Hour of the Witch

How it reads

Hour of the Witch is historical fiction (historical courtroom thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in a big city setting, in the historical past, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are justice, faith and power and politics. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 406 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.