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The Cornwall Murders #2
The Wicca Woman
David Pinner's Ritual was the inspiration for the classic cult movie, The Wicker Man starring Edward Woodward.
The Wicca Women is its explosive sequel.
Thirty years ago a young girl was found murdered in a sleepy Cornish village, and her death was the trigger for a spree of other killings.
The rest of the children have now grown up, and are still living in the same Pagan village.
But they have become as disturbed, frenzied, and often as dangerous as their deceased parents.
They still follow age-old sacrificial rituals to bring peace and prosperity to their lives.
But are the adults, who witnessed horrors in their childhood, now corrupting the next generation?
Into their midst comes the lithesome and mysterious, Lulu, who is determined to save the village.
But death, mayhem and terror follow in her wake.
And on Millennium Eve, The Wicca Woman comes to its terrifying ritualistic and sacrificial climax.
But is this only the horrific beginning of what is yet to come…?
Praise for Ritual:
‘Ritual’s opulent dialogue, with the sickly richness of its countryside, and Pinner’s decaying village, can stand alone from the book’s illustrious successor. But, be warned, like The Wicker Man, it is quite likely to test your dreams of leaving the city for a shady nook by a babbling brook.’ - The Guardian
The Wicca Women is its explosive sequel.
Thirty years ago a young girl was found murdered in a sleepy Cornish village, and her death was the trigger for a spree of other killings.
The rest of the children have now grown up, and are still living in the same Pagan village.
But they have become as disturbed, frenzied, and often as dangerous as their deceased parents.
They still follow age-old sacrificial rituals to bring peace and prosperity to their lives.
But are the adults, who witnessed horrors in their childhood, now corrupting the next generation?
Into their midst comes the lithesome and mysterious, Lulu, who is determined to save the village.
But death, mayhem and terror follow in her wake.
And on Millennium Eve, The Wicca Woman comes to its terrifying ritualistic and sacrificial climax.
But is this only the horrific beginning of what is yet to come…?
Praise for Ritual:
‘Ritual’s opulent dialogue, with the sickly richness of its countryside, and Pinner’s decaying village, can stand alone from the book’s illustrious successor. But, be warned, like The Wicker Man, it is quite likely to test your dreams of leaving the city for a shady nook by a babbling brook.’ - The Guardian
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
About the author
David Pinner
23 books13 followersDavid Pinner was born in 1940. After school and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he appeared with repertory companies at Sheffield, Perth, Coventry (Belgrade Theatre) and Windsor. By 1969 he had written thirteen plays, including ‘Fanghorn’, ‘Dickon’, ‘Lightfall’ and ‘Eiderdown’. RITUAL was his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 26, 2020
A sequel written some 30 years after its successor, 'The Wicca Woman' finds the author with a more formal writing style that slightly desensitized me from the overall atmosphere. Still definitely Lovecraftian in its reliance on the sea, and the powers therein; this book was less Lolita and more feministic, heroine succubus. I felt the character development weak and jumpy, but was so embedded in the environment of the story that it was forgivable. An ample conclusion to this microcosms tale.
December 26, 2021
Not really sure what to say about this one.
Pretty boring story until the very last and that turned weird FAST.
Pretty boring story until the very last and that turned weird FAST.
May 5, 2023
The Wicca Woman ??? It was bad, very, very bad !!!
This book was very bad and only the last 50 pages were any good and this book could have been written as a very small novella and never made into a sequel to the Ritual at all but once you start reading a book you have to finish reading it but if l knew l only had to read the last 50 pages then that is what l would have done !!!
This book was very bad and only the last 50 pages were any good and this book could have been written as a very small novella and never made into a sequel to the Ritual at all but once you start reading a book you have to finish reading it but if l knew l only had to read the last 50 pages then that is what l would have done !!!
September 23, 2025
2.5 rounded up to 3.
October 27, 2019
I actually though this was superior to Ritual and although not exactly Thomas Hardy I thought the prose was much improved and not as fancy. Would love to see a film version!
May 10, 2016
Read this on the heels of finishing "Ritual". Where do I even begin?
Characters who appeared as children in the previous book populate this one as well, but with totally different names (Gilly inexplicably becomes Mary and John is now called Don). Characters are one dimensional and vague...except when they suddenly begin to the opposite of everything they've done to this point. First they want to fuck, then they want to kill, then they are saving their enemies only to try and kill them again. Add in poor research about women's religions and goddess worship and throw a reincarnated puritan witchfinder with a penchant for self-flagellation and rampant misogyny and you have horrible mess that is bound to permanently stain any carpet.
An editor was sorely needed to pull this book into line, but that may not even have been enough. it's clear why the author couldn't sell it to anyone and had to self-publish.
Seriously, save your money.
Characters who appeared as children in the previous book populate this one as well, but with totally different names (Gilly inexplicably becomes Mary and John is now called Don). Characters are one dimensional and vague...except when they suddenly begin to the opposite of everything they've done to this point. First they want to fuck, then they want to kill, then they are saving their enemies only to try and kill them again. Add in poor research about women's religions and goddess worship and throw a reincarnated puritan witchfinder with a penchant for self-flagellation and rampant misogyny and you have horrible mess that is bound to permanently stain any carpet.
An editor was sorely needed to pull this book into line, but that may not even have been enough. it's clear why the author couldn't sell it to anyone and had to self-publish.
Seriously, save your money.
September 20, 2015
'Ritual' was great, if a little eccentric in places, but it's hard to believe this is by the same author. Populated by characters who 'riposte', 'exclaim', 'reply'—almost anything other than simply 'say' anything, the prose quickly becomes tiring. Everyone has a penchant for soliloquy, as well, rambling away to themselves for entire lengthy paragraphs in order to move the plot along or explain the more bizarre non-sequitur plot moves. It's almost like Pinner has taken a play and moulded the odd bit of prose around it, making very good use of his thesaurus to avoid the dreaded 'said'. Not a patch on Ritual; I'm forcing myself to read the last quarter, but in my heart I've already given up on this disappointing sequel.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews