny, a traveling singer and laborer with secrets of his own. When the two uncover the corpse, it sets off not just whispers in the village but also long-buried truths. Lizzie begins to confront parts of her past that have been sealed for a long time, while Johnny's past that he’s tried to escape is finally catching up with him.
The story also touches on the trauma of war, particularly through a badly injured soldier whose presence will further arouse the uneasiness that happens in the village. One thing that stands out in this story is the atmosphere and its lyrical prose. The author has such beautiful writing that each sentence builds a strong sense of place and mood. The village that often feels isolated is like a character itself in the story. However, maybe I was expecting something different, so I didn't feel invested much in the story. The woman's corpse doesn’t do much to drive the plot as I expected, despite the chaos it caused and ends up being just a symbolic thing. I found myself drifting through pages, waiting for something to explain or some sense of creepiness to happen.
Overall, the pacing is uneven and the story sometimes feels dragged and certain plot points didn’t hit the impact I think they were aiming for. I found myself already detached from the moments I wanted to be swept away by its ending. But I still appreciate what the author is trying to do here. Giving this solid 3 ⭐️ Thank you @timesreads for the review copy.
November 16, 2025
I just don't get it. from the summery to the genre listings, this looked to be a historical mystery. A book where characters uncover dark secrets about themselves as well as this mysterious body found in the bog.
What it was was two characters in constant soliloquy with themselves about themselves. the body shows up a handful of times, but honestly she is completely void to the story. Lizzie makes claims that the others were not seeing the woman who was a victim, yet the whole story only used her as a plot device.
No, there is no mystery. there is no murder, there are no ghosts and there are no strange occurrences. Suddenly the two main characters are in love when they hardly interact. I genuinely just hated this so much. I don't know what book others read, but they must have been given a different summary.
What it was was two characters in constant soliloquy with themselves about themselves. the body shows up a handful of times, but honestly she is completely void to the story. Lizzie makes claims that the others were not seeing the woman who was a victim, yet the whole story only used her as a plot device.
No, there is no mystery. there is no murder, there are no ghosts and there are no strange occurrences. Suddenly the two main characters are in love when they hardly interact. I genuinely just hated this so much. I don't know what book others read, but they must have been given a different summary.
March 7, 2026
I'm struggling to find words for this book - I think the most vivid emotion it's left me with is disappointment. The first 100 or so pages were a brilliant Gothic story with macabre and unsettling imagery alongside the juxtaposition of small town drama and the ever mounting dread of war. I was convinced this was going to be a horror story...but that aspect of the book was slowly but surely diluted until it near enough evaporated come the end. It's not a bad book at all, it's very good really but I don't think it's the book I wanted it to be, nor the one it seemed to promise to be.
February 27, 2025
A dark, gothic folk tale wrapped up in the rumblings of WWI, the bad behaviour of men and the prejudices of an isolated Scottish community where the discovery of a body, buried in a bog unleashes nightmares and excuses for terrible behaviours. This is a powerful little novel that splits horror between what beleaguered people do to each other and the supernatural.
April 29, 2026
3.75 Pretty nicely written, ending was slightly rushed and predictable but I did enjoy it all the way through and the atmospheric scottishness was very nice to read while in scotland.
September 15, 2025
This book wasn’t bad necessarily but it is not a folk horror. I probably would’ve liked it more if i were just expecting historical fiction and romance, but alas. I also found the characters difficult to really, well, enjoy. Lizzie didn’t have many redeemable qualities and I found myself much more interested in the male characters chapters which I don’t love but is ultimately true lmao. Why was she such a c*nt to Jane?! smh. If you love historical fiction and romance and reading classical novels that meander and prattle on you will enjoy this book. That isn’t even a diss either I think it’s impressive that a modern author was able to make the pacing of this book feel similar to a classic. Anyway. It was atmospheric and did do a great job of making you feel like you were in whatever home/pub/barn the chapter took place in, the plot all came together in a satisfying way at the verrrryyyy end. This book took me like 3.5 months to finish which is fucking crazy for me but it really could not hold my attention because it was so far from what i was expecting it to be.
Do not read this if you’re like me and saw that a bog body is involved and thought that would lead to anything creepy or awesome because it doesn’t
Do not read this if you’re like me and saw that a bog body is involved and thought that would lead to anything creepy or awesome because it doesn’t
February 22, 2026
“That is the way with shame- men will take it on themselves eventually, if they have the conscience, but women will readily be handed theirs.”
When I started Greater Sins, I thought I was settling into a story about the unexplained- something steeped in folklore, superstition, maybe even the paranormal?? And for a hot min, that’s what I thought it was going to be. Until the penny dropped.
I have never read a book that embeds morality so subtly and so deeply that I didn’t even realise I was being led toward a lesson. What I thought was a haunting turned out to be something far more unsettling. It was never about the bog woman. It was never about the bog woman!!!!! UGHHHHHH it’s so obvious now.
Like so many stories before it, “she” -the other, the outsider, the woman - becomes the scapegoat. A vessel to carry the sins of men. A convenient place to store blame, guilt and shame so no one has to confront what’s festering inside themselves.
Jane is yet another misunderstood woman trying to survive within the suffocating confines of her society. Johnny, too, is forced into a version of manhood he doesn’t fit. Henry-all of them, really- are shaped and warped by suppression, fear, desire, and ultimately guilt. Every single character is a product of the expectations placed on them and the quiet terror of failing those expectations.
What makes this story truly horrific is that the haunting isn’t supernatural at all. It’s human.They twist their own actions into folklore. They cloak their guilt in superstition. They turn their fear into myth. And in doing so, they create a horror of their own making-one that consumes them from the inside out.
What a clever, cloaked book. Intriguing and memorable ⭐️
When I started Greater Sins, I thought I was settling into a story about the unexplained- something steeped in folklore, superstition, maybe even the paranormal?? And for a hot min, that’s what I thought it was going to be. Until the penny dropped.
I have never read a book that embeds morality so subtly and so deeply that I didn’t even realise I was being led toward a lesson. What I thought was a haunting turned out to be something far more unsettling. It was never about the bog woman. It was never about the bog woman!!!!! UGHHHHHH it’s so obvious now.
Like so many stories before it, “she” -the other, the outsider, the woman - becomes the scapegoat. A vessel to carry the sins of men. A convenient place to store blame, guilt and shame so no one has to confront what’s festering inside themselves.
Jane is yet another misunderstood woman trying to survive within the suffocating confines of her society. Johnny, too, is forced into a version of manhood he doesn’t fit. Henry-all of them, really- are shaped and warped by suppression, fear, desire, and ultimately guilt. Every single character is a product of the expectations placed on them and the quiet terror of failing those expectations.
What makes this story truly horrific is that the haunting isn’t supernatural at all. It’s human.They twist their own actions into folklore. They cloak their guilt in superstition. They turn their fear into myth. And in doing so, they create a horror of their own making-one that consumes them from the inside out.
What a clever, cloaked book. Intriguing and memorable ⭐️
April 15, 2026
What a masterpiece
April 20, 2025
Its 1915 rural Scotland, a harsh environment and one that hasn't been significantly hit by the call-up for WWI yet. Married men still weren't being drafted and single men who worked in agriculture had an excuse. Our lead Johnny was, up until the war, an itinerant musician and farmhand, and here he has returned home to help with the harvest. He clearly has a shady past though the book presents him as having a heart of gold. Not dissimilar to Lizzie, who is the wife to the big landowner in the area: he has gone off to war and left his sister, Jane, in charge. Lizzie, despite her station, has decided to help the local women digging out peat for fuel, and in the process comes across a dead body in the bog. When Johnny is sent up to help her dig it out, there is an instant attraction between the two.
I must admit that the book only really clicked for me when they found the body, and so I was hoping for more of a mystery. Instead there is quite a reflexive arms-length romance between the married woman and a man who seems afraid to get involved. The book spends about a third of its running time ten years before in 1905, where we see the story of how Lizzie and Johnny ended up where they did, the tiles have a minor connection and Johnny's is less convincing than Lizzie's, but it does all end up relatively satisfying. More of a romance than a mystery, and it plays its historicism with a light touch (my sense of early twentieth-century rural Scotland is to be considerably more religious and judgemental than this turns out). Its a solid read for the more sensible end of romance at least.
I must admit that the book only really clicked for me when they found the body, and so I was hoping for more of a mystery. Instead there is quite a reflexive arms-length romance between the married woman and a man who seems afraid to get involved. The book spends about a third of its running time ten years before in 1905, where we see the story of how Lizzie and Johnny ended up where they did, the tiles have a minor connection and Johnny's is less convincing than Lizzie's, but it does all end up relatively satisfying. More of a romance than a mystery, and it plays its historicism with a light touch (my sense of early twentieth-century rural Scotland is to be considerably more religious and judgemental than this turns out). Its a solid read for the more sensible end of romance at least.
July 8, 2025
I really wanted to love this but unfortunately I felt misled by what was sold to me and what was actualised. felt very confused at points (three men with ‘j’ names being central to the story muddled me deeply) and I kind of wish only one timeline was used. despite that, I loved how good the world building was and correct use of scots language brought me a lot of joy!
March 31, 2025
Set in a remote Scottish community during World War I, Greater Sins is a dark and atmospheric tale of secrets, survival, and the past refusing to stay buried.
When Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy landowner, and Johnny, a travelling singer and farmhand, discover a box buried in a peat bog, they uncover the remains of a woman. From that moment, strange things start happening—unexplained footsteps, objects moving on their own, and a growing sense of unease, fuelling the local superstitions. Meanwhile, war looms, with men deciding whether to wait for conscription or enlist of their own free will, while women work the farm fields, collecting moss for bandages.
Lizzie, trapped by societal expectations, struggles under the control of her overbearing sister-in-law, Jane. Meanwhile, Johnny’s past resurfaces when Henry, a new farmhand, arrives—it's clear they share a tense history. As relentless storms threaten crops and hardship tightens its grip, guilt and buried truths come to light.
The story moves between Lizzie and Johnny’s past in 1905 and the present day of 1915, slowly revealing the mysteries that haunt them both. Each flashback drops clues, deepening the tension and hinting at the secrets they desperately want to keep hidden.
A slow-burning, eerie mystery, Greater Sins pulls you into its haunting setting and keeps you hooked until the end. Perfect for fans of historical fiction with a dark edge.
When Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy landowner, and Johnny, a travelling singer and farmhand, discover a box buried in a peat bog, they uncover the remains of a woman. From that moment, strange things start happening—unexplained footsteps, objects moving on their own, and a growing sense of unease, fuelling the local superstitions. Meanwhile, war looms, with men deciding whether to wait for conscription or enlist of their own free will, while women work the farm fields, collecting moss for bandages.
Lizzie, trapped by societal expectations, struggles under the control of her overbearing sister-in-law, Jane. Meanwhile, Johnny’s past resurfaces when Henry, a new farmhand, arrives—it's clear they share a tense history. As relentless storms threaten crops and hardship tightens its grip, guilt and buried truths come to light.
The story moves between Lizzie and Johnny’s past in 1905 and the present day of 1915, slowly revealing the mysteries that haunt them both. Each flashback drops clues, deepening the tension and hinting at the secrets they desperately want to keep hidden.
A slow-burning, eerie mystery, Greater Sins pulls you into its haunting setting and keeps you hooked until the end. Perfect for fans of historical fiction with a dark edge.
April 4, 2025
A novel set in Aberdeenshire that flits between 1905 and 1915 which is full of superstition. The story starts in 1915, Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy landowner, is collecting moss for bandages when they find the well preserved corpse of a young woman buried in the bog. With the help of Johnny, a wanderer and singer, they pull the body out and this is the beginning of what could be coincidences or the result of the found body as the weather suddenly worsens which prevents crops being lifted and a young soldier returns from the war maimed physically and mentally. The body is also a catalyst for the uncovering of long buried secrets from the past. And as secrets are revealed, we see that everyone has flaws. No one is totally innocent. Returning to 1905, we meet Lizzie before her marriage to William Calder and we discover her long buried past. As for Johnny, he seems to be travelling from farm to farm looking for work as he has a past he is running from - until past and present collide. As a singer, he has a song for everyone except himself. The people of Cabrach are people who don’t forgive easily. The atmosphere is dark and smokey and the body is always in the background, a silent presence.
March 9, 2025
This was a slow burn read that gradually pulled me in as Lizzie and Johnny, wife of the local laird and farmhand respectively, are drawn together over the discovery of an ancient body in a peat bog. Who was she? What happened to her? The superstitious Scots of their small Highland community begin to blame her for everything from the rain to the death of a local boy wounded in WWI, which is raging far away.
As the story unfolds, we learn the back stories of both Lizzie and Johnny, the coincidences that draw them together, and the tragedies that may ultimately pull them apart.
I liked the feyness of this story, the suggestion of superstition and witchcraft that pervades the pages. The unfolding plot pulled me in and kept me reading. But it was the characters of Lizzie and Johnny that really made me stick with the story. They're both so complex, flawed and vulnerable that you cannot help but let your heart go out to them and hope for a happy ending for them both.
The story is peopled with other characters, too, all trying to lead their best lives but distracted by challenges, petty differences, jealousies and resentments. They all add to the reality of the community and give a real sense of life in a small Highland village in the early twentieth century, portrayed without sentimentality or overegging hardship and poverty.
A really good read.
As the story unfolds, we learn the back stories of both Lizzie and Johnny, the coincidences that draw them together, and the tragedies that may ultimately pull them apart.
I liked the feyness of this story, the suggestion of superstition and witchcraft that pervades the pages. The unfolding plot pulled me in and kept me reading. But it was the characters of Lizzie and Johnny that really made me stick with the story. They're both so complex, flawed and vulnerable that you cannot help but let your heart go out to them and hope for a happy ending for them both.
The story is peopled with other characters, too, all trying to lead their best lives but distracted by challenges, petty differences, jealousies and resentments. They all add to the reality of the community and give a real sense of life in a small Highland village in the early twentieth century, portrayed without sentimentality or overegging hardship and poverty.
A really good read.
March 18, 2025
This is a very good story, beautifully told. The landscape is incredibly evocative and helps create the sense of time and space at the start of World War I. The peat moors in this remote part of Scotland are perfect for giving a sense of foreboding, remoteness and superstition. The main characters are perfectly created with depth and sensitivity that you just can’t help but care for them. I loved the way the story gradually comes together as everyone’s secrets are revealed.
April 18, 2025
A beautifully written and very atmospheric story, full of intrigue right from the off… the prose is vivid and rich, the story world is full of sounds, smells, textures… it’s a really solid tale of paranoia and supernatural(?) happenings.
July 5, 2025
Mysterious, Vague, and Drawn Out.
This is one of those books in which you finish and feel like not much really happened.
I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either.
It was well written, the characters were interesting, the scenery beautiful, the small town was quaint and full of mystery. But it's like the author couldn't choose what she wanted this book to be about.
It read more like a war time romance than anything else.
Folklore....a little?
Horror......not really.
Romance....yes.
Not really for me.
This is one of those books in which you finish and feel like not much really happened.
I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either.
It was well written, the characters were interesting, the scenery beautiful, the small town was quaint and full of mystery. But it's like the author couldn't choose what she wanted this book to be about.
It read more like a war time romance than anything else.
Folklore....a little?
Horror......not really.
Romance....yes.
Not really for me.
February 10, 2026
I tried, but I simply couldn't get passed the combination of (1) vernacular language and (2) a flashback structure that didn't seem as interesting at what the present day sections provided. Another novel that I don't seem to be a candidate for "ideal audience".
May 27, 2025
"it is like when spring comes, and the sun deigns to rise again, when you have forgotten what it feels like to be warm. Where has softness been, these years?"
I ended up really enjoying this book!!
A town steeped in superstitions upon unearthing a woman's body in a bog, the downfall of the crops and sins becoming rife.
I adored the two perspectives, how the past is linked to the present, and honestly liked how open-ended it was left.
I ended up really enjoying this book!!
A town steeped in superstitions upon unearthing a woman's body in a bog, the downfall of the crops and sins becoming rife.
I adored the two perspectives, how the past is linked to the present, and honestly liked how open-ended it was left.
April 11, 2026
What a captivating read. I could not put it down! You are initially drawn in by the mystery of the bog woman but you then realise it’s the mystery of the character’s lives is that is the most interesting. I can’t recommend this enough.
March 1, 2026
if you can't put a book down, surely that's 5 stars?
Edit: reread & dropped to 4 but still immaculate!
Edit: reread & dropped to 4 but still immaculate!
April 1, 2025
An isolated Scottish community, a place filled with secrets, a bad harvest and the call to war, all combine to make local feelings run high, add into the mix a preserved body found in an ancient peat bog and you have all the right ingredients for a story which is rich in folklore, strong on superstition and thick with jealousy.
It is 1915 when the bulk of the story takes place and though everything seems to run smoothly, it is a place of secrets. Johnny is a charmer, likes a dram or two of whisky, ekes out a living from the land and takes work wherever he finds it, whilst Lizzie Calder lives in the big house, she is married to William, a wealthy local man who signs up as soon as war is declared. On the surface, Johnny and Lizzie have little in common other than a desire to discover more about the peat woman, despite locals thinking that she was once a witch and is therefore the cause of all the misfortune which has recently befallen the village.
Beautifully written, with a sparseness which mimics the bleakness of its setting, this imaginative novel reveals its secrets ever so slowly. Harsh complexities sit alongside hidden nuances so that it becomes impossible to know where the truth lies. Johnny is an unlikely hero and Lizzie an unlikely heroine but their combined stories work so well that days after finishing the novel I’m still blown away by both the story and the characters.
November 28, 2025
I don't know if I ever thought I might review a book set in the Cabrach, but there we go!
It adds so much when you know the place - the names of the Rivers and villages, the families, everything is at once so familiar, but then also so different.
The Cabrach is an evocative place, it's remote and wild, probably more so now (with its horrendous landowner!) than it was when this story is set. So it makes a great setting for a brooding, slightly mysterious story.
The plot is good, gripping, slowly unravelling to a final, pretty devastating crescendo. I would have loved to uncover more about the woman...but she was more of a plot device than the central interest. I enjoyed the characters, they were flawed, but still engaging and interesting to follow.
Very much recommended if you want a Scottish story which is a bit creepy, a bit dark and very rewarding!
It adds so much when you know the place - the names of the Rivers and villages, the families, everything is at once so familiar, but then also so different.
The Cabrach is an evocative place, it's remote and wild, probably more so now (with its horrendous landowner!) than it was when this story is set. So it makes a great setting for a brooding, slightly mysterious story.
The plot is good, gripping, slowly unravelling to a final, pretty devastating crescendo. I would have loved to uncover more about the woman...but she was more of a plot device than the central interest. I enjoyed the characters, they were flawed, but still engaging and interesting to follow.
Very much recommended if you want a Scottish story which is a bit creepy, a bit dark and very rewarding!
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