Jacqueline Beard Writer

The Fressingfield Witch by Jacqueline Beard 2017 mystery

This was listed as a thriller but since the killer was unknown, I consider it a mystery. Private Investigator Lawrence Harpham is hired by the church to investigate strange deaths attributed to witchcraft by several of the residents in Fressingfield in 1890 when science is stressed and not superstition. Plenty of characters are introduced who could be the suspect, and the reader follows Lawrence as he interviews and researches the past for answers.

The research takes him into church records dating back to 1639 and follows the misfortunes of Faith Mills, the first witch of Fressingfield. These passages reveal candidly the challenges faced by a woman. Faith was married to a merchant but when he fell on hard times, he killed himself. Left with four children, she moved in with a relative in Fressingfield. Her young daughter is raped, and the wife…