I tend to like books with dark subject matter, looking at the underbelly of human nature and history. While reading this book, I suddenly thought, "This book has dark subject matter! And looks at the underbelly of human nature and history! How awful!"

I was really interested in the whole witch trial history in Salem, even when I was a kid. So this should be right in my wheelhouse, and it was, but for whatever reason, the unrelenting sadness and foreshadowing of Yet More Bad Shit To Come was just not doing it for me. Intriguing idea, good writing, pretty good characters (though all slightly thinly drawn), but in the end, just too depressing. I blame it on Trump. No really, I do. The world just looks shittier all 'round, and how women were, are and may always be treated by men? Fuck that.

Now I know why people read shit like Nicholas Sparks. Which I am NOT going to do.

This tale is a great big bundle of historical fiction, mystery, unresolved sibling rivalry, sexual tension circa mid-1600s, and some spooky stuff thrown in for good measure. The general misogyny that resulted in witch mayhem is well described in this book. Enter our Witchfinder, the strangely disfigured brother, Matthew, of our heroine Alice. Once unbelievably close, they have been separated for five years and now rejoined upon the death of Alice's husband. She has nowhere else to go and is pregnant. In the interim, Matthew has become wealthier but distant and strangely odd. As our tale begins, Alice is locked in a room, without food for three days and begins to describe how her brother has murdered 106 women. There is a sense of foreboding and dread that seeps into this tale in ways that are scary and creepy. There are just the right amounts of historical information to whet your appetite for more details as the tale progresses (and for Google searches on your own.) There are secrets within secrets that keep you reading much longer than you planned and possibly keep you up late at night. This is a big, juicy book that I loved. –Suzanne R.

I've been fascinated by the stories of Witch hunters, and most especially Matthew Hopkins, self-proclaimed Witchfinder General, for several years now and have half a novel written set in the years he was active. The author has been clever in merging fiction with the known facts and respectful of those victims of Hopkins and the 'gentlemen, with whom he worked.

Initially, I wasn't sure I'd like this novel. It seemed to me to be a slow burner and I felt I was plodding, however, it very cleverly drew me in over forty or fifty pages and became a page-turner which I found compelled to read until done.

Overall this isn't a 5 star read due to the slow start but if I could give 4.5 I would.

The Witchfinder’s Sister by Neth Underdown

5/5 Stars

This book is incredibly well written. I enjoyed reading it from start to finish (despite my atrocious reading time on it; I swear that’s not a reflection on this book at all, that’s a statement on 2020 as a whole).

This book has a theme of witch-hunting which sort of creeps up on you, but is no worse for the suspense. The characters are all interesting, they all have varied backgrounds and motivations and for together and into the storyline in ways that make this novel feel so well planned out that it’s no wonder it’s so well written.

This book definitely reminded me of The Familiars by Stacey Halls. Both are historical fiction books with main themes of witch hunts and persecution of so-called witches, as well as some emphasis on female relationships. But this book is head and tails about The Familiars in every regard. The storyline is better, the writing is better, the characters, everything.

So far Underdown hasn’t released anything else, but as soon as she does, I’ll probably pick it up before I even read the back.

2.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

It's 1645 and Alice Hopkins is traveling back home after a tragic accident has taken the life of her husband. She is without means and knows that her brother, Matthew, will take her in. Once upon a time, Alice and Matthew were close but the years have put a strain on their relationship and she's unsure of what kind of welcome will be extended to her. What she arrives at surprises, and dismays her. Matthew has become a witch hunter and is obsessed with flushing out all the witches in their town and surrounding villages. It isn't a good look on him. And it's rather terrifying to watch him murder innocent people. As the months pass and Matthew's hunt spreads farther and farther, Alice is caught between obeying him and saving innocent lives. She also goes on a hunt of her own, to find out what started Matthew down this road.

So, Matthew Hopkins was a real person who hunted (for lack of a better word or perhaps that is the best word to use) witches. He was referenced in some resource Underdown was reading and it sparked her curiosity. He was real and what he did was accurate but the rest of Underdown's book, in regards to characters and locations, is fiction. I believe the methods of interrogation described in the book are accurate to some of the ones used in the days of witch-hunting. It's terrifying and rage-inducing because versions are still employed to this day. I almost gave up on the book. I was at least halfway in and it felt so tedious and slow that I wondered if I cared enough to finish it. But I did stick with it because I felt Alice's situation was going to go one of two ways and I was curious enough to find out which way. The last third of the book felt easier to read and in the end, my curiosity was answered. What this book did was ignite my overall curiosity about the history of witch-hunting and murdering people so I'm guessing a deep dive down the rabbit hole of witches and such is in my near future.

I won this book through the giveaway. I was excited to read it, unfortunately, I don't think it quite lived up to my expectations. The story line was intriguing (hunting witches in the 1600's in England), but I had a hard time keeping focused. There wasn't much that was exciting; the few things that were interesting were so far towards the end that by the time I got to it I was almost skimming through. Also, some of the phrasing seemed too modern compared to the rest of the language. I wanted to like this book more than I did.

Easy read, entertaining and some interesting twists.

Excellent and still very topical.