Something Wicked : The Lives, Crimes and Deaths of the Pendle Witches

On the 20th of August, 1612, ten individuals from Pendle faced execution before a vast crowd at Lancaster's Gallows Hill. The condemned and their associates had endured six months of accusations, imprisonment, and torture; their ordeal was so severe that one of the group perished in the dungeons of Lancaster Castle while awaiting trial.

Today, a thriving tourism industry surrounds Pendle, the former home of the so-called witches, yet virtually all our knowledge of the case stems from a single source: Thomas Potts' Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches, hastily published in 1613 and distinctly skewed in favour of the prosecution. Until now...

Sunday Times bestselling author Carol Ann Lee brings an entirely fresh perspective to the story by approaching it as a true crime case. Having worked in the genre for more than a decade, her research leads to revelatory discoveries, transforming our understanding of those shadowy figures behind ill-famed names, and the terrible events that befell them.

After four centuries of superstition and conjecture, the two central, warring families – each headed by a fiercely independent widow working as a 'cunning woman' – emerge fully formed, as the book uncovers the reality of their lives and their alleged crimes before exploring the trial and executions.

Along the way, we uncover the truth behind some of the story's most enduring mysteries: the legend of Malkin Tower and the final resting place of the Pendle witches. This is a ground-breaking book that will take the reader on a spellbinding journey into the dark heart of England's largest and most notorious witch trial.