REVIEW:

As I’ve been working my way through my annual October spooky reading binge, I’ve been pondering the intersection of the thriller and horror genres. It seems thrillers are getting increasingly darker, violent, and gory, so what is the line that must be crossed to earn a classification as horror?

I think I found it in Sharon Bolton’s fantastic 2018 novel, The Craftsman. The line, as it happens, is six feet under, tied to the concept of being buried alive. With a dead body. By a serial killer. I mean honestly, what could be scarier?

I tried reading The Craftsman when it first came out but didn’t make it past the first chapter. The concept of teenagers being buried alive was just too dark at that moment in my life, but apparently I’ve built up a creep-factor callus over the years as thriller writers get more and more depraved.

The marvel of this particular novel is that it seems to begin at the end. It opens in 1999 at the funeral of coffin-maker Larry Grassbrook, confessed and convicted murderer. Victims’ parents spit on his grave, still mourning the death of their children 30 years before. The woman who put him behind bars joins them in this scene, then readers are taken back to the 1969 when she was investigating the crimes. I was amazed at how invested I was in what was going to happen given that the mystery had already been solved.

The Craftsman is utterly captivating and an absolute perfect read for the Halloween season. There are elements of witchcraft, though nothing supernatural. Who needs ghouls and goblins when humans - and the vile things they do to one another - are scary enough?

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

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.  

In master of suspense Sharon Bolton's latest thriller, readers will confirm their deepest fears and meet the only protagonist who can face them.