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Amazon.co.uk Review
The subject is a true story: in 1920s East Sussex, the corpse of Elsie Cameron is discovered in a chicken run. The man found guilty of the crime, her fiancé Norman Thorne, was sentenced to death and hanged. At the time of his death, doubts were cast on the verdict, and it is very much Walters’ concern to address those doubts here. We're given a fascinating and detailed study of two blighted lives: Norman, living under cramped conditions, is struggling against heavy odds to make a living as a chicken farmer. The unprepossessing Elsie, prickly and self obsessed, finds it difficult to get on with her family or her workmates, and is fired from a succession of jobs. Marriage to Norman is the one thing--she comes to believe--that will change her wretched life, but although she does her damnedest to get the reluctant Norman to marry her, she withholds sex, allowing Norman to undress her and touch her naked body, but forbidding any other sexual contact. Things grow worse, as Elsie's family (keen to rid themselves of her) join their daughter in pressing marriage on the increasingly reluctant Norman. Then he meets someone else... and Elsie disappears.
This story, in its own terms, is fascinating enough, but in Walters’ expert hands, the swiftest of reads is guaranteed. Some may be unhappy with her deliberately vague treatment of the grim finale of the tale, and long-term Walters aficionados will be keen for her to get back to her normal-length novels--but certainly this is a book that it is difficult to put down.
--Barry Forshaw
Lloyd Evans, The Spectator
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing.,
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This review is from: Chickenfeed: Quick Reads (Paperback)
Another in this excellent Quick Reads series. In this one Minette Walters re-examines the death of Elsie Cameron in 1924. Elsie was reputedly murdered by her boyfriend, an impoverished chicken-farmer called Norman Thorne, who was subsequently hanged for the crime. Walters argues that this story may not be as clear-cut as it first appears. Elsie was an unstable young woman (these days she would be diagnosed as suffering from BPD, Borderline Personality Disorder), prone to excessive mood swings, depression, and constant threats to kill herself. When she realised that she was losing Norman's affections, she tried to fool him that she was pregnant, even though they had never had full sex together. Walters argues that Elsie in fact tried to frighten Norman by pretending to commit suicide, only for it all go terribly wrong. At the time there were doubts that Norman was guilty, but the fact that he had panicked and cut up her body, and hid it around his farm, lost him the sympathy of the jury. This is a superb little murder mystery, which was so engrossing I read it in one sitting. I hope Ms Walters turns her attention to other vintage crime mysteries.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chicken Feed,
By
This review is from: Chickenfeed: Quick Reads (Paperback)
Loved this short book. Read it in one sitting. Loved the build up of the characters.I wish the book was longer. Excellent. It's the first book i've read from Waters already ordered a few more!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best Minette Walters has written,
By
This review is from: Chickenfeed: Quick Reads (Paperback)
I usually love Minette Walters books, but I was very disappointed in this one. I already knew the story that was written about in the book, but I think Walters should stick to what she is good at and continue written very good, readable novels.
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