WITCH HUNT: Step into the past of the Essex witch trials with this bestselling haunting psychological thriller with a historical twist for 2025

If you loved the #witchybooks The Manningtree Witches, Weyward, The Familiars then you need to read Witch Hunt by @sydmooreauthor . 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 Journalist Sadie Asquith has recently lost her mother and relishing the distraction, all her time is spent researching The Essex Witch Trials for her recently approved book. Fascinated for years on the injustices faced by this women, Sadie under the constraints of her book deadline puts every waking hour into uncovering what really happened to Rebecca West and the other women accused by the infamous witch hunter Matthew Hopkins in sixteenth and seventeenth century Essex. As she delves deeper into her research, Sadie starts hearing and seeing a ghostly presence which gets stronger and stronger. Terrified that she is heading down the same path as her mother with mental illness, she unintentionally discovers a secret that could change the history of what experts believed happened after the witch trials. This secret not only threatens the past, but now threatens Sadie's sanity and worse, her life. Wow! I adored this book. I wa sengrossed,terrified, shocked and nearly hooked up to a defibrillator at one early ghostly apparition, this book was absolutely thrilling. Twists amd turns galore and I presumed I'd figured out the main twist and boy was I wrong!

Witch Hunt was my Halloween read. Having bought it a year ago, I finally made it in time for this year! The prologue is obviously a scene from the past. I wanted to know who is she? What had she done? How is she invisible to neighbours? This really hooked me in. Another hook for me was how the author makes the reader aware that something of significance had happened in the past. This definitely made me want to carry on reading because I really wanted to know! Fabulous scenes at St Botolph's, Colchester Castle, Manningtree and in the Witchfinder General's room at the inn :) I have to be honest and say I wasn't scared. Fascinated yes, scared no! I also have to mention when Sadie visits Dan. I really felt as if my perceptions had been altered. The flashbacks to the time of the trials were brilliant. It is obvious Moore has researched thoroughly as they felt authentic. There was one character that I just wasn't sure of. I asked myself, what part was he playing? I knew it was more than we saw on the surface. This was a shock when I found out because I just hadn't worked it out! Blending fact with fiction, excellent characters and some terrifying scenes, I enjoyed this story with its different threads weaving through, all linking back to the witch trials. I have to admit I've now bought Moore's debut, The Drowning Pool. Hope it won't take me another year!

Just finished this whilst on holiday. A really good read, well written and as it was based in Essex, I found it interesting from my time living there. The characters are believable, some easier to work out than others what their role in the story was. The combination of facts and fiction was very well done, and the book kept me guessing for quite a while. If you like combining fact with fiction, have an interest in the witch hunts and like a book that's hard to put down, I highly recommend this one!

Enjoying this book, learning some very sad history about the witch hunts and getting scared all in one. Great book.

Eine junge Journalistin ist einer jahrhundertealten Intrige auf der Spur, die sie ins 17. Jahrhundert und ein dunkles Kapitel der englischen Geschichte führt - zu den Hexenprozessen von Essex und dem Witch Finder General, Mathew Hopkins. Währenddessen entdeckt sie Hinweise auf ihre eigene Biographie und welche Verbindung sie selbst möglicherweise zur Hexenjagd von damals besitzt. Dies ist das erste Buch von Syd Moore, das ich gelesen habe, und ich bin angenehm überrascht. Ihre Sprache ist voller Lokalkolorit, sarkastischem Humor und Vielschichtigkeit. Zweifellos hat die Autorin die Orte der Handlung besucht, und es gelingt ihr, den Leser in die Atmosphäre jener Orte mitzunehmen. Für mich war das Buch ein echter "pageturner". Allein einen Stern ziehe ich hier ab, weil die Auflösung der Geschichte mir - nach vielen Seiten voller geschichtlicher Verweise, Geistererscheinungen und persönlicher Tragödie - zu gewollt erschien... und nicht wirklich überraschend. Dennoch möchte ich dieses Buch jenen Lesern empfehlen, die sich für gut geschriebene Geistergeschichten mit historischem Bezug interessieren. Über die Hexenprozesse von Essex, die jenen von Salem in Massachusetts nur kurz voraus gingen, weiß man hierzulande eher wenig. Dieses Buch führt den geneigten Leser sehr gut in die furchtbaren Ereignisse ein und läßt ihn nicht selten erschauern.

I enjoyed this book. I appreciated all the historical information. Good plot, but every obvious. I enjoy this author

Witches, history, modern day interwoven into a wonderful, story of intrigue, with scary situations. I learned about English witch trials and places I'd never heard of. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Nice creepy ghost story with lots of detailed information on the witch hunt in Essex. However, I found the story a bit too predictable and the main characters rather stupid (but that's probably just right in a ghost story or else you wouldn't be getting anywhere). This book makes an entertaining past time read especially for those interested in those dark bits of history, but it's not going to make a favorite book.