Witch Trial by Harriet Tyce - ISBN: 9781035411917
Hardcover
Teenage best friends accused of murder in a modern witch trial.

Witch Trial

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND MOST SHOCKING THRILLER OF 2026, FROM THE MILLION-COPY SELLING AUTHOR

$60.74

  • Hardcover

    400 pages

  • Release Date

    9 June 2026

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Summary

Two teenage girls. One murdered classmate.

And a modern-day witch trial that will divide the nation.

When 18-year-old Christian Shaw is found dead in an Edinburgh park, the city reels - and the shock only deepens when police charge her best friends, Eliza Lawson and Isobel Smyth, with her murder.

As social media explodes and headlines scream for justice, rumours of bullying spiral into something darker: whisper…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781035411917
ISBN-10:1035411911
Author:Harriet Tyce
Publisher:Headline Publishing Group
Imprint:Wildfire
Format:Hardcover
Number of Pages:400
Release Date:9 June 2026
Weight:620g
Dimensions:236mm x 158mm x 38mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Audacious, mind-bending, and brilliant. I couldn’t read it fast enough! * Lisa Jewell *
Harriet Tyce’s best book yet. Gripping, original and so very clever. I was captivated by this deliciously twisted thriller. And what an ending! Genius. I loved it! * Claire Douglas *
Daring, different, clever and compulsive, a truly original novel. Delicious. * Andrea Mara *
Absolutely superb - grips like a vice throughout and has a perfect, bold ending that no one will see coming. An utter masterpiece of the murder mystery and the legal thriller genre. * Sophie Hannah *
A legal thriller unlike any you’ve ever read, this witchy, mind-melting page-turner is Tyce at her whip-smart best. * Ellery Lloyd *
Brilliantly clever and utterly addictive, I loved it. Courtroom drama at its finest. * Clare Leslie Hall *
Harriet Tyce is a master storyteller unafraid to tackle difficult themes. Supremely plotted, elegantly written and with an ending that will shake you up! An absolute triumph of a book that takes the legal thriller to new heights and which will stay with you for a long time after you’ve finished it. Best thing I’ve read this year. * Abir Mukherjee *
Wow. This courtroom drama is not just compulsive, it’s unsettling, creepy and clever, the combination leading to a brilliant finish. This book got fully under my skin. I loved it. * Jennie Godfrey *
Witch Trial is like the lovechild of Alfred Hitchcock and The Crucible. Dark, wry, and slippery underfoot, I adored it! * Sarah Pinborough *
Tyce creates a swirling miasma of meaning and counter-meaning that keeps the reader enthralled and tantalised by horrific possibilities, and in its audacious final act, revealing layer beneath confounding layer, Witch Trial pays fitting tribute to the James Hogg classic that inspired it. * Chris Brookmyre *
Spell-binding. A Russian doll of a thriller which is infused with cunning and dread. Harriet Tyce is so great at seeing the underbellies of life - of ambition, and justice, and being a teenage girl. This is her best. * Abigail Dean *
Compulsive readingI was totally immersed in the story. One of the best courtroom dramas I’ve read in a long time. * Araminta Hall *
Give me witchcraft, a mind spiralling into madness, and questionable narrators any day - just my cup of tea. A brilliant and twisting new novel from Harriet Tyce. I flew through it. * L.V. Matthews *
Cancel all plans because this book is going to grab you by the throat and not let go till you turn the final page. It’s a startlingly original courtroom drama story, and a psychologically astute depiction of a man in freefall. Deliciously chilling and like nothing I’ve ever read. I ate this up. * Chris Bridges *
An unputdownable, twisty legal trial from the queen of the courtroom drama. Spellbinding and sinister. A masterclass in plotting and pace. * Kate Gray *
So creepy and intriguing, like nothing I’ve ever read before. The writing just crackles with energy…like a fever dream, I was properly gripped. As for the ending, it was so clever, I actually laughed out loud in admiration. So so good. * Lucy Diamond *
I read WITCH TRIAL then I read it again. Compelling, perfectly drawn characters, twisty, and never have I said “Oh My God” out loud at the end of a book and meant it more. * Rachel Wolf *
Clever, propulsive, with a wickedly satisfying twist. Excellent. My favourite Tyce book yet. * C.E. Hulse *
Totally original and impossible to put down, Harriet Tyce has shown once again that she is the absolute master of the legal thriller with a twist … Brilliant! * G.D. Wright *
At first sight a legal thriller, Witch Trial is multi-layered and subtle, delving deeply into the intricacies of the relationships between teenage girls and perceptions of female cunning. We are plunged into a world where nothing is as it seems. Brilliant. * Heather Critchlow *
Harriet Tyce’s masterful courtroom drama is intense, terrifying, and utterly addictive, with a devilish twist in its tail. * Gilly Macmillan *
I loved this clever book … stunningly written and this may be one of the best endings I’ve read. Despite being a deliciously dark read, I found myself chuckling in places. Harriet’s best book yet! * Niki Mackay *
Dark, twisty and unrelentingly brilliant. Tyce in top form * Femi Kayode *
Tense, creepy and very, very clever with a genuine jaw-drop of an ending. * Susi Holliday *
Harriet Tyce is truly the queen of plotting and suspense. This is a riveting, rip-roaring ride through a murder trial, which confounds expectations at every turn. I was torn between being desperate to rush straight to the end, and not wanting the story to finish. Simply brilliant. * The Secret Barrister *
Will spark a million water-cooler debates! Bold and brave, and eminently readable! * Jo Furniss *

A brilliantly unsettling, utterly original read that had me gripped from the first page.
I loved how Harriet Tyce explored truth, bias and belief, and how easily they can blur under pressure. The ending left me reeling in the best possible way. This is a dark, spellbinding courtroom thriller that had me doubting everything and everyone.

* D. S. Butler *
Witch Trial is just spellbinding. A Russian doll of a thriller which is infused with cunning and dread. Harriet Tyce is so great at seeing the underbellies of life - of ambition, and justice, and being a teenage girl. And this is her best. * Abigail Dean *
Might be Harriet’s most intriguing novel yet. Characterisation is nonpareil, as is the impeccable plotting. * Financial Times *
A brilliantly creepy thriller right up until the most unusual ending. * Mail on Sunday *
Tyce reaches new stratospheric heights of ingenious plotting and complex characterisation. * Crime Time *
The bestselling author turned The Traitors star mines the febrile world of teenage loyalty, online rumour and moral panic, building a tense, unsettling thriller. * The i Paper *
In Witch Trial, Tyce is back to what she does best: the magic of unreliable narrators, obsession, dysfunctional relationships, imbalances of power and high-stakes tension…a masterclass. * The Herald *
Harriet Tyce delivers a story that is all too believeable. * Daily Mail *
Epitomises intelligence having fun: fiendishly plotted, relentlessly gripping, and thoroughly mischievous, it is an unmitigated delight. * Tablet *
Tyce delivers a sensational page-turner of a story. * Scotsman *
[a] brilliant new novel from our favourite faithful … dark and edgy. * Heat *
A dark read, full of suspense. * Closer *
There aren’t nearly enough novels set in the unique Scottish legal system. Let’s hope this riveting combination of psychological and courtroom drama starts a new trend. * Morning Star *
We couldn’t put this dark read down! * Bella *

About The Author

Harriet Tyce

Harriet Tyce is the million-copy, Sunday Times bestselling author of four novels. She grew up in Edinburgh and studied English at Oxford University before doing a law conversion course at City University. After practicing as a criminal barrister in London for nearly a decade, she subsequently completed an MA in Creative Writing - Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, Blood Orange, published in 2019 to huge critical acclaim and she has since written multiple Sunday Times bestsellers. Witch Trial is her fifth novel.

In 2026, Harriet was a contestant on series 4 of The Traitors. She lives in North London.

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