The Fressingfield Witch

A Lawrence Harpham Murder Mystery, Book 1

By: Jacqueline Beard

Narrated by: Andrew Cullum

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Fressingfield Witch is a fictional murder mystery based on true events. Two of Suffolk's darkest cases of witchcraft are weaved together in one compelling story.

Scores of innocent women died during the Suffolk witch trials. Fear and uncertainty swept the land. Years later and two unexplained deaths in the village of Fressingfield stir up rumours of witchcraft again. Private Detective Lawrence Harpham agrees to investigate. But Lawrence is still tormented by the loss of his family in a house fire. Can he overcome his own demons and discover who is behind the flurry of deaths? The sins of the fathers return to haunt in this intricately plotted Victorian murder mystery.

©2017 Jacqueline Beard (P)2020 W F Howes

I can't wait to begin next book!

Is there any other higher praise for a first book in a series than to want to dive right into book 2? Yes.... when the 1st book is released on Kindle Unlimited and only 1\2 away through the book you realize you are definitely buying the next two books! (I purchased the audio book after being the sample)

This book peels back the layers without pontificating about the struggle of women, especially strong smart women, throughout history. The irony of a historical fiction book revealing TWO historical time periods was not lost on me. The character development and world building in both time periods was excellent. Although I caught the wink and nod by one of the characters I was still pleasantly surprised by away the mystery was wrapped up. Like a great meal I was quite satisfied but left desiring the next course. The narration was brilliant. I highly recommend this book for historical context, the well woven mysteries and strong women characters.

Loved it.

Excellent novel and very good narrator, he gets the Suffolk accent just right. I had already bought read the book but didn't realise that it is the first part of a series so I am looking forward to the second.

Gripping story about the persecution of women

I really enjoyed this audiobook and was gripped from the first chapter with its vivid portrayal of a man who believed himself bewitched and its imagery of dead crows. I love dual timelines and was interested in how beliefs from the era of witch hunts came to haunt the present.

The present is the 1890s, one of my favourite periods, and Laurence has his work cut out to track down exactly who is determined to seek revenge for a tragedy centuries before.

The audiobook brought witch hunting alive for me and made me realise what women have had to endure in the past. I look forward to listening to more of this mystery series.

Great read

Great read!
enjoyed it very much
historical accounts of the witch trials fascinating.
narrator was brilliant.

a good read

the story is good, the narrator excellent but would have liked more intrigue in all

Gentle read. Nicely tangled plot.

Would like to meet the main protagonists again. Any plans?? Interesting way to dig deeper into Victorian views and etiquette.

Odd Narration Style.

Narrated in the style of an upbeat children's story. This is so at odds with the content, that it's easy to imagine that the narrator is being satirical.