Review: The Poison Thread by Lauren Purcell

The Poison Thread

by Lauren Purcell

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 368

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy, and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor, and awaiting trial for murder.

When Dorothea's charitable work brings her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted by the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person's skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets one of the prisoners, the teenaged seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another strange idea: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread--because Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches.

The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations--of bitterness and betrayal, of death and dresses--will shake Dorothea's belief in rationality, and the power of redemption. Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer? 

Kritters Thoughts:  Dorothea Truelove has been trying to uphold Catholic values especially since her mother passed away - one of those values is visiting inmates at the local prison.  On one of her recent visits, she meets Ruth Butterham who is a young girl in prison for murder.  Dorothea wants to learn about Ruth and see if she can rehabilitate her and get her out of prison and on a good path.

Told in two parts, one from Dorothea's voice that is the present and tells of her backstory and her current interactions with Ruth and then from Ruth's point of view that goes back in time a bit and tells Ruth's whole story.  I loved the alternating chapters and how they were placed at just the right spots.  

This book was the perfect creepy read, I wish I had read it in October!  I loved how Ruth believed so much in her power and at the same time Dorothea was waffling between trying to decide if Ruth really had a power or explaining away the things that were happening around Ruth.  There was a real atmosphere in this book and it gave me the goosebumps a few times!


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Viking.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.