The Craftsman is a chilling, atmospheric read involving magic, witches, power, evil & missing children. Did that grab your attention? It absolutely grabbed mine too!

1969 - Florence Lovelady is a young police officer struggling to be accepted by her fellow officers in Lancashire. There are several missing children in Pendle Hill and Florence working the case, finds the body of 13 year old Patsy Wood buried alive. Local funeral director and master carpenter Larry Glassbrook is arrested and sentenced to prison for the heinous crimes.

1999 - 30 years later Florence returns to Lancashire for Larry's funeral. Facing nightmarish memories and old demons Florence revisits the 1969 crimes. She finds herself questioning the old case when she uncovers a recently placed effigy, complete with her missing finger in the grounds of Glassbrook's family home. Could they have gotten it all wrong thirty years ago?

Uncovering the truth becomes a life or death mission for Florence. One seeped in mystical mystery and treachery at the hands of powerful, sadistic villains who will stop at nothing to achieve their dark desires.

The Craftsman was a dark, chilling and atmospheric mystery. This was my first Sharon Bolton read but it definitely won't be my last. Thank you to Sharon Bolton, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an arc of this amazing read!