The Death Pit

by Tony Strong | Mystery & Thrillers |
ISBN: 0553505432 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingPlum-crazywing of Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on 6/8/2009
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingPlum-crazywing from Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Monday, June 8, 2009
A flourishing modern coven of witches seems a natural part of the Scottish landscape--especially since nearby Babcock Castle was the scene of a notorious 17th-century trial and the burning of Catherine McCulloch, a woman accused of witchcraft. But when the body of one of the women in the coven is found dismembered in a foul pit where diseased pigs are discarded, some of the residents blame the witches and take violent action against them.
Terry Williams, a PhD candidate, has come to Babcock Castle to study McCullogh's papers, and finds herself caught up in the mystery when she discovers a link between the past and the present.
Strong is a sly writer who knows how to create sympathetic, believable characters and place them in a tightly controlled atmosphere where sex and danger charge the air...

Journal Entry 2 by wingPlum-crazywing at Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Monday, June 14, 2010
When Terry Williams goes to the Scottish Highlands to research the letters of Catherine McCulloch, who was burnt as a witch in the seventeenth century she didn't expect to become involved in either a murder enquiry or a modern-day witches coven!
While the murder of Donna Fairhead obviously a major theme of the book it's not the usual crime thriller as the police actually feature very little. The crime side comes in the guise of forensic archaeologist Iain Pullen & with this variant, the seventeenth century letters & the witchcraft angle it all makes for a very entertaining read!

NB... ignore the above star ratings (which seem to have gone haywire since the site upgrade in May) this is an 8/10 for me.
Read as part of the 2010 ULTIMATE CHALLENGE & the 2010 REDUCE MT TBR Challenge (#49)

Journal Entry 3 by wingPlum-crazywing at Secret Santa Exchange, Secret Santa Exchange -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Released 12 yrs ago (12/6/2011 UTC) at Secret Santa Exchange, Secret Santa Exchange -- Controlled Releases

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HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Secret Santa strikes again x


Released as part of the 2011 ULTIMATE CHALLENGE &
the D FOR DECEMBER CHALLENGE (#14)


Journal Entry 4 by wingyorkshire-lasswing at Maidstone, Kent United Kingdom on Monday, December 26, 2011
Thank you again! I think I may enjoy this.

Journal Entry 5 by wingyorkshire-lasswing at Maidstone, Kent United Kingdom on Monday, August 17, 2015
Got to it at last!
This was good! It didn't go where I expected it to, lots of surprises. Scotland sounds like a lawless place if the police up there are as poor as the ones in this book!

Journal Entry 6 by wingyorkshire-lasswing at Maidstone, Kent United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Released 8 yrs ago (11/19/2015 UTC) at Maidstone, Kent United Kingdom

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Going into HerbertLooby's Mystery/Thriller Book Box.

Journal Entry 7 by Flutterbies9 at Meare, Somerset United Kingdom on Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Taken out of HerbertLooby's box, and I should have guessed - a plum-crazy and yorkshire-lass pedigree once again for a book I have chosen!
This is an author I have not read previously so I'll give this one a try and see how I get on but with the above history, I'll probably be fine.
Thanks for sharing.

Journal Entry 8 by Flutterbies9 at Meare, Somerset United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Gosh, I had not realised that this book had been on tbr for so long. Apologies for the overlong delay on this one.

When I first started this book I thought "oh, I'm not so sure I will get through this one after all" yet by Chapter 12, I was thinking "where is this going" and at the end "Not what I expected but glad I read it". Somehow this crept up chapter by chapter with the twin stories of the current murder and the historical witches running side by side. At the beginning I thought it was going to be very violent with some of the descriptions vividly bringing the scene to the fore but in fact, the most violent parts were well through the book - nearing its end actually - and, thankfully, not described in quite as graphic detail as earlier scenes.

In many ways there is as much left out of this as there is left in and the characters themselves pull the plot through the book. Very little police involvement in this book (they seem to be more of a background added extra irritant rather than an organised crime fighting unit) and no follow through of the consequences of the discoveries but, in essence, all the ties from both the modern day crimes and older day witches were tied up neatly by the end of the story. All the themes explored, some more lightly than others, were extremely relevant and newsworthy in the time this was written and in some cases, remain so today but that adds to the plotline.

This is the first time I've read a Tony Strong book and I would read others if they came my way. I have passed this on to Mr Flutterbies9 but I suspect he will possibly not get around to this one, we'll see. *** Update : Mr Flutterbies9 decided to pass on this as he was uncertain of the witch element advertised, and nothing I said could dissuade him - so another destination for this.

Released 4 yrs ago (4/24/2019 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

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Happy travels little book.

Past time that this bookbox went on its rounds so apologies for the delays but it is on the way round now!

Journal Entry 10 by wingDiane-Fraserwing at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Taken from flutterbies9 crime and mystery book box :-)

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