"Unusual, terrific crime thriller" - review of THE TRIALS OF MARJORIE CROWE

THE TRIALS OF MARJORIE CROWE by CS Robertson (Hodder & Stoughton, 2024)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

How do you solve a murder when everyone thinks you're guilty? Marjorie Crowe lives in Kilgoyne, Scotland. The locals put her age at somewhere between 55 and 70. They think she's divorced or a lifelong spinster; that she used to be a librarian, a pharmacist, or a witch. They think she's lonely, or ill, or maybe just plain rude. For the most part, they leave her be.

But one day, everything changes. Local teenager Charlie McKee is found hanging in the woods, and Marjorie is the first one to see his body. When what she saw turns out to be impossible, the police have their doubts. And when another young person goes missing, the tide of suspicion turns on her.

Is Marjorie the monster, or the victim? And how far will she go to fight for her name?

Burn the witch. History doesn’t repeat but it often rhymes, as they say, and in Scottish author CS Robertson’s terrific standalone thriller the rhyming echoes from the past involve witchcraft, and how women who stand apart from ‘normal society’ have been persecuted throughout the centuries; sometimes fatally, often by their closest neighbours. Think the Salem Witch Trials, where 200 people were accused of witchcraft on the flimsiest of evidence, and two dozen executed or died in custody.

In The Trials of Marjorie Crowe, twice a day the titular character walks the same route through and around the village of Kilgoyne, determinedly keeping on track even when that means walking right through a pub where she can face stares and jeers. She’s the village metronome, the ‘weird old lady’ living on the outskirts that some kids taunt, and others are fascinated by. How old is Marjorie, and is she a retired librarian, a former pharmacist, or a witch? When local teen Charlie McKee is found hanging in the woods, the village begins to turn on Marjorie. Then social media. Burn the witch. 

Then another youngster goes missing… 

Marjorie can’t explain her actions or trust her own recollections. Is she a victim, or a monster?

Robertson deftly draws readers into an unsettling, character-centric crime story that dips into the occult while being horrifyingly plausible. Internet pile-ons akin to historic lynch-mobs. Fears of anyone different, or anything that’s not easily explained. Interspersed vignettes about real-life Scottish women accused of witchcraft in centuries past, and executed, are a poignant reminder of how easily distrust is stoked into persecution, how those in power may abuse it, and the ubiquitous-ness of misogyny. History doesn’t repeat, but rhymes. Burn the witch.

An unusual, terrific crime thriller

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.