Book Description
When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem's chief of police, John Rafferty, now married to gifted lace reader Towner Whitney, wonders if there is a connection between his death and Salem's most notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed "The Goddess Murders," in which three young women, all descended from accused Salem witches, were slashed on Halloween night in 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims newly returned to town. Neither believes that the main suspect, Rose Whelan, respected local historian, is guilty of murder or witchcraft.
But exonerating Rose might mean crossing paths with a dangerous force. Were the women victims of an all-too-human vengeance, or was the devil raised in Salem that night? And if they cannot discover what truly happened, will evil rise again?
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I enjoyed reading this novel very much for two reasons: 1. I've read The Lace Reader and 2. I've been to Salem Massachusetts and always liked the area and the rich history of the witch trails that I first learned about by reading Nathanial Hawthorne's novel, The House of Seven Gables. The author, Brunonia Barry, does an excellent job of switching between the three time periods of 1692, the Salem witch trial period, Halloween night 1989, "The Goddess Murders" when three young descendants of accused Salem witches from 1692 were slashed and murdered, and Halloween 2014 in Salem where this story takes place. The book is full with information about mythology, Celtic paganism, sound therapy, visions, intuition, and lots of research which makes for an interesting read if you like those subject matters. The characters were well-developed and the plot was intriguing. I look forward to reading the author's other book, The Map of True Places, and I highly recommend this book to those who like reading about the Salem witch trails.
When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem's chief of police, John Rafferty, now married to gifted lace reader Towner Whitney, wonders if there is a connection between his death and Salem's most notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed "The Goddess Murders," in which three young women, all descended from accused Salem witches, were slashed on Halloween night in 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims newly returned to town. Neither believes that the main suspect, Rose Whelan, respected local historian, is guilty of murder or witchcraft.
But exonerating Rose might mean crossing paths with a dangerous force. Were the women victims of an all-too-human vengeance, or was the devil raised in Salem that night? And if they cannot discover what truly happened, will evil rise again?
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I enjoyed reading this novel very much for two reasons: 1. I've read The Lace Reader and 2. I've been to Salem Massachusetts and always liked the area and the rich history of the witch trails that I first learned about by reading Nathanial Hawthorne's novel, The House of Seven Gables. The author, Brunonia Barry, does an excellent job of switching between the three time periods of 1692, the Salem witch trial period, Halloween night 1989, "The Goddess Murders" when three young descendants of accused Salem witches from 1692 were slashed and murdered, and Halloween 2014 in Salem where this story takes place. The book is full with information about mythology, Celtic paganism, sound therapy, visions, intuition, and lots of research which makes for an interesting read if you like those subject matters. The characters were well-developed and the plot was intriguing. I look forward to reading the author's other book, The Map of True Places, and I highly recommend this book to those who like reading about the Salem witch trails.
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