Daisy in Chains

July 18, 2016
Cancer-surgeon Hamish Wolfe, the villain of this plodding and predictable thriller from Mary Higgins Clark Award–winner Bolton (Little Black Lies), is stuck at Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight, having been convicted two years earlier for the murders of three overweight women in Somerset. The outside campaign to secure his release, known as the Wolfe Pack and led by his mother, reaches out to reclusive but successful attorney and author Maggie Rose, whose success rate for overturning the guilty convictions of seemingly heinous criminals is astonishing. Rose, who’s reluctant to invest time in a case that seems airtight, befriends Det. Sgt. Pete Weston, the case’s lead detective. At first, nothing points to another killer, but Rose smells a rat. She wades into the murky waters of Wolfe’s Oxford past and the socially charged debate over body image that plagues the case and its victims. In a text overflowing with letters and emails, Bolton leaves little room for any real suspense or richly developed characters. Agent: Anne-Marie Doulton, Ampersand Agency (U.K.).

Antonia Beamish raises popular British novelist Bolton's psychological thriller to the next level. Beamish's enthusiastic narration grabs the listener from the opening lines and maintains her hold to the end. A handsome young surgeon vehemently protests his innocence at being imprisoned as a brutal serial killer while a troubled young woman works to overcome his conviction. Beamish gives the cast of complex characters added definition by pairing her facility for convincing accents with an equally deft handling of tone and pace. Her crisp delivery guides the listener through the many dark plot twists and revelations while deftly moving the story forward. Set aside time for this one because once started, it demands to be finished. M.O.B. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine