Pendle Witches thriller on sale worldwide

Former journalist Barry, who lives at Chipping, self-published his first novel “The Demdike Legacy” two years ago, and now it has been taken up and re-published by American company Glannant Ty and made available for worldwide distribution.

Barry, a grandad of three, who is currently writing his fourth novel, came across the American specialist paranormal media company’s website while on the internet and decided to get in touch.

He submitted “The Demdike Legacy” in which a murder in a Lancashire village re-ignites a legacy of witchcraft thought to have died out 400 years before, when the Pendle Witches were hanged at Lancaster Castle in 1612.

Barry said: “I submitted the manuscript for Demdike and they said they would do it and it now gives me a foothold in America. It just seemed to fit in with them.”

The Demdike Legacy combines modern-day detective work with historical witchcraft and old-world spiritual practices in which the descendants of the Pendle Witches live on, secretly following the old ways and keeping quietly to themselves.

But it seems someone is intent on finishing the job started four centuries earlier. As the death toll rises, the descendants of the original Pendle Witches are forced out of hiding, and assist the police in hunting down the killer before they are completely wiped out.

Readers have praised the novel, calling it “fantastically researched”, “well-paced and exciting with a fascinating insight into the original Pendle Witches” and “Gripping from beginning to the end!”

Barry was born in Manchester in 1947, educated at North Manchester Grammar School and Salford Technical College where he studied maths, physics and chemistry for a while before getting bored with applied mathematics and dropping out.

He was an insurance clerk for a few years before trying his hand as a salesman, but he says his first love of writing kept getting him into trouble as he was often found scribbling down ideas for stories when he should have been working.

After marrying his wife Barbara in 1968 they moved to the Preston area and he obtained the post of junior reporter on the Garstang Courier at “the ripe old age of 23”.

The last 40-odd years have seen Barry work for newspapers and other publications in the Lancashire area, as well as a stint as a press officer and he has had several short stories and freelance articles published.

Barry has been a reporter, feature writer, sub-editor, editor and group editor and more recently an associate lecturer at The University of Central Lancashire in Preston where he taught newspaper and magazine design to post graduate level for a number of years until budget cuts forced his final retirement.

Barry’s second novel is “Familiar Territory” and his third one Fell Creatures (set on Beacon Fell) and he is also now writing some children’s books after his grandsons asked him to write for them.

The Demdike Legacy is now available in both soft cover and e-book formats on Glannant Ty’s website (www.glannantty.com), Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, iBooks, and other online retailers.

Barry Durham aims to succeeed with his republished supernatural story “The Demdike Legacy”.