The Scold's Bridle
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Product Description
Review
"'A terrifically compelling crime novel' - Cosmopolitan"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"The tradition of the English whodunnit has passed into the safe hands and dangerous imagination of Minette Walters." (The Times)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was a marvel, i found myself up till five in the morning. The plot is engrossing and the characters wonderfully thought up and portrayed. All and all what we have come to expect from Ms Walters. How sad and disappointed i was to reach the end. Not just at the fact that it was over, but it was so disappointing, there was no attempt on her part to cover the murderer's identity up in the latter part of the book, nor to convince the read they might be innocent. Add to that the fact that it was so precitable, and there was a much better candidate, who would have been much more satisfying. All in all a joy to read, but a shambolic end.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read The Sculptress and The Dark Room , I expected better from the usually talented Walters, but The Scold's Bridle is a confused and confusing tale going nowhere. The characters are unbelievably 2-dimensional, difficult to identify with and none of the relationships between them are properly explained, so we are left to guess for ourselves why they behave as they do. Walters barely skims the surface with regards to any detail about Mathilda's childhood (which is necessary to the story) and the details that are given are sketchy, so it is left to the reader to try to fill in the many blanks by themselves. The book goes from one ridiculous scenario to another and is quite unbelievable at times. I managed to keep reading to the end (but only just) in the hope that the details surrounding Mathilda's bizarre death would explain the reason for this very draining story and that more information about her family history would be revealed - along with the reason for her obsession with the Scolds Bridle - but it turned out to be an almost totally unrelated ending which Walters seemed to have plucked from a completely different book! Take my advise - give this one a miss.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Minette Walters is one of my favourite authors of all time, but this is very far from being my favourite of her books. It begins wonderfully, with a dark death promising intriguing mystery and much nastiness, but by the end has developed into something very close to farce. The denouement is unsatisfactory; without giving the entire thing away, the murder never feels fully explained.
An eccentric and widely disliked old woman, Martha Gillespie, is found dead in her bath, wrists slashed, apparently a suicide. But she has been crowned with a scold's bridle, a medieval punishment for women who talked too much, decorated with nettles and daisies, which she could not have put on herself.
Sarah Blakeney, Mrs Gillespie's doctor, seems to be the only person who actually liked her, and is the only person initially willing to pursue the suicide theory. Sarah, though, has problems of her own: her womanizing husband seems about to embark on an affair with Mrs Gillespie's mercenary daughter, and perhaps had an affair with Martha herself. Dr. Blakeney and the investigating police (who, I am afraid to say, have merged into one navy blue lump in my memory) must uncover some very nasty secrets in Martha's past before they can explain the murder. Unfortunately, these nasty secrets turn out to be the very standard set of English murder mystery secrets: incest, missing children, secret diaries and so forth, which was all annoyingly formulaic.
There is no doubt that this book has a lot of plot, and a much larger cast than many of Walters' other books. Perhaps this is the problem; it feels cluttered and unresolved, twist upon twist upon twist, until the final ending, which promotes a previously minor character to major importance (this is one of my big bugbears with thriller plots) and feels small and silly compared to the grand passion which has preceded it.
An eccentric and widely disliked old woman, Martha Gillespie, is found dead in her bath, wrists slashed, apparently a suicide. But she has been crowned with a scold's bridle, a medieval punishment for women who talked too much, decorated with nettles and daisies, which she could not have put on herself.
Sarah Blakeney, Mrs Gillespie's doctor, seems to be the only person who actually liked her, and is the only person initially willing to pursue the suicide theory. Sarah, though, has problems of her own: her womanizing husband seems about to embark on an affair with Mrs Gillespie's mercenary daughter, and perhaps had an affair with Martha herself. Dr. Blakeney and the investigating police (who, I am afraid to say, have merged into one navy blue lump in my memory) must uncover some very nasty secrets in Martha's past before they can explain the murder. Unfortunately, these nasty secrets turn out to be the very standard set of English murder mystery secrets: incest, missing children, secret diaries and so forth, which was all annoyingly formulaic.
There is no doubt that this book has a lot of plot, and a much larger cast than many of Walters' other books. Perhaps this is the problem; it feels cluttered and unresolved, twist upon twist upon twist, until the final ending, which promotes a previously minor character to major importance (this is one of my big bugbears with thriller plots) and feels small and silly compared to the grand passion which has preceded it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Had potential but ...
This book had potential but it just seemed to fizzle out. It lacked energy and pace as it went on, and in places it was a bit confusing. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Emanon
Disappointing
The cover of my copy reads "Best crime novel of the year". There must've been slim pickings indeed in crime writing that year! The sculptress was a far better novel
Published on 18 Feb 2010 by liveenl
Brilliant portraits!
This book is brilliant! The characters are well portrayed and the story is great. Try reading the diary parts in reverse order... Read more
Published on 8 July 2004 by Louise Carlsson
Hebrave
Excellent book, well written. Couldn't put it down.
Published on 13 Mar 2004 by "hebrave"
What a terrific book!
"The Scold's Bridle" is my favorite of Minette Walters's books, although I have loved them all. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2001
Difficult to put down
This book is written in the easy flowing style that I've become used to in Ms Walters' books. The plot is great and the characters are realistic, some of them likeable and all of... Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2001 by Christine L
An interesting book that totally confused me!
This is the first book I have read by Minette Walters,and I enjoyed it immensely. It's slightly slow getting off the mark,but once I did,I can tell you that I did not want to put... Read more
Published on 23 July 2000 by Sam (ScorpioStar84@aol.com)
gripping to read but too far fetched scenario
Gripping to read and difficult to put it down. However as in all M. Walters books the plot is too far fetched.
Published on 2 Dec 1999
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