The Craftsman by Sharon J. Bolton

Florence Lovelady’s career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Grassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago in a small village in Lancashire. Like something out of a nightmare, the victims were buried alive. Florence was able to solve the mystery and get a confession out of Larry before more children were murdered., and he spent the rest of his life in prison.

But now, decades later, he’s dead, and events from the past start to repeat themselves. Is someone copying the original murders? Or did she get it wrong all those years ago? When her own son goes missing under similar circumstances, the case not only gets reopened… it gets personal.

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Aw man, I’m in the minority once again. I’m scrolling through Goodreads’ reviews trying to summarize my thoughts and I can’t find a review less than 4 stars. It’s tough because there wasn’t anything that I can pinpoint that was wrong with the novel. I struggled just to find time to read it. At night, I would just go right to bed instead of reading (which I rarely do). It’s no surprise that it took me much longer than normal to read The Craftsman.

The novel opens at a funeral of a convicted child killer. Florence is back in town for the first time since she put away the murderer 30 years ago. The novel then goes back in time to 1969, where Florence is the first female officer in the police department and working on her first big case.

I really enjoyed Florence and reading about her experience in the department. Obviously being the first female, she had many struggles to find where she fit in and what role she would have. I was rooting for her throughout the novel.

The past takes up a large part of the novel and goes back to the present for a short time at the end of the novel. I enjoyed being back in the present and how Florence has to question everything she thought she knew about the case. There was a number of people that I suspected throughout the novel and I was never quite right.

The ending had some paranormal activities, which I wasn’t expecting at all. It threw me off and I didn’t enjoy it at all. I think Bolton still could of gotten the ending she wanted without all of the extras thrown in.

3 calculators out of a potential 5. Not my favourite Bolton novel, but will still continue to read her future novels.

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