A review by thain
Dangerous Women by Hope Adams, Adèle Geras

3.0

This account of a ship full of female convicts sailing to Australia is based on real events, with the addition of a fictional murder aboard. The close quarters of the prisoners are aptly described, and a general sense of their plight is conveyed as largely victims themselves of either men or society. The cast of characters is too large to focus on more than a few, including the matron who has the women create a quilt, a convict sailing under an assumed name, and the murder victim herself. The investigation drags out a bit with a blur of witnesses saying the same thing, culminating in a neat if expected twist.