The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton #MustRead

Author : Sharon Bolton
Title : The Craftsman
Pages : 432
Publisher :  Trapeze Books / Orion
Publication date : May 3, 2018

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?

Drop everything and pick up a copy of this one right now! You can thank me later!

Sharon Bolton has been on my list of go-to authors for as long as I can remember. As a massive fan of her work, The Craftsman was one of my most anticipated books of the year. So much so that I pre-ordered it the second that was possible, without even knowing what it would be about. Would the unthinkable happen and would I be left disappointed? Ha! Of course not!

The proof that I’d be hooked as always was right there on the first page. It is a rare feat to find yourself so utterly gripped by just the author’s foreword alone. It even took me a second to realise this wasn’t actually part of the story.

I read this one a bit slower than I normally read. Even when it seems there’s very little happening, Sharon Bolton’s writing is so intensely captivating that it has me focusing on every single word, soaking it all up, enjoying it to the fullest. Sometimes even taking the time to read a sentence twice because it’s just that good!

I read The Craftsman together with Janel at Keeper of Pages. This is the perfect choice for a buddy read. We came up with theories like crazy. Some so ridiculously far removed from what actually happened, it was almost embarrassing. Sharon Bolton definitely kept us guessing until the very end. And what an ending it is too! I stayed up way past my bed time to finish this and was left gasping and reeling.

Set in the 1960’s and 1990’s, this story flows effortlessly and seamlessly between the two timelines, oozing atmosphere all the time. I was so utterly engrossed, it almost felt as if the author had put a spell on me. The Craftsman is incredibly well-plotted, surprising, intriguing and impossible to put down. It is original, creepy, chilling and immensely addictive.

This review has been such a struggle. I’ve been messing around with it for weeks and I’m not at all happy with it but I just can’t find the words to say how much I loved it. You will undoubtedly be seeing this title when I compile my “books of the year” list in December and it’s fair to say that no matter where Sharon Bolton goes, I will follow. Not in the stalker kind of way. This is an author who should be on everyone’s go-to list and bookshelves.

So I’m sure you have no problems imagining my sheer delight and excitement when I realised this is actually the first book in a trilogy! I absolutely can’t wait for The Cunning Wife to arrive! Is it May yet? How about now?

The Craftsman is available to buy!

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