Burn the witch. History doesn’t repeat but it often rhymes, as they say, and in Scottish author C S Robertson’s terrific standalone thriller the rhyming echoes from the past involve witchcraft, and how women who stand apart from ‘normal society’ have been persecuted throughout the centuries; sometimes fatally, often by their closest neighbours.
Twice a day Marjorie Crowe walks the same route through and around the village of Kilgoyne, determinedly keeping on track even when that means walking through a pub where she can face stares and jeers. She’s the village metronome, the ‘weird old lady’ living on the outskirts that some kids taunt, and others are fascinated by. How old is Marjorie, and is she a retired librarian, a former pharmacist, or a witch? When local teen Charlie McKee is found hanging in the woods, the village begins to turn on Marjorie. Then social media. Burn the witch. Then another youngster goes missing … Marjorie can’t explain her actions or trust her own recollections. Is she a victim, or a monster?
Robertson deftly draws readers into an unsettling, character-centric crime story that dips into the occult while being horrifyingly plausible: Internet pile-ons akin to historic lynch mobs and fears of anyone different, or anything that’s not easily explained. Vignettes about real-life Scottish women accused of witchcraft in centuries past are a poignant reminder of how easily distrust is stoked into persecution, how those in power may abuse it, and the ubiquitousness of misogyny. History doesn’t repeat, but rhymes. Burn the witch.
An unusual, terrific crime thriller.
Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
Due November 2024 in paperback
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A former journalist, Craig Robertson had a 20-year career with a Scottish Sunday newspaper before becoming a full-time author. He interviewed three Prime Ministers, reported on major stories including 9/11, Dunblane, the Omagh bombing and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
He was pilloried on breakfast television, beat Oprah Winfrey to a major scoop, spent time on Death Row in the USA and dispensed polio drops in the backstreets of India.
His first novel, Random, was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA New Blood Dagger, longlisted for the 2011 Crime Novel of the Year and was a Sunday Times bestseller. He has been both longlisted and shortlisted for writing prizes.
He now shares his time between Scotland and California and can usually be found on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic.
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