Kjerringbissel

by Minette Walters

BITTER HARRIDAN...

Few tears fall when rich, spiteful old Mathilda Gillespie's bloody corpse is found in her bathtub, her wrists slit and the ancient scold's bridle clamped on her head. It seems Mathilda's favorite heirloom was also an instrument of torture from the Middle Ages, an iron cage used to gag yapping women. Among the Dorset villagers, only Sarah Blakeney, Mathilda's doctor for her final year, seems even mildly disturbed that the miserable nag has been muzzled forever.

OR TRAGIC VICTIM?

But suicide starts to look like homicide, and Sarah's sorrow seems a bit contrived when the bombshell drops that Mathilda has disinherited her daughter and granddaughter, leaving her entire fortune to Sarah.

Now the object of vicious gossip and the police's prime suspect in a brutal murder, Sarah must prove her innocence by delving into Mathilda's past to unmask the real killer. What she finds beneath the sleepy village facade is a grisly potpourri of blackmail, butchery, and perversion.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, British Literature

355 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Minette Walters (born 26 September 1949) is a British mystery writer. After studying at Trevelyan College, University of Durham, she began writing in 1987 with The Ice House, which was published in 1992. She followed this with The Sculptress (1993), which received the 1994 Edgar Award for Best Novel. She has been published in 35 countries and won many awards.

The Sculptress has been adapted for television in a BBC series starring Pauline Quirke. Her novels The Ice House, The Echo, The Dark Room, and The Scold's Bridle have also been adapted by the BBC.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This is the first time I have read a book written by British author Minette Walters. I thank my friend Janet for recommending her to me. The Scold’s Bride is a beautifully penned mystery. Ms. Walters writes rich literary prose that is such a joy to find in the mystery genre. Though I have not read Ruth Rendell or P.D. James, I have seen other readers compare Ms. Walters’ style to theirs. This is high praise indeed.

The main plotline deals with whether Mathilda Gillespie, considered by many to be a spiteful arrogant old bitch, was murdered or committed suicide. The story is highly involved and is played out by an intriguing cast of characters. These players, in turn, are also complex and well fleshed out. There are numerous secrets and hidden agendas for the authorities to discover and maneuver around if this case is to be solved. A special treat is the way the author laces the narrative with references to the works of William Shakespeare. There are plenty of surprises along the way, and though the tale moves along nicely, I wouldn’t call it a thriller. I characterize the book as a deliciously dark, but not graphic, mystery.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Scold’s Bridle. If you are looking for a quick airplane read, an action-packed thriller, or some great blood and gore, this is not the book for you. This tale is for mystery aficionados who are looking for something intricate and thought provoking, a novel to savor. I am looking forward to my next book by this very special author.

[Richard Derus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.875* of five

The Publisher Says: BITTER HARRIDAN...

Few tears fall when rich, spiteful old Mathilda Gillespie's bloody corpse is found in her bathtub, her wrists slit and the ancient scold's bridle clamped on her head. It seems Mathilda's favorite heirloom was also an instrument of torture from the Middle Ages, an iron cage used to gag yapping women. Among the Dorset villagers, only Sarah Blakeney, Mathilda's doctor for her final year, seems even mildly disturbed that the miserable nag has been muzzled forever.

OR TRAGIC VICTIM?

But suicide starts to look like homicide, and Sarah's sorrow seems a bit contrived when the bombshell drops that Mathilda has disinherited her daughter and granddaughter, leaving her entire fortune to Sarah.

Now the object of vicious gossip and the police's prime suspect in a brutal murder, Sarah must prove her innocence by delving into Mathilda's past to unmask the real killer. What she finds beneath the sleepy village facade is a grisly potpourri of blackmail, butchery, and perversion.

My Review: Mathilda Gillespie reminds me of my female relatives: Argumentative, judgmental, unforgiving, grudge-holding, snobbish...is it any wonder Mathilda turns up very, very dead? She's so dead, in fact, that no one with a grain of sense could mistake her overkilling for anything but murder. Her daughter and granddaughter, lucky recipients of Mathilda's viciousness all their lives, are logically suspected of doing the old bat in so as to inherit her dragon's hoard...but they don't, the doc who has (inexplicably) kept her alive has scarfed the lot. What about her as public-spirited citizen, I mean murderer? But wait! What about Mathilda's ex-lover, the man next door? Or his wife? For good measure, the much-richer-now doc has an artist husband who, appalling as it seems, verifiably painted the gorgon starkers, and is evasive about what else the two might've got themselves up to.

But wait, there's more! We're treated to Mathilda's inner monologue, via her missing diaries, where she's revealed to have been...what else...A Victim Of Abuse. Oh poor lambie, dreadfully abused, now heaping it on her “nearest and dearest” and blahblahblah with quotes from Shakespeare and a whole lot of hand-wringing and then the murderer is discovered, and mercifully the agony ends.

Woman as victim. Standard stuff. Mildly enlivened by the fact that she's not a Saint Who Has Risen Above, but basically another woeful longface tale about how awful it is to be a woman.

Amen. Makes me extra-special glad I'm not one.

You can catch young Kate Winslet in the 1998 BBC version. It's pretty darn faithful to the book. Amazing British Crime Dramas has both parts posted. I don't particularly recommend it.

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third novel by Minette Walters. Unputdownable - I consumed it voraciously in half a day. She gets better and better with every book she writes (with the exception of the short novels she wrote later which format does her style no favours). Psychological brinkmanship without ever making the reader feel queasy. Jack is the best male character I have read in a while and certainly one of my top 3 characters for this year! There was just one moment in this novel when MW almost dropped the ball - muffed a pass, really; if that's my only complaint then this is a brilliant book!

[Cynnamon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classical English mystery with an unexpected twist in the end.

The story did have some weaknesses, but allover it was an enjoyable read.

Rating downgraded to 3 stars.

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Ein klassischer englischer Dorfkrimi, bei dem sich hinter der wohlanständigen Fassade wahre Abgründe auftun.

Ich schätze Minette Walters' Krimis wirklich sehr, musste hier aber ein bisschen Punkteabzug geltend machen, weil die Beziehungsgeschichte doch ein wenig zu sehr konstruiert war.

Dennoch ein spannendes und unterhaltsames Leseerlebnis.

Abgerundet auf 3 Sterne.

[Učitaj se! | Martina Štivičić · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ima nešto u britanskim krimićima što nema ni u jednoj drugoj vrsti krimića, a što ih čini nekako posebnima. Jesu li to male sredine, uglavnom seoska ladanja, usko povezani krug ljudi (a samim time i potencijalnih sumnjivaca), (dobro)susjedski odnosi, ili pak sama ta engleska klima... ne znam. Ali znam da, bez obzira na to koliko voljela i uživala u napetosti drugih krimi-trilera, u ovim britanskim krimićima nekako baš posebno guštam.

Minette Walters jedna je od malobrojnih dama britanske kriminalističke književnosti čije knjige do sada još nisam čitala. Agatha Christie, Ruth Rendell, Caroline Graham... sve su me ove dame osvojile na prvu, a, po svemu sudeći, Minette Walters može im se priključiti. Njezina 'Maska srama' nije me oduševila, ali mogu reći da mi je bila dosta dobra.

Radi se o zagonetnom slučaju (samo)ubojstva Mathilde Gillespie, starije i pomalo ohole žene koja je svima bila intrigantna i zanimljiva, ali su je također i svi mrzili. Mathildino tijelo pronađeno je u kadi, i nitko ne bi ni potegnuo pitanje radi li se doista o samoubojstvu da se na njenoj glavi nije nalazila pomalo sablasna 'maska srama', na bizaran način urešena.

Slučaj se dodatno zakomplicira kada Mathilda, sudeći prema oporuci koju je relativno nedavno načinila, sav svoj imetak, umjesto potomcima, ostavi posve neočekivanoj osobi. Uskoro tajne počnu izlaziti na vidjelo, ljudi počnu pokazivati svoje prave naravi, a zagonetka oko Mathilde Gillespie sve je zagonetnija. Tko je doista bila Mathilda i što je sve skrivala? Odgovor možda leži u dnevnicima koje je pisala, ali, da bi vidjeli je li to doista tako, te dnevnike prvo treba pronaći...

Najbolja riječ kojom bih opisala umorstvo (ili samoubojstvo?) oko kojeg se vrti radnja ovog romana je - teatralno. Ne toliko šokantno, pomalo bizarno, svakako zagonetno. I doista teatralno. A teatralna je bila i sama Mathilda, žena koja je obožavala saznavati tuđe tajne, ismijavati sve koje je smatrala nižima od sebe (a takvih je, bogme, bilo), snishodljivo se odnositi prema, pa, gotovo svima; koja je uživala šokirati i bockati i biti glavna tema svačijeg razgovora. A u svemu je tome, dakako, i uspijevala. Također, kada uzmemo u obzir i Mathildinu opsjednutost Shakespearom, nije ni čudo što joj je teatralnost, takoreći, bila u krvi.

Ispod priče o zagonetnoj smrti jedne starice i istrage o tome što se tu doista dogodilo nalazi se priča o dugotrajnom zlostavljanju u obitelji, i otrovu kojim je takvo ponašanje zatrovalo sve njene članove (ili točnije rečeno, članice), generacijama unaprijed. Walters sjajno portretira činjenicu kako mnoge žrtve zlostavljanja, pogotovo žene, sebe (djelomično) krive za ono što im se dogodilo, zbog čega šute, trpe i dugi niz godina na neki način kažnjavaju same sebe, živeći u strahu i obezvrijeđujući se zbog nečega na što nisu mogle utjecati niti je to bilo njihova krivnja. Čak i Mathilda, generalno snažna žena - iako je ona ipak našla načina kako da se osveti i odnese konačnu pobjedu. No čak je i ona, kako vidimo iz njenih dnevničkih zapisa, ostala trajno oštećena, s trajnom mržnjom koju nikako nije mogla ugasiti niti na pravo mjesto usmjeriti.

Niti jedan lik u ovoj knjizi nije posebno drag niti karakterno privlačan. Gotovo svi su sebični i samoživi, iako su svi prošli i neke svoje traume zbog kojih im je lakše tolerirati to kako se ponašaju. A u cijeloj toj plejadi groznih ljudi, od kojih bilo tko može biti sumnjivac, sumnju usmjeriti na pravo mjesto je doista teško.

Rasplet događaja me nije baš oduševio, očekivala sam nešto više, neki značajniji motiv iza Mathildine smrti, od onog koji je naposlijetku predstavljen. Pogotovo ako uzmemo u obzir teatralnost načina na koji je umrla. Nekako sam očekivala istu razinu teatralnosti i iza 'pozornice'. Voljela bih i da je Minette ostavila manje otvorenih zagonetki vezanih uz samu Mathildu i njenu prošlost. Dio njene osobnosti i njenih postupaka ostane nedorečen, iako se nekakvi obrisi naziru. No, što se tiče same priče i slučaja, ne brinite, sve je u potpunosti razriješeno.

Naslovna maska srama najbizarniji je, i pomalo zastrašujuć, dio priče. Ona predstavlja srednjevjekovnu napravu koja se stavlja na glavu i u principu ti ukliješti jezik, a koristila se za kažnjavanje brbljavaca i lažljivaca, većinom žena i, dakako, vještica. S obzirom na način na koji je poslužila u Mathildinom životu i smrti, ova je maska poput nekog dodatnog, zlogukog, lika u ovoj priči, a ono što je zanimljivo je to da ju Mathilda nije koristila kao sredstvo mučenja, već, češće, utjehe i bijega, pa čak i spasa.

Sve u svemu, dosta dobar krimić. Moj prvi od Minette Walters, ali svakako ne i zadnji.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very silly. Convoluted ... totally unbelievable twaddle.

I have been told that her other books are better but this was my first read of hers and definitely my last.

[Guylou (Two Dogs and a Book) · Rating 2 out of 5]

📚 Hello Book Friends! THE SCOLD’S BRIDLE by Minette Walters was named one of the best crime novels of the year 1994. Crime fiction is not one of my go-to genres because it often includes really weird facts to lead someone to commit a crime. This book is not an exception to the rule. But since a friend recommended this book because she liked it, I gave it a go. The book started with finding Mathilda Gillespie dead in her bath with a scold’s bridle on her head. If you do not know what a scold bridle is, please Google it. You will understand how strangely this story started. When I thought things were weird, it got weirder. I cannot say I enjoyed the story itself, but I can say that I did not guess who committed the murder. Even when the murderer was revealed, I was still not convinced they had the right person. There were too many suspects and too many reasons to kill Mathilda to feel confident of that deduction. Minette Walters’ mind must be creative in an unusual way to come up with such twisted stories.

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[Emanuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vincitore del Gold dagger award nel 1994, questo è sicuramente un giallo datato ma che non ha nulla da invidiare ai migliori gialli famosi di tutti i tempi.
In particolare il mio primo pensiero è stato di associarlo ad Agatha Christie per alcuni aspetti, anche se qui abbiamo una componente decisamente più noir, ma vi ho ritrovato la stessa capacità di scandagliare l’animo umano e i suoi lati oscuri. Ed ora ve ne parlo!

Innanzitutto la trama è davvero tanto complessa in una sequela di colpi di scena senza fine.
Mathilda Cavendish viene ritrovata morta nella vasca da bagno con i polsi recisi e in testa il morso della bisbetica, con una composizione di fiori all’interno.
Quello che inizialmente appare come suicidio viene però ben presto inquadrato come omicidio in quanto non si comprende bene come avrebbe potuto la signora fare la composizione floreale e nè la sequenza corretta delle azioni da lei operate, dato che si è imbottita di sonniferi.
Le persone sospettate e che avrebbero potuto avere un movente si scopre ben presto che sono tante: la figlia Joanna e la nipote Ruth, il medico della donna Sarah, suo marito l’artista Jack, diversi abitanti del villaggio che nascondono segreti scabrosi.
In più a complicare le cose arriverà la notizia, lasciata dalla stessa Mathilda in un video, che pioverà come un fulmine a ciel sereno sul capo delle ignare parenti, delle modifiche nel testamento per cui tutto il patrimonio andrà alla dottoressa, scatenando invidie e lotte all’ultimo pettegolezzo.

Fin da subito notiamo come ogni abitante del paese ed ogni componente della famiglia Cavendish nasconda un segreto accuratamente custodito in tanti anni.
E la vecchia signora, risulta ben presto una abile manipolatrice delle vite altrui, tenendole malignamente avvinte e controllate con la minaccia di rivelarne il lato più oscuro, dandolo in pasto alle lingue lunghe dei paesani.
E questo appare fin da subito, accanto all’interesse economico, uno dei possibili moventi per l’omicidio.

Poi c’è l’aspetto molto importante di come tutte le persone coinvolte siano dipinte contemporaneamente sia come vittime che come carnefici, lungi dal delineare un quadro ben definito di buoni e cattivi.
E qui sta la capacità che dicevo prima dell’autrice di sondare gli abissi dell’animo umano.
Mathilda è la prima ad essere dipinta, accanto all’aspetto di ricattatrice malefica, come vittima di violenze familiari e come in fondo donna fragile che non è stata mai realmente capita da nessuno e che si rifugia in un’illusione che desidera tanto per potersi ripulire la coscienza dal senso di colpa per un evento della sua vita, che non l’ha mai abbandonata.
La figlia Joanna è la seconda che replica molto bene le modalità apprese dalla madre, dipingendosi come agnello sacrificale, quando invece ha imparato sin da piccola a sfruttare a proprio favore le fragilità della madre, che poi sono anche le sue, per manipolarla e tenerla in scacco con le sue reazioni, facendosi mantenere nei suoi vizi fino ai quarant’anni avanzati.
L’immagine del gioco di specchi per spiazzare le persone che la guardano, senza mai mostrare la vera se stessa, e il suo narcisismo che diventa autodistruttivo nelle sue tante scelte sbagliate, mi ha portata all’incapacità di provare alcun tipo di empatia nei suoi confronti.
La nipote Ruth si ritrova invischiata in questo gioco di forza e controllo come unica modalità di amare tra le due donne della sua vita, e senza padre fin da neonata, e quindi emerge presto come nel suo rubare, dire parolacce e fare la dura, sia stata quella che ha sofferto di più della situazione, cadendo in una situazione angosciante nella sua ricerca di una figura paterna.
Dall’altro lato ritroviamo Sarah che, inizialmente dipinta come buona e paziente e comprensiva, unica capace di andar d’accordo con la vipera, in seguito ci viene presentata come continuamente controllata e repressa, che non si lascia mai andare a nessun tipo di impulso o di emozioni, e che finisce per essere profondamente frustrata e quindi scoppiare durante le vicende, quando si accorge che, nonostante il suo cercare di essere sempre perfetta, non riesca ad evitare di cadere vittima dei sospetti e delle malelingue.
E questo voler essere sempre perfetta e pretendere che nessuno interferisca rompendole questo suo fragile castello di carte, l’ha resa ai miei occhi un po’ fastidiosa, nonostante poi si comporti alla fine seguendo il proprio cuore.
Accanto a lei c’è il marito che è un pittore ancora non affermato, che dipinge ritratti non realistici ma di come vede la personalità del modello. E devo dire che questa cosa mi ha fatta letteralmente impazzire; sarebbe davvero bello poter avere una cosa del genere anche se credo che, come nel libro, molti non riuscirebbero ad accettare di essere visti in maniera diversa da come si rappresentino.
Lui inizialmente lo vediamo attraverso gli occhi della moglie, come irresponsabile e traditore, interessato solo all’aspetto più materiale della vita e profittatore, mentre invece man mano che si procede nella lettura, emerge come la figura con forse più aspetti positivi di tutte, con forti principi per cui è pronto a lottare, mettendosi in gioco in prima persona ed anche rischiando certe volte. Proprio per questo contrasto su di lui viene giocato dalla scrittrice un abile colpo di scena che lascia sorpresi e con dei dubbi fino alla fine.
E poi ci sono i due vicini Orloff, Duncan e Violet, che riescono per le pareti divisorie improvvisate tra il loro appartamento e quello della morta, a sentire tutto quello che avviene nella casa, lui eterno amante della donna, nonostante lei lo deridesse come tutti gli altri.
E Jane e Paul, legati da altrettanti segreti alla signora Cavendish, che sono probabilmente gli unici a farsi meno toccare dallo “sporco” dell’esistenza, nonostante vengano coinvolti loro malgrado, a causa di un errore del passato, negli stessi giochi di potere.
E infine c’è James Gillespie, marito ubriacone e violento della vittima, trasferito quasi subito dopo il matrimonio ad Hong Kong, ma mai separato da divorzio da questa, che torna appena ha il sentore di possibili guadagni per se stesso per le vicende in corso. Lui al contrario, sembra invece solo contraddistinto da note negative nella sue debolezza estrema, portato a un profondo egoismo e non giustificato a mio parere dalle violenze psicologiche (e non solo) e dai sotterfugi giocati anche su di lui dalla moglie.
E poi su tutti c’è Cooper, il sergente dell’investigativa che conduce le analisi sul caso, che mostrerà una lucida capacità di analisi della condizione attuale dell’umanità e che sarà capace di restare integerrimo nonostante le tentazioni e gli sfoghi a cui comunque non sarà immune. È l’unico nella storia capace di comprendere Jack e il suo codice di colori.

Tutto questo procedere in una disamina approfondita dello spaccato di umanità che incontriamo in questo caso, lo rende forse un po’ lento, sicuramente molto lontano dal ritmo incalzante dei moderni thriller, dove però non troviamo così tanti spunti originali come invece qui.
La lentezza sta però solo nel fatto che non succedono realmente poi tante cose utili per le vicende ma sono più scene che servono a comprendere bene chi abbiamo di fronte per poter ipotizzare il colpevole, che poi invece si rivelerà, in un gioco magistrale, diverso da quel che sarebbe sembrato, basato su motivazioni molto diverse da tutte quelle in gioco. E questo porta a fare un sorriso e a dirsi come ironicamente poi non siano le passioni a decidere le sorti dell’umanità.

Sul colpevole io aprirei una breve parentesi, facendo un’osservazione che cerchi di fare meno spoiler possibili...
Io ero convinta che, dopo l’ultimo colpo di scena colpevole fosse un’altra persona, molto vicina a quella invece dichiarata, e mi è sembrato di capire da alcune osservazioni e dall’ultima dichiarazione che fa il colpevole, che in effetti si autoaccusi alla fine per proteggere la persona che io credo realmente colpevole, però mi piacerebbe sentire pareri al riguardo da chi lo ha letto o lo leggerà.

Una trovata molto piacevole per me è stata quella di introdurre i capitoli con dei brani presi dal diario della defunta, che svelano anche alcune anticipazioni su nodi della trama che verranno poi dipanati più avanti nella narrazione.

Lo sfondo culturale che ci accompagna è quello delle opere Shakespeariane, spesso citate negli stessi diari, e che giocheranno un ruolo importante nella modalità scelta per l’omicidio.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read some very good novels by Walters but I haven't so much enjoyed the last two or three that I've picked up; I'm not sure if this is just me or if I've had a run of bad luck. In this instance, after a rich old woman is found murdered in her bath wearing a family heirloom, a scold's bridle, a cavalcade of her past secrets comes out, including the customary tropes of child sex abuse and incest. Meanwhile, in the present, there's gang rape, abortion, an unhappy marriage . . . It's all very sensationalist stuff, and I began to feel that there was a rather cold attempt being made to manipulate the reader's -- my -- emotions: Oh, my, I could imagine the author thinking, I ain't had a real shocker of a News of the Screws-style revelation in, lemme see, twenty pages now, so someone ought to at least get a knee in the groin, or should I announce there was another bastard birth or patricide that no one knew about . . .?

It's not all bad. The novel's very readable, and the trio of central characters -- the doctor who, to her astonishment, discovers she's the victim's heir, the doctor's artist husband, and the main copper -- are really quite engaging. But by halfway through the book I'd been so battered by shock! horror! sensation! that I no longer believed a word of what I was reading. Sort of like the News of the Screws again, in fact.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have another winner from the pen of Ms Minette Walters. I am seeing a bit of a pattern though. Like the "The Shape of Snakes" this one involved a woman doctor who befriends a woman whose nasty personality made her a very unlikeable person and who winds up dead under suspicious circumstances. In both stories the doctor is having marital difficulties that bear on the case and in both, a police detective becomes interested in the doctor and the case. But there the similarities pretty much end. Dr. Blakeney is at first a suspect in the death of Mathilda Gillespie because she stands to gain the most from the old woman's death. Mathilda is a woman with a host of dark family secrets, who uses blackmail, intimidation and the eponymous scold's bridle to control everyone around her, and has a mostly bitter love/hate relationship with her equally unlikeable daughter. Add in a seventeen year-old granddaughter who has been victimized by a despiccable low-life and is badly in need of some serious nurturing, and a host of red herrings who nonetheless are necessary to move the story along and this one was a real page-turner that was hard to put down for long.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Button pushing, convuluted, annoying. I'm probably not the best person to review crime thrillers or whatever these kind of books are called. They bore me intensely.
Pretty well everyone in this book was just annoying and I spent way too much time in their company. There was a lot of plot twists around incest, psychology through art, rape, beastly families, inbred upper classes and sniping, groping lower classes. I got intensely bored with the whole thing until it was finally all wrapped up in a few pages of anticlimactic tosh.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm so pleased I have finally finished this book, and having got to the end I wonder why I persevered. Not one of Minette's better books. Over and over went the the topics of who had which baby, who was sleeping with who, who may have be the murderer. By the end - actually by about half-way - I just didn't care.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Scold's Bridle is a very good mystery. I never guessed who the killer was. I like MW's books and would recommend this one to anyone who likes a sharp edge to their mysteries. This is definitely not a cozy!

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho. El caso es bastante interesante y no se hace pesado. Los personajes son lo mejor del libro, llenos de carisma y personalidad. Es de lo pocos libros que me han hecho sentir que yo mismo estaba en ese pueblo y me encanta como el chismorreo de un pueblo donde se conoce todo el mundo toma tanta importancia.
Recomendado

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really an intriguing story and definitely found it more complicated, more interesting the further along I got in the tale.

Mathilda Gillespie was a harridan, at least that was the common feeling in her village, so when she is found dead in her bathtub with her wrists slit, few mourn and its assumed that it was indeed a suicide as she suffered from sometimes debilitating arthritis. But why would she place a scold's bridle, a medieval torture device used to shut up women, and apparently a family heirloom?

The only one that seems to be concerned about the incident is Gillespie's doctor, Sarah Blakeney. Her low-key concern about the oddity of the 'suicide' is answered by the police, particularly one police officer who soon comes to the conclusion that it was actually a murder.

And then it comes to who had motive, means and opportunity. Gillespie's daughter and granddaughter instantly come to mind, but then with the reading of the will, and the viewing of a video, announces that the entire Gillespie fortune goes to Blakeney.

So did the Gillespie women kill Mathilda? Sarah? Sarah's 'philandering' husband? As woman who seemed to have no friends, who else in the village also harbored secrets and grudges? And the deeper we get into the tale, the more twists and turns there are in the characters and their situation. This is the mastery of this book which keeps you focused on finding out the whole tale and it definitely kept me up last night to finish it. It is a very good read.

[Krystelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tried it’s best to be thrilling, but instead crammed a whole bunch of sensationalism into the pages and hoped for the best. To have a book that tackles abuse, incest, murder, abortion, sex work, and drug use (among other themes) was certainly ambitious, but it fell flat. It ended up in this awkward spot where there was so much going on but no impact on the characters.

They were impervious to the goings-on around them, continuing to be abjectly terrible and unaffected by all the goings-on. The story stagnated with this- you can throw as much as you like at the characters but they need to be able to respond to them. I didn’t particularly care about the main victim either, as being a victim of abuse isn’t a free pass to be a horrible person. I wish this book were higher stakes for me, but I found myself left wanting.

[Lana Glover · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to stop reading this one about halfway through. All of the characters were so annoying, I just really didn't care who did it. I usually like Ms. Walters books, but this one was awful. Thud.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

better than ice house

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m officially giving up on Minette Walters. I liked The Shape Of Snakes and The Swift and the Harrier but then absolutely LOATHED The Last Hours and now this one was also really, really bad, so I won’t keep giving Walters any more chances.

I’m surprised I haven’t seen any other reviews taking issue with the writing: it’s literally a whole book made up of dialogue. It started off with at least a bit of action (and by action I mean literally anything other than people just talking), so I was hopeful every time there was a scene change that it wouldn’t be more dialogue yet again, but alas… nah. More dialogue. I don’t think I’ve ever read a crime novel or indeed ANY novel where it was this bad.
To make matters worse, the only good dialogue came pretty early on when the long suffering good doctor kicks out her useless grifter husband (I had a proper fuck yeah *fist bump* reaction), but then she takes the asshole back and forgives him?! Yuck. Thanks for wasting a bona fide girl power moment.

Can’t say anything else about the plot because I was too bored to care.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

"BITTER HARRIDAN ...

"Few tears fall when rich, spiteful old Mathilda Gillespie's bloody corpse is found in her bathtub, her wrists slit and the ancient scold's bridle clamped on her head. It seems Mathilda's favorite heirloom was also an instrument of torture from the Middle Ages, an iron cage used to gag yapping women. Among the Dorset villagers, only Sarah Blakeney, Mathilda's doctor for her final year, seems even mildly disturbed that the miserable nag has been muzzled forever.

"... OR TRAGIC VICTIM?

"But suicide starts to look like homicide, and Sarah's sorrow seems a bit contrived when the bombshell drops that Mathilda has disinherited her daughter and granddaughter, leaving her entire fortune to Sarah.

"Now an object of vicious gossip and the police's prime suspect in a brutal murder, Sarah must prove her innocence by delving into Mathilda's past to unmask the real killer. What she finds beneath the sleepy village facade is a grisly potpourri of blackmail, butchery, and perversion.

"In the grand tradition of Ruth Rendell and P.D. James ..."
~~back cover

Another very convoluted plot, difficult to follow. Clever outcome, I must admit. The middle of the book sagged horribly, with a great deal of proselytizing and soapbox haranguing, which I didn't much care for. This was the first book I read by this author, and it hasn't left me with a burning desire to read more.

[Harsha Priolkar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Minette Walters The Ice House and so picked this one up. However this one was disappointingly average in story, characters and plot. Too long and over-written in my opinion, for what turned out to be a rather random motive that was only very convolutedly connected to the main character Mathilda Gillespie and her family. I felt Walters used the crime primarily to delve into the dark tragedy that was Mathilda's life, but awful as it was, sadly, it evoked no sympathy for her in my heart.

The beginning was interesting but somehow there was none of the menace that I had felt while reading the Ice House. Jack Blakeney showed promise initially, but he turned out to be disappointingly conventional inspite Walter's every effort to make him 'different'. There were too many characters I thought - and in giving each one a backstory - the narrative lengthened unnecessarily. Also, none of the characters were likeable, most were frankly intolerable! The only two I liked and felt were well written were DS Cooper and Jane Marriott. The rest felt flat, stereotypical and uninteresting and added no depth to the narrative. As for Dr. Sarah Blakeney - the less said the better! The only thing I can say about her is that Mathilda's moniker for her, also the title of the book, was on point!

On the whole, a dated (it was first published in 1994) and dissatisfying read :(

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minette Walters is a shining star of the mystery genre. She creates intelligent, interesting and complex characters full of as much evil venom as goodness and light. The Scold's Bridle is yet another example of her boundless talent. There is plenty of darkness, I can assure you, so if you possess a weak heart for the horrific criminal nature found in mens' hearts you may want to think twice before indulging.

I found this book to be particularly thought provoking. There were so many twists and turns that I wouldn't have been surprised for any of the characters to be found guilty of committing the murder in question. The individual personalities were strong (terribly strong, in some cases) and the level of mental acuity within this small community may be higher than the norm. I don't know that I've encountered as many amateur psychologists in one book. No matter, it worked to good effect.

I cannot fault Ms. Walters. I have been reading her books in order, this being my third, and find each one distinctly separate in story, tone and character development. She is a real find and a great delight when you want a well developed whodunnit! Thank you Ian and Liddy for introducing me to her works.

[Alison Lloyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

More Talky Mystery than Psychological Thriller
The plot has a satisfying rate of twists and complications. But I nearly didn't finish the book and this is why:
I felt no sympathy, only dislike for the murder victim. The final reveal came too late to fix this.
Most of the characters are blurry - I had trouble remembering which was which. A lot of character and motivation is built by telling rather than showing. The novel contains a lot of scenes in which one character analyses another. For example we are told that Mathilde has a sense of humour by other characters, but she never made me laugh. Her actions and her diary voice come across as spiteful more than anything.
There is little sense of impending danger.
Other than the initial murder scene, Walters' writing has little sensory detail and almost no sense of place. I like to see and feel setting.
I kept going with the book because of Jack's character, and the sub-plot involving Ruth, which was more plausible and relatable than the main mystery. A book focussed on her story and the legal proceedings around it could have been really gripping. But I won't be reading more by this author any time soon.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rich old bitch is found dead in her bathtub with slit wrists and wearing a scold's bridle, a device for female punishment used during the 16th-19th centuries, consisting of a metal headpiece with a bit to silence quarrelsome women's tongues. The mysteries she leaves behind: Was it murder or suicide? Why'd she leave her money to her doctor rather than her daughter and granddaughter? What is the symbolic significance of the bridle?

A total page turner. I dug it.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back when the cable channel A&E was actually watchable, they use to show mystery movies. One of the ones I watched was based on this novel. The movie was good, the novel is good - not great, but I'm not upset I read it. I liked the dual story lines, one working forward, the other backward. I also, though, found it somewhat empty. But it was enjoyable enough light read.

[Antipoet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Minette Walters would like you to know she is aware that the following items exist and are Very Serious:

abuse

alcoholism

gang rape

abuse

juvenile delinquency

abuse

prostitution

incest

sodomy

abuse

classism

abuse

abuse

The comparisons to PD James are apt; this is not a compliment.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

By page 100, I figured out who murdered Mathilda. Between that and the generally unlikable characters, I really couldn't think of a good reason to finish.

[Lauren Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, Minette, it's not you, it's the incest.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another richly embroidered plot, with characters and twists aplenty. At the center is Mathilda Gillespie, an older woman who had a fondness for her Scold's Bridle. She is found dead in her bathtub with the bridle on her head, adorned with flowers. Who would do such a Shakespearean deed? There is question at the start about whether the death is suicide or murder, because Mathilda was just odd enough to have considered leaving this world in such a dramatic way.

But there are reasons suicide does not make sense, and the primary detective, Sergeant Cooper, investigates it as murder. Dear Mathilda is a mystery herself, he finds. Many consider her cruel, unkind, while a few others see something else in that witty personality.

Among those who actually liked the old lady is her doctor, Sarah Blakeney. Sarah has been coping with the infidelities of her artist-husband Jack, and is therefore not in top emotional shape. She needs to find out who did the murder because she herself is soon under suspicion.

Sarah looks at Mathilda's daughter Joanna and Joanna's daughter Ruth and what she sees is lives gone awry, probably because of Mathilda's behavior toward them. Little by little we get to know Sarah, Jack, the neighbors, the missing husband, and the couple who "did" for Mathilda. Not all of the alibis hold up, and some have no alibis. With so many people disliking Mathilda, the field is wide open.

While Sarah emerges as the primary character, others step up and reveal what they are made of as well. It is up to the perceptive, likable Cooper to learn the secrets and land upon the answers.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strange piece in which a diary page appears at the beginning of each chapter – it’s going in reverse, back in time, while the story is moving forward. A brilliant book, with a plot that never lets you guess where things are heading and characters who constantly leave you surprised: just when you think you’ve got them sussed, she twists the view a little, and you find yourself looking at them quite differently.