The Craftsman - Sharon Bolton

The Craftsman (The Craftsman #1) – Sharon Bolton

Catching him will make her career – and change her forever.

August, 1999
On the hottest day of the year, Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady attends the funeral of Larry Glassbrook, the convicted murderer she arrested thirty years earlier. A master carpenter and funeral director, Larry imprisoned his victims, alive, in the caskets he made himself. Clay effigies found entombed with their bodies suggested a motive beyond the worst human depravity.

June, 1969
13-year- old Patsy Wood has been missing for two days, the third teenager to disappear in as many months. New to the Lancashire police force and struggling to fit in, WPC Lovelady is sent to investigate an unlikely report from school children claiming to have heard a voice calling for help. A voice from deep within a recent grave.

August, 1999
As she tries to lay her ghosts to rest, Florence is drawn back to the Glassbrooks’ old house, in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where she once lodged with the family. She is chilled by the discovery of another effigy – one bearing a remarkable resemblance to herself. Is the killer still at large? Is Florence once again in terrible danger? Or, this time, could the fate in store be worse than even her darkest imaginings?

My Review of The Craftsman

If you are a thriller fan and have not read anything by Sharon Bolton, you don’t know what you are missing! In my opinion she is the best of the best! One bizarre, random Goodreads recommendation I happened to click on years ago led me to the Lacey Flint series, and after a couple of chapters I was HOOKED on her writing. A couple of chapters was all it took!

Set in three parts this tale follows Florence as she returns to a town she once lived when she was a young and upcoming police detective. Back in the 60s there were a run of child murders and she was the one to catch the killer. So 30 years later when the killer passes away and she returns to the town, there are some questions that need answers. Was the man she arrested REALLY the killer? What are the witches doing in the woods?

I really enjoyed the layout of this one. The three parts, 1999, back to the 60s and then back to 1999 allowed you to slowly get your bearings and slowly immerse you in the complex storyline. I was concerned that the supernatural aspects of the book were going to dull the storyline for me but everything was put together in such a way that it only added to the story.

I don’t know how she does it!

Each word I read of hers reinforces my opinion that she is absolutely my favourite author of all time. I know this book has been out for a while now, and you may be wondering, “Why are you only just reading this now if she is your favourite author?”.

Because her books linger with me. Each story I read, each character I meet LINGERS well after the final pages have turned. There is NOTHING like finishing a Sharon Bolton book. I read so many books and so many thrillers that unfortunately I have become accustomed, resistant to the chills and thrills. It takes a special kind of book for me to totally lose myself in. But that’s what happens with EVERY one of her books! Even with the ones that I don’t enjoy as much as the others, the pages stay with me long after I have finished. The afterglow of her books stay with me.

I don’t want to read another one until WELL after that feeling diminishes. And it takes a long time to go away. I cannot read another one straight away. I have to let it sit. In this case for over a year!

The atmosphere SUCKS you in. I literally could not put this book down until I was finished in the early hours of the morning. And then I was afraid to go to the bathroom! I had to turn on the lights!

I adore her characters. They are always so flawed and the romances are always so intense. They never give too much away, its always surgical precision until everything unravels and leaves you shaken.

Would I recommend this book?

Absolutely. It is not a thriller to rush through. It is one to savour each word, get caught up in the mystery and be surprised when it takes you somewhere you didn’t expect.

(5 / 5)