Review: The Craftsman by Sharon J. Bolton

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2851 KB
• Print Length: 432 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (Oct. 16 2018)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B079DV31SC

Book Description

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?

About the Author

Sharon's newest book The Craftsman is now available for pre-order and is out on the 3rd May 2018 in the UK! PLUS Alive, a short story/prequel is available for FREE! (see Sharon's website http://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/dead-g...)
Pre-order here now https://www.amazon.co.uk/Craftsman-Sh...

Sharon J Bolton was born and brought up in Lancashire, the eldest of three daughters. As a child, she dreamed of becoming an actress and a dancer, studying ballet, tap and jazz from a young age and reading drama at Loughborough University.

She spent her early career in marketing and PR before returning to full-time education to study for a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Warwick University, where she met her husband, Andrew. They moved to London and Sharon held a number of PR posts in the City. She left the City to work freelance, to start a family and to write.

She and Andrew now live in a village in the Chiltern Hills, not far from Oxford, with their son and the latest addition to the family: Lupe, the lop-eared lurcher. Her daily life revolves around the school run, walking the dog and those ever-looming publishing deadlines. 

My Review

The Craftsman by Sharon J. Bolton is a fantastic book!! I loved it! I have read many of Bolton's works and I am never disappointed. 

The Craftsman is a stand alone novel featuring a fascinating woman,  WPC Florence Lovelady, later Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady. It is set in both 1969 and 1999. I found this story to be extremely compelling and I had a very hard time putting it down. I am now sad it is finished. I am at loose ends trying to figure out what to read next.

Bolton winds the witchcraft of Lancashire throughout the tale. I didn't know if I would like it but I did. I found it to be one of the best parts actually. I really felt the strength and kinship of woman through the women in the tale.

I loved this book. It is a thriller and it is a great story. Well written without a doubt. Highly recommend.