The Scold's Bridle
by Minette Walters
Book #220 - Price US$
4.00
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Paperback book is in very good to like new condition.
Soft cover shows minor signs of shelf wear on edges. Inside of book pages
are crisp and clean; no stains. Some creasing on book edge from being read
once or twice. Approx: 7 by 4 x 1. 1995 edition. 480 pages long. ISBN
0330336630. Pictorial cover on front. Additional pictures of condition are
always available.
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Britain's Walters, whose The Sculptress won the 1993
Edgar for best novel, excels at depicting monstrously dysfunctional families
and the murder and mayhem they wreak; and old Mathilda Gillespie's clan is a
humdinger. The daughter of this bitter, snobbish, nasty-minded recluse is a
prostitute on dope; the granddaughter's a schoolgirl being blackmailed into
theft by a rapist lover. Gillespie's own past contains its share of
feeblemindedness, violence, booze, abortion and incest. When the old woman
is found dead in her bathtub, a peculiar medieval device over her head (the
"scold's bridle" of the title), there is no shortage of suspects in her
Dorset village. Both the local woman doctor, one of the few people who could
tolerate the dead woman, and the cynical artist husband from whom she is
separating spar with empathetic Detective Sgt. Cooper as they search for a
killer. The fact that it takes these very bright people longer to figure out
the perpetrator than it does a not-especially-smart reader is the chief
strike against this otherwise intelligent and enjoyable-if slightly
overplotted-mystery, which is essentially an English cozy with distinctly
quirky overtones.
Oddly enough, the suicide death of an ill-tempered, snobbish, rude old lady
arouses the indignation of local villagers when they learn she willed her
fortune to her physician, Dr. Sarah Blakeney, instead of to her own (nasty)
daughter and (thieving) granddaughter. Police suspect murder, though, so
their investigation creates problems for Sarah. She and her snide,
freeloading husband become enmeshed in the intricacies of the dead woman's
life-snippets of which introduce each chapter. Articulate and sophisticated
prose, complicated plot, imaginative characters, and psychological intensity
give this British title high marks.
A photo gallery of pictures from this book is shown below
as well as a description of the pictures. Any questions please
email me
aldergrove@ppowner.com
   
This site was last updated
05/17/09
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