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    The Sculptress
    The Sculptress
    The Sculptress
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Sculptress

    Written by Minette Walters

    Narrated by Sandra Burr

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Everyone knows Olive Martin, the huge and menacing woman who was found five years ago with the carved-up bodies of her mother and younger sister. Everyone knows how she pleaded guilty to murder at her trial. And everyone knows not to anger the Sculptress even now that she is safely locked in prison for a minimum of twenty-five years.

    When Rosalind Leigh accepts a commission to write a book about Olive, she finds herself wondering what lies behind all of these facts that everyone knows. When Roz first visits her in prison, she finds that Olive is not quite what she expected. And if—as Roz is repeatedly warned—Olive lies about almost everything, then why did she confess so readily to two hideous murders? The deeper she is drawn into the shadowy world of the Sculptress, the more firmly she is convinced that Olive is hiding something—perhaps even her innocence. But whom could Olive be protecting—and why?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2009
    ISBN9781423383475
    The Sculptress
    Author

    Minette Walters

    Minette Walters is England’s bestselling female crime writer. She has written many novels, including The Ice House and The Scold's Bridle, and has won the CWA John Creasey Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award and two CWA Gold Daggers for Fiction. Minette Walters lives in Dorset with her husband and two children.

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    Reviews for The Sculptress

    3.5/5

    431 ratings15 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I hope this is not her best because I am looking forward to reading more of her work. Bravo
    • 3/5
      I started off really digging the story and mystery but by the time it was over, I didn't much care. I may need to go back and listen to the last chapter and the epilogue again because I feel like I missed something.

      I'm glad I read it but it's not one that I'd read again.
    • 4/5
      Crackling-good mystery, one of the best I've ever read! In early 1990's England author Roz Leigh investigates the gruesome murders of a mother and daughter six years before. All the journalists' "W's" have been answered except WHY the murders were committed. So at the behest of her boss, Roz sets out to find motivation. She plans to write a book on this case. Why did the murderess, Olive Martin, confess so quickly? Roz finds inconsistencies and niggling questions. She sets out to prove the girl's innocence and that Olive has been wrongly imprisoned, with the aid of a retired policeman turned restauranteur. I liked the psychological aspect, revealed gradually through Roz's interviews for her book. "The Sculptress" is a nickname for Olive in prison because of Olive's habit of molding clay figures--possibly for voodoo?Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      I'm of two minds about this book. It's a somewhat more realistic and human Silence of the Lambs scenario, which is a pretty intriguing idea.Upside: unusual and interesting female characters, good dialogue, non-obvious plot, ambivalence between cynicism and faith in human nature.Downside: Plot devices and character development devices sometimes used sloppily, pedestrian descriptive passages.Walters definitely has something to bring to the party, though. I'll read her again.
    • 4/5
      Great crime fiction - I read it (440 pages) in less than a day. Starts with reports of a brutal double murder and a visit to the prison holding the self-confessed convicted killer - an obese and unlovely young woman who, first surprise, is more articulate than expected. The story then follows the process of revisiting the crime and what really happened. The reader senses from early in the story, that the "killer" is not guilty, but the final unmasking of the villain is worthy of Agatha Christie. Read 21 January 2014.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this novel. The characters were engaging, the multiple storylines were well handled, and i liked the way the plot started with a murderess in prison and worked, essentially, backwards. The crisp prose made the story move along at a good pace, and there were just enough surprises to keep me on my toes.
    • 5/5
      What a remarkable book. This is a book to read as Halloween approaches.Containing many twists and turns, some very gruesome descriptions and a host of wicked characters, this doesn't disappoint.Horribly obese, Olive sits in jail after she confessed to the killing and dismemberment of her mother and sister. Calmly calling the police, she greeted them at the door in blood stained attire. Police vomited when they witnessed the gruesomeness of the deadly deed.Enter Rox, an author whose publisher will drop her unless she writes a book about Olive. Interviewing the murderess proves to be very confusing. Repulsed by the layers and layers of fat, the dysfunctionality of Olive's lies, and the evil beady eyes, Rox has difficulty listening to the details.Slowly, the Rox believes that while Olive adamantly confesses, there are too many questions left unanswered. The reader travels with Rox down sharp windy paths. The truth is veiled and even at the end the reader is left wondering, pondering.Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      A great mystery with enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge..I loved Walter's writing and depth in characterization brought into the story and also the excellent ending where readers were left skeptical about what really happened even after a happy ending..
    • 4/5
      When you read a lot of books, it can sometimes be difficult to recall which books you've read and which you haven't. At least that's the case in the time before social networking sites for books. (How did we ever survive?!?)That's what happened with "The Sculptress." I'd thought I'd read it before based on the novel's description and the opening chapters felt vaguely familiar. But for some odd reason I couldn't recall the twists, turns and the solution to the mystery at the center of the book. (This is fairly unusual for a mystery novel and one of the caliber of Minette Walters' works.)Years before, Olive Martin confessed to the horrific crime of killing her mother and sister and then trying to dissect them in time to hide the evidence from her father. She wasn't able to get the job of dissecting them done in time, called the police and confessed to the crime. Martin won't pursue a plea of insanity and now sits in prison. Morbidly obese, Martin has a violent temper and mood swings and has earned the nickname "The Sculptress" for the figurines she carves out of whatever she can find. Enter into the story, Roz Leigh, a former best-selling author in need of a book to keep her publishing career alive. She's assigned the true-crime story of Olive in an attempt to salvage her career and publishing contract. At first, Roz is skeptical she can find a story to tell when it comes to Olive, but upon meeting her and talking to her, Roz begins to think Olive is innocent and may be covering up for someone else. Roz also has some issues of her own--she's suffering from depression. The story delves into both mysteries over the course of the novel. We see some parallels between Olive and Roz--both are fleeing from a past they don't want to accept because of pain associated with it. But neither are really living either, just marking time in the world. Both are in a prison--it's just Olive's that is a physical one.Walters keeps the clues to what's occurred flowing at a good rate. She doesn't give away the entire game in the first few chapters, but she does plant the seeds. Readers will realize there's something more to Roz than within the first few chapters and Walters shows and doesn't tell what's occurred to audience. It makes for a fascinating story and an intriguing mystery.As does what really happened that fateful day in Olive's kitchen. One of the early works by Walters, "The Sculptress" shows the mystery writer on the top of her game. One of her best stories.I'm still not sure why I don't remember reading it the first time...
    • 3/5
      This was a good enthralling read. Good plot with lots of twists and turns. A good whodunnit.Back Cover Blurb:The facts of the case were simple: Olive Martin had pleaded guilty to killing and dismembering her sister and mother, earning herself the chilling nickname 'The Sculptress'. This much journalist Rosalind Leigh knew before her first meeting with Olive, currently serving a life sentence. How could Roz have foreseen that the encounter was destined to change her life - for ever?
    • 3/5
      I fully expected to hate Roz - I mean she seemed so self pitying, then there is the very bad Olive - nothing going for her. But to my shock i warmed to them both, Rozs investigation of the case made me ashamed of my prejudices - i was actually glad when Olive was released. I am not happy about the ending though - Minette leaves me feeling uneasy about Olive and worried for Roz. A good read though
    • 3/5
      It is amazing how dated books seem when the main characters have to find telephone boxes to make phone calls and there is no mention of mobile phones! An unusual story revolving around an author investigating a brutal family murder, where the daughter confessed and everyone accepted that as fact, no matter how unlikely. Probably more of a woman's book as I found it didn't fully engage me.
    • 4/5
      I couldn't help comparing this book to the movie "Silence of the Lambs". The relationship between Roz the writer and the Sculptress is somewhat similar to that of Hanibal Lector and the journalist (Clarisse). The difference is that in Silence of the Lambs we knew that Lector was a psychopath. In this book we do not know that Olive Martin actually did kill her mother and sister, and when Roz proves by following the many discrepencies in the case, that it wasn't her, but someone else who killed her family, we are still wondering whether or not she is innocent. It is clear why this book won the Edgar Allan Poe Award. It is very well-written and a real page-turner. Roz is a very likeable character, and the whole thing just seems so real. This is an excellent book and for those who enjoy psychological thrillers, a must-read.
    • 4/5
      Olive is a morbidly obese young woman, convicted of a terrible crime. She butchered her mother and sister on the kitchen floor and confessed without a bat of an eye. But did she really do it? Roz, a woman with a tragic past herself, takes on the task of writing the story of the Sculptress, as she's called in prison. In her search for the truth, she may just save Olive from a life in prison while healing some of her own wounds. This is a great crime drama, even for those of us who don't read much in this vein. It kept me enthralled from the first page and was difficult to put down.
    • 4/5
      When she's on her game, she's the best mystery writer in Britain. Score!