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The Cursed Witch
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1828 -
Born the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, Anna Stewart is cursed as a witch. Shunned by society, she is blamed for her family's misfortunes. The night before Samhain, Anna, now eighteen years old, is sent on an errand. Hearing shuffling footsteps behind her, she turns, and her vision fades to black. She awakens to see the full moon in the cloudless night sky, grasps the freshly turned soil where she lay and watches as a fleeing pair of body snatchers disappear into the shadows of the kirkyard. Alone among the gravestones, she stares at the open end of a casket deep within her disturbed grave. As she begins to walk home, Anna encounters the town witch, who tells her she was murdered and buried. With the killer still at large, the old woman warns Anna to hide, or risk being killed, again.
Douglas MacEwan, the successful owner of a mercantile shipping company, is staying in the city while his ships unload and take on cargo before returning to Virginia. His happenstance encounter with Anna leaves him spellbound by her beauty. After learning of her plight, he offers to investigate and track down her murderer. Knowing he must soon depart with his ships, his affection for Anna grows, as does his determination to ensure she remains safe.
Will Douglas succeed in finding Anna's assailant or will her killer discover her whereabouts and ensure she is dead?
Born the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, Anna Stewart is cursed as a witch. Shunned by society, she is blamed for her family's misfortunes. The night before Samhain, Anna, now eighteen years old, is sent on an errand. Hearing shuffling footsteps behind her, she turns, and her vision fades to black. She awakens to see the full moon in the cloudless night sky, grasps the freshly turned soil where she lay and watches as a fleeing pair of body snatchers disappear into the shadows of the kirkyard. Alone among the gravestones, she stares at the open end of a casket deep within her disturbed grave. As she begins to walk home, Anna encounters the town witch, who tells her she was murdered and buried. With the killer still at large, the old woman warns Anna to hide, or risk being killed, again.
Douglas MacEwan, the successful owner of a mercantile shipping company, is staying in the city while his ships unload and take on cargo before returning to Virginia. His happenstance encounter with Anna leaves him spellbound by her beauty. After learning of her plight, he offers to investigate and track down her murderer. Knowing he must soon depart with his ships, his affection for Anna grows, as does his determination to ensure she remains safe.
Will Douglas succeed in finding Anna's assailant or will her killer discover her whereabouts and ensure she is dead?
259 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 7, 2021
2 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Brenda Hasse
22 books14 followersBrenda is a multi-award-winning author who writes both fiction and nonfiction. Her primary genres are young adult historical romance and young adult romantic suspense. She has also written second-chance romance, metaphysical/visionary, and picture books for children. In nonfiction, she published a biography of a young woman who was human trafficked and a pair of books about the history and hauntings of her hometown of Fenton, Michigan. She shares her knowledge of writing and publishing at an annual writers' conference. Brenda loves chocolate, coffee, and cats, especially her two rescue cats, Petey and Max.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 28, 2022
I love historical crime fiction and this is a little gem. Anna Stewart is a youg woman who others say she is cursed. The seventh daughter of the seventh daughter. With flaming red hair and green eyes people say she is a witch. Anna is murdered and buried in an unmarked grave. Body snatchers are paid to dig her body up and deliver it to the medical school. As the body snatchers are heaving her body up and out of the grave Anna sits up and sneezes. Wandering the streets Anna comes upon a wizened old lady with a a very large dog. The old lady Haggida takes Anna home, little does Anna realise that Haggida is her godmother and a witch. With the help of a stranger they all three will investigate who murdered Anna and why?
I LOVED this tale and did not want this book to end. Beautifully written, so descriptive and I loved Haggida and her animal companions. A new author for me and I will definitely be searching out more of her work. Loved it!!!!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I LOVED this tale and did not want this book to end. Beautifully written, so descriptive and I loved Haggida and her animal companions. A new author for me and I will definitely be searching out more of her work. Loved it!!!!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
January 3, 2023
This book is more historical murder mystery than anything else, and the murder mystery was a fun one to solve. I was drawn in by the premise, but found the omniscient third person pov to be somewhat tedious in this application. Where motives could be in question, the narration gave away more than I would have liked, and I correctly guessed the would-be killer at about halfway.
That being said, this book would benefit greatly from another round of edits, as there were a number of spelling and grammatical errors, which sounds nitpicky, but there were a few sentences I had to read through a few times in order to identify what was being said. I also struggled with this book being set in Scotland, yet only using "ye ken" and "dinnae fash" to remind the reader that it's set in Scotland. If a dialect is included, I wish the author would lean in, otherwise it just feels like an obvious reminder at strange times.
Overall, the mystery was fun and it was a step outside of my comfort zone, as I'm primarily into romance. This has a clean romance that feels more like an afterthought, added so that the book could be tagged as romance, but I wouldn't call this a romance novel. It's strength lies in the charm of its characters and their overlapping lives, which I did enjoy quite a bit.
That being said, this book would benefit greatly from another round of edits, as there were a number of spelling and grammatical errors, which sounds nitpicky, but there were a few sentences I had to read through a few times in order to identify what was being said. I also struggled with this book being set in Scotland, yet only using "ye ken" and "dinnae fash" to remind the reader that it's set in Scotland. If a dialect is included, I wish the author would lean in, otherwise it just feels like an obvious reminder at strange times.
Overall, the mystery was fun and it was a step outside of my comfort zone, as I'm primarily into romance. This has a clean romance that feels more like an afterthought, added so that the book could be tagged as romance, but I wouldn't call this a romance novel. It's strength lies in the charm of its characters and their overlapping lives, which I did enjoy quite a bit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2022
Being the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, Anna Stewart is considered a cursed witch by many. When she is murdered, body snatchers come to steal her body for the medical school…only to have Anna “Come back to life”. Lucky for Anna, the town witch, who turns out to be Anna’s godmother, takes her in and helps keep her hidden as they try to find out who tried to kill Anna and why.
A handsome stranger who turns up on the witch’s doorstep to get a remedy becomes a close ally and steps up to help keep Anna safe as they solve the mystery of her murder. But can the trio solve Anna’s murder before the killer strikes again?
wished it were a little longer because I didn’t want the story to end. The writing is strong and completely entrances you…I had a hard time putting the book down, but quickly picked it up again as soon as I could. I recommend this book for any mystery lover. It’s cozy, with a day of historical, and a pinch of supernatural, making it a perfect read for everyone.
A handsome stranger who turns up on the witch’s doorstep to get a remedy becomes a close ally and steps up to help keep Anna safe as they solve the mystery of her murder. But can the trio solve Anna’s murder before the killer strikes again?
wished it were a little longer because I didn’t want the story to end. The writing is strong and completely entrances you…I had a hard time putting the book down, but quickly picked it up again as soon as I could. I recommend this book for any mystery lover. It’s cozy, with a day of historical, and a pinch of supernatural, making it a perfect read for everyone.
November 11, 2022
There isn’t much depth to this book.
However, I still enjoyed it.
There is a witch in the story and I enjoyed the description of the potions, the old witch and her house.
However, it turned out to be a bit of a detective story.
It’s lighthearted and worth a read.
However, I still enjoyed it.
There is a witch in the story and I enjoyed the description of the potions, the old witch and her house.
However, it turned out to be a bit of a detective story.
It’s lighthearted and worth a read.
May 28, 2022
Someone tried to kill Anna. Unbeknownst to the culprit, she survived. After luck strikes again and she’s saved from suffocating in her coffin, Anna needs to find her would-be killer before they try to finish the job.
A very interesting mystery read. Truly, a whodunit with a smaller-than-usual cast. Maybe also a whydunit because of the small cast of characters. I was admittedly deceived by red herrings and I went where the author took me in general. It’s also a great read for history lovers. This book is obviously a work of fiction but it has real historical components in it. I, for one, really enjoyed this macabre aspect of the history. Witches, resurrectionists, doctors who pay for stolen dead bodies to use as teaching tools and all the oddities all came together and created a world which I was delighted to discover. Knowingly or not, The Cursed Witch also had some poignant social commentary because no one except for the thoroughly depraved or the thoroughly desperate for money would resort to illegally digging up graves at the witching hour of the night.
I do think that the characters could’ve been more developed. I found Lachlan to be a very interesting character but we never got to learn much about him or why he acts the way he does. This was, I think, a general problem with all the characters in the book. They only existed in the present and that made them two dimensional and harder to identify with. Weirdly, the two characters I really ended up caring about were the two resurrectionists. However, the potential is there, the characters just need to be explored a bit more (for example, the backstory that Haggadah hinted at, involving the witches in her book of shadows). Some plot points were abandoned prematurely. I expected Anna’s apprenticeship under her godmother to have a bigger effect on the resolution or maybe the ending of the book.
I was provided an ARC of this book and I thank the author and the publishing team for it !
A very interesting mystery read. Truly, a whodunit with a smaller-than-usual cast. Maybe also a whydunit because of the small cast of characters. I was admittedly deceived by red herrings and I went where the author took me in general. It’s also a great read for history lovers. This book is obviously a work of fiction but it has real historical components in it. I, for one, really enjoyed this macabre aspect of the history. Witches, resurrectionists, doctors who pay for stolen dead bodies to use as teaching tools and all the oddities all came together and created a world which I was delighted to discover. Knowingly or not, The Cursed Witch also had some poignant social commentary because no one except for the thoroughly depraved or the thoroughly desperate for money would resort to illegally digging up graves at the witching hour of the night.
I do think that the characters could’ve been more developed. I found Lachlan to be a very interesting character but we never got to learn much about him or why he acts the way he does. This was, I think, a general problem with all the characters in the book. They only existed in the present and that made them two dimensional and harder to identify with. Weirdly, the two characters I really ended up caring about were the two resurrectionists. However, the potential is there, the characters just need to be explored a bit more (for example, the backstory that Haggadah hinted at, involving the witches in her book of shadows). Some plot points were abandoned prematurely. I expected Anna’s apprenticeship under her godmother to have a bigger effect on the resolution or maybe the ending of the book.
I was provided an ARC of this book and I thank the author and the publishing team for it !
June 5, 2022
*ARC received from NetGalley for an honest review.*
Anna Stewart is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and as such, the people of Edinburgh believe she is a cursed witch. Assumed dead and buried, two resurrectionists are tasked to dig up her body and sell it to the local medical school. Instead, once they have done the work of digging her body from her grave, they find Anna very much alive. This begins Anna's search for her attempted murderer with the help of the town healer, a very protective dog, and a handsome shipping merchant in from across the Atlantic.
The Cursed Witch was a quick read, falling somewhere between historical fantasy and cozy mystery. I enjoyed the methodical investigation and the whodunnit style mystery set in Victorian Edinburgh, though it didn't stand out to me. When Anna first meets Haggadah, we see her learning about herbs and medicines, as well as more spiritual and arcane arts. After the murder mystery sets in, it's almost as though that aspect of the story disappears. I would have loved to see more of these possible witchy abilities Haggadah hints at for the first 30% of the book, or even see Anna become proficient in healing.
3 stars from me, it was a nice, atmospheric read for a dreary afternoon.
Anna Stewart is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and as such, the people of Edinburgh believe she is a cursed witch. Assumed dead and buried, two resurrectionists are tasked to dig up her body and sell it to the local medical school. Instead, once they have done the work of digging her body from her grave, they find Anna very much alive. This begins Anna's search for her attempted murderer with the help of the town healer, a very protective dog, and a handsome shipping merchant in from across the Atlantic.
The Cursed Witch was a quick read, falling somewhere between historical fantasy and cozy mystery. I enjoyed the methodical investigation and the whodunnit style mystery set in Victorian Edinburgh, though it didn't stand out to me. When Anna first meets Haggadah, we see her learning about herbs and medicines, as well as more spiritual and arcane arts. After the murder mystery sets in, it's almost as though that aspect of the story disappears. I would have loved to see more of these possible witchy abilities Haggadah hints at for the first 30% of the book, or even see Anna become proficient in healing.
3 stars from me, it was a nice, atmospheric read for a dreary afternoon.
September 21, 2021
Witches aren't real. The time period was confusing and historically off. It was before automobiles but after witch burnings, the setting Edinburgh. Hoopla suggested it under historical fiction and looked to be a murder mystery. Lots of rabbit trails in this one made it difficult to stay engaged. I think it was an attempt to create mystery.
Anna was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. A curse in the minds of the superstitious. It opens with a couple of homeless men digging up a recently buried body to sell to the local medical school. Buried quickly and without a bell tied to her wrist, Anna was merely unconscious. The local healer, with large dog, finds her walking late at night returning home from the graveyard. She convinces her she isn't safe and should hide her place. Oh and by the way I'm your secret godmother.....
The healer laughs at people thinking she's a witch but then gives Anna a "Book of Shadows". A breeze blows in Anna's face whenever she opens it.
Side information, Anna grew up in a wealthy merchant family but she's cursed and the first thing she does for the healer is clean her cabin.
It was all very disjointed.
Anna was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. A curse in the minds of the superstitious. It opens with a couple of homeless men digging up a recently buried body to sell to the local medical school. Buried quickly and without a bell tied to her wrist, Anna was merely unconscious. The local healer, with large dog, finds her walking late at night returning home from the graveyard. She convinces her she isn't safe and should hide her place. Oh and by the way I'm your secret godmother.....
The healer laughs at people thinking she's a witch but then gives Anna a "Book of Shadows". A breeze blows in Anna's face whenever she opens it.
Side information, Anna grew up in a wealthy merchant family but she's cursed and the first thing she does for the healer is clean her cabin.
It was all very disjointed.
October 3, 2021
Even though this is a work of fiction, it is based on history. Anna Stewart was buried and exhumed by two men, Martin and John. Many of the terms such as 'graveyard shift', 'dead ringer', and 'saved by the bell' that we use today, came from this time period. Yes, the dead were buried with bells. Dr. Knox was also a true person, later tried in court. Burke and Hare were also guilty of killing 16 people for profit. Their wives turned them in. One of the men was found innocent, while the other was hung and his body was donated to the autonomy theater for direction. There was a prison ship that left Edinburgh on Nov 26, 1828, and took prisoners to Australia. It is true if you were born the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, you were thought to be cursed and only someone outside of the family would volunteer to be a godparent. I find it fascinating when true history is included in a novel. It makes it more believable. What truly happened to the real Anna Stewart - she married and settled in America.
June 11, 2022
I have enjoyed all of Brenda Hasse’s books, and The Cursed Witch is my favorite, so far. This book captivated me right from the beginning and throughout, right up to the end. I also loved the history of the witches and sayings that I’ve heard for many years and where they originated. I highly recommend this book!
September 30, 2024
Pros:
The story seems very well researched. The use of herbs and crystals is accurate to what I’ve heard from pagans/wiccans.
Cons:
Everything seems to fall into place a little too smoothly and the main character is more of an object to have things happen to than to make things happen around her.
The story seems very well researched. The use of herbs and crystals is accurate to what I’ve heard from pagans/wiccans.
Cons:
Everything seems to fall into place a little too smoothly and the main character is more of an object to have things happen to than to make things happen around her.
October 19, 2023
I enjoyed this book. It was a feel good story about a young women in Scotland who is rumored to be a witch. It is a love story with a bit of mystery. I recommend if you are looking for a light, warm-hearted read.
March 21, 2025
Spooky mystery fun. Very good writing. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews