A review by steph1rothwell
Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton

4.0

I had been looking forward to reading Dead Woman Walking since reading the opening chapter via a link from the author. I had an anxious few weeks to think about what would happen before I was lucky enough to receive a proof copy and the opportunity to participate in the blog tour.
The first few chapters detailing the events surrounding the hot-air balloon crash have put me off for life. They were very convincing, and I don’t like to think about which of the passengers I would have had a similar reaction to.
Once I had started reading it was hard to stop. The just one more chapter rule didn’t apply, some of them were very short so I dropped everything and just read constantly. Dropping all the other books that I was reading at the same time.
The narrative was mainly in the present day but it did jump back occasionally to reveal events from Jessica and Isobel’s childhood. These parts gave hints to why Isobel ended up in the convent and why Jessica became a police officer. There are also a few flashbacks concerning Ajax, the police officer involved in the investigation into the hot-air balloon.
I loved the storyline concerning the convent, the cleverly named peafowl and the existence that all the Nuns had. I had never considered that a Nun might have had a family of her own and a connection to the outside world and I had never thought that Nuns might watch TV or have an interest in solving crime. They were all the most likeable characters in the novel.
It’s difficult to say anything about the plot without spoilers so I would just say if you like a novel that tackles a subject that is mentioned often in the news and has plenty of twists then you will love this book. A great follow up to Daisy in Chains.
With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.