"I have no means of knowing exactly what Patricia Wood suffered in the hours following her disappearance. I suppose I should consider that a blessing."
Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady of the Metropolitan Police ponders this in 1999, as she returns to the town where she started her career in 1969. She doesn't want to think about what poor little Patricia suffered, but she knows what happened to the kidnapped girl 30 years ago: Patricia was buried alive. In a casket. And she wasn't the only one.
The reason for Florence's revisit is to attend the funeral of the sadistic serial killer she hunted and captured three decades earlier. She's come to witness the final nail put in the man's coffin. But instead of the case being laid to rest, disturbing new clues surface to indicate this particular brand of evil is alive--and that someone has sinister plans for Florence.
Sharon Bolton's novels (Dead Woman Walking, Daisy in Chains) are known for their atmospheric creepiness, but she cranks up the dial even more in The Craftsman. Florence's--and the reader's--imagination goes to unsettling places in considering the horrors the victims endured. As if that isn't enough, Bolton throws in witchcraft, effigies, spells and night visits to cemeteries, making this a book you might want to read under a blanket in a room with the door locked. She's also known for strong female protagonists, and Florence and a coven of witches fit the bill. Sharp-eyed fans might guess some of the story's outcomes, but that doesn't take away from Bolton's well-earned reputation as a master craftswoman of suspense. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, blogger at Pop Culture Nerd