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Chief Inspector Woodend #11
The Witch Maker
A village with a dark code for Woodend to crack
To be Witch Makers in the moorland village of Hallerton is both a great honour and a heavy burden. It is he who, after years of painstaking apprenticeship, constructs the effigy of Meg Ramsden - he who ties it to the stake and burns it before a bitterly jeering crowd. But this Witch Maker - only the twenty-fourth in the 450 years of the ceremony - never lives to witness his moment of triumph.
This Witch Maker is discovered tied to the Witching Post early one morning with a length of twine wrapped tightly around his neck. DCI Charlie Woodend prides himself on knowing how villages work - but has absolutely no idea at all what makes this one tick. Why do the villagers, who almost revered their Witch Maker, seem so unwilling to help the police? Why have there been so many suicides in this apparently sleepy hamlet? And why, when he has peeled away one level of secrets, does he find nothing underneath but an even deeper level?
To be Witch Makers in the moorland village of Hallerton is both a great honour and a heavy burden. It is he who, after years of painstaking apprenticeship, constructs the effigy of Meg Ramsden - he who ties it to the stake and burns it before a bitterly jeering crowd. But this Witch Maker - only the twenty-fourth in the 450 years of the ceremony - never lives to witness his moment of triumph.
This Witch Maker is discovered tied to the Witching Post early one morning with a length of twine wrapped tightly around his neck. DCI Charlie Woodend prides himself on knowing how villages work - but has absolutely no idea at all what makes this one tick. Why do the villagers, who almost revered their Witch Maker, seem so unwilling to help the police? Why have there been so many suicides in this apparently sleepy hamlet? And why, when he has peeled away one level of secrets, does he find nothing underneath but an even deeper level?
- GenresMysteryFictionProcedural
351 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
10 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 31, 2019
Enjoyable read, yet not my favorite in this series. I found it difficult to connect with the characters in this read. The mystery itself was interesting and had its share of twists and turns. The main characters in the series were true to form in pursuit of solving the crime.
March 21, 2023
Charlie Woodend and Monika Paniatowski investigate the garroting murder of a village "witch maker". In this village, where 350 years earlier a woman alleged to be a witch was burned at the stake, to show they were not ashamed of that act, the villages re-enact the burning every 20 years. One of the descendants of the men who were hanged for burning the witch becomes the "witch maker" and devotes all his energy and time to making a perfect effigy of the witch. He is revered and allowed many liberties in exchange for devoting his life to this action. So why was this revered man murdered in the village?
October 27, 2021
It’s a Roller Coaster…or a Ferris Wheel of a mystery
Always those twists and motives you’d be hard pressed to think of, this writer really knows how to surprise up until the very end.
Always those twists and motives you’d be hard pressed to think of, this writer really knows how to surprise up until the very end.
May 29, 2020
This was interesting. Maybe the weirdest premise of a procedural I've ever read?
March 8, 2023
Reading these in order and have enjoyed them until now. A little on the bizarre side.
February 20, 2010
In this Inspector Woodend novel a Witch Maker is murdered. The Witch Maker has a pretty elaborate description so I'll leave it up to you to investigate. The book is set in a small village that hasn't changed much in 350 years. The series is also based in the late 50s and early 60s so they are all filled with real life history throughout the books.
May 23, 2016
I like Monika less and less with every book.
April 4, 2017
The Witch Maker by Sally Spencer
DCI Woodend series Book #11
4.5 Stars
From The Book:
To be Witch Makers in the moorland village of Hallerton is both a great honor and a heavy burden. But this Witch Maker never lives to witness his moment of triumph and is discovered tied to the Witching Post early one morning with a length of twine wrapped tightly around his neck. Will DCI Charlie Woodend solve this mystery?
My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this book much more than I had thought I would. Sally Spenser did an outstanding job of portraying the small village and the strangeness of the people that inhabited it. The reader felt that they had been dropped into a time capsule and transported back 350 years. It seems that DCI Woodend and his Sergeant Monika Paniatowski also had that feeling...but while they were sorting out how to handle this case...another...seeming unrelated murder is dropped on their plates.
The story features a suspenseful and well-developed story line. A surprise ending and several semi-Gothic elements along with quaint setting and the sense of dark foreboding...all adds up to a first rate mystery.
DCI Woodend series Book #11
4.5 Stars
From The Book:
To be Witch Makers in the moorland village of Hallerton is both a great honor and a heavy burden. But this Witch Maker never lives to witness his moment of triumph and is discovered tied to the Witching Post early one morning with a length of twine wrapped tightly around his neck. Will DCI Charlie Woodend solve this mystery?
My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this book much more than I had thought I would. Sally Spenser did an outstanding job of portraying the small village and the strangeness of the people that inhabited it. The reader felt that they had been dropped into a time capsule and transported back 350 years. It seems that DCI Woodend and his Sergeant Monika Paniatowski also had that feeling...but while they were sorting out how to handle this case...another...seeming unrelated murder is dropped on their plates.
The story features a suspenseful and well-developed story line. A surprise ending and several semi-Gothic elements along with quaint setting and the sense of dark foreboding...all adds up to a first rate mystery.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews