Sharan Newman, The Witch in the Well

The Witch in the Well

Sharan Newman

Forge, Dec. 2004, $24.95, 352 pp.

ISBN 0765308819

To escape the heat in Paris, Catherine, Edgar and their three children visit her brother's manor house Vielleteneuse. When her brother comes back from the hunt he has with him an injured woman. Despite Catherine's efforts, the woman dies, but a few seconds later she says that "evil is coming for all Andonenn's children" and BEGS Catherine to save them before the well runs dry. Catherine learns that the family legend is known to all her relatives except her.

At the Castle of Boisvert, Catherine's grandfather summons all the descendents of Andonenn demanding they come to the ancestral home because their "protection" is fading. Neither Guillaume, his wife Marie nor Catherine & Edgar want to go, but someone is causing dangerous accidents that force them to go to the haven of Boisvert. They find no safety in the Castle because the heir is killed and his brother is injured. A neighbor plans to take the castle with the help of a traitor but two women, who though seemingly mad, apparently hold the key to the castle's salvation and the people in it.

Although there are many incidents in THE WITCH IN THE WELL that seem to be supernaturally based, it is really the actions of two women who want the family to come to the castle and they don't care how much damage they cause along the way. Sharan Newman has written a totally enthralling historical mystery in which a castle with unexplored corridors and white subterranean floors are explored giving the book a gothic feel. There is treasure to be found but finding it is part of the mystery of this incredible amateur sleuth tale.

Harriet Klausner