Devoted father or merciless killer?
His secrets are buried with him.
Florence Lovelady’s career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Glassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago. Like something from our worst nightmares the victims were buried…ALIVE.
Larry confessed to the crimes; it was an open and shut case. But now he’s dead, and events from the past start to repeat themselves.
Did she get it wrong all those years ago?
Or is there something much darker at play?
I’m sharing my review today as part of the blog tour for Sharon Bolton’s fantastic book The Craftsman which is now available in paperback.
Oh my giddy Aunt, what an absolutely breath-taking book The Craftsman is and even though it’s been a wee while since I read it, it’s still there, inside my head and it’s a story I’m not likely to forget for a long, long time.
The story centres around Florence Lovelady, starting in 1999 where she is attending the funeral of Larry Glassbrook, the child killer she helped to capture back in 1969. The reader is then taken back to that year when Florence was just starting out in her career and finds herself involved in the case of a missing teenage girl.
Florence is a fantastic character, being the only female she gets it hard and there is a lot of sexism within her work but she really is so determined and holds her own well. No matter what is thrown at her she gives it 100% and more. She’s strong but there is a softer side to her and I really liked getting to know her, I was totally absorbed in her fight to find out the truth.
The Craftsman is an eery story, essentially it’s a police procedural but it has a very dark element and a big hint of witchcraft. The author sets the scene perfectly which has you so involved it takes a while to register afterwards that it is in fact just a story. I had goose bumps and an over whelming feeling of claustrophobia which I’ve never experienced before.
The Craftsman is a tale that will easily slip under your skin, it’s a story that had me gripped from the first page to the last, I just couldn’t put it down. It’s a spine-tingling mystery with an eery supernatural twist that is a real page turner and it has definitely been added to my favourite books list. I’m a huge fan of this author and The Craftsman is definitely another book of Sharon Bolton’s I’ll be recommending.
Thanks to Tracy Fenton and Orion books for the opportunity to be on the blog tour.
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