Testament of a Witch
By Douglas Watt
Published by
Luath Press Ltd
ISBN 9781906817794
Category thriller/crime/mystery
Autumn 2011
Synopsis
When Edinburgh-based Advocate John MacKenzie and his assistant Davie Scougall investigate the suspicious death of a woman denounced as a witch, they find themselves overwhelmed by superstition, resentment and religion. Will reason allow MacKenzie to reveal the true evil lurking in the town, before the witch-hunt claims another victim?
Author's Biography
Douglas Watt is a historian, poet, novelist and author of The Price of Scotland, which won the Hume Brown Senior Prize in 2008. He is the author of Death of a Chief, the first novel featuring John MacKenzie, Investigative Advocate. He lives in Linlithgow with his wife and their children.
Reviews
‘Move over Rebus. There’s a new – or should that be old – detective in town.’ MATTHEW PERREN, I-ON EDINBURGH, on Death of a Chief
Price £ 8.99
Binding: Paperback
Publication date 01/05/2011
Reader Comments
Testament of a Witch by Douglas Watt - Review by Jan Rossetti
(Casati House Literary Salon – IOW)
This book reads on many different levels.Firstly the classic detective novel with the mysterious but wholly likeable character of the Advocate John Mackenzie. Who suffers guilt at the death of his wife. Then the hesitant,shy and fearful religious character of the advocate's assistant, who John Mackenzie treats with patience and kindness, and who's unrequited love of Mackenzie’s daughter provides another thread to these interesting characters.
The historical richness of the story, set in a time of such political and religious unrest in Scottish history is both interesting and educational. I loved the detail and accuracy of this moment in time, when the Witch trials struck such fear into the hearts of both men and women of all classes.The extreme cruelty and religious fervour that gave zealots such power over fellow human beings and could be used to rob the original wise women of influence over their community. These actions bought communities in fear to follow the church,but is tempered cleverly by the ephemeral quality of belief systems that reek havoc in the life of any country and is as such very topical in our modern world. The brilliant and uncomfortable revelation at the end of this story, casts many shadows.
Douglas Watt manages to place his detective story comfortably within the political framework of history, pushing the plot forward and providing the subtext. The protagonists are nicely pure in their evil, both in manner and looks and on the perceived wrong side of politics. Yet once again their evil is tempered by an uncomfortable insight in to the wrongs done to them in the past. This touches on the evils of the father visited upon the offspring, which leads to future evils and of course their just and violent ends.
This story has all the elements of the classic good over evil triumphs. However, good does not come out unscathed and there is not the fairytale quality of a happy ever after