The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton

I found this book* very compelling until about two-thirds of the way through, the point at which I had an inkling whodunnit (it wasn't obvious, I hasten to add, just an educated guess), but also where the silly witchcraft tosh started to weave itself into the story. As a straightforward crime thriller, this would have earned itself more stars.

A young but forward-thinking WPC, Florence Lovelady, in an era (the late sixties) when she had to prove herself to a lot of male testosterone is the driving force in finding the evil criminal who has abducted and buried three teenagers alive. Case closed…were it not for the fact that something doesn’t sit with this clever officer quite right. Thirty years later, when the culprit dies and she attends his funeral, those niggling doubts resurface and Florence, now a top-ranking member of the Met, knows that she’s got to get to the bottom of it.

All the elements of a fast-paced and gripping thriller were right there, and they all that were needed. The witchcraft nonsense spoilt it somewhat and as a result the ending was rather ridiculous, if not somewhat unbelievable.

For all that, it's a dark and suspenseful story about a very ghastly and unimaginable crime that was hard not get totally immersed in. If you like a thriller with a bit of the paranormal (witchcraft) thrown in, then this is for you. Personally, I'd have preferred it without.

*provided by Netgalley