The Sculptress [Abridged] [Audio Cassette]

Minette Walters (Author), Sandra Burr (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1999

Journalist Roz Leigh is drawn into the disturbing world of Olive, a huge, menacing woman imprisoned--perhaps wrongly--for the murders of her sister and mother. By the author of The Ice House.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Convicted of the brutal ax murders of her mother and sister, Olive Martin spends her days in prison carving tiny human figures out of wax. Rosalind Leigh is a best-selling author whose publisher jolts her out of writer's block by telling her to research a book about Olive and the murders, or else. Though repelled by the idea at first, Rosalind soon becomes intrigued by her subject and begins to believe she may be innocent. She soon uncovers plenty of reasons to doubt the official police version of the killings and with Olive's help, untangles a sinister cover-up. The Sculptress won the 1994 Edgar Award for best mystery novel. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Walters, whose first mystery, The Ice House , was well received on this side of the Atlantic, attempts a combination of psychological thriller and mystery here that doesn't quite come off. Roz Leigh, an author embittered by the tragic death of a child and a split from her husband, agrees to write the story of Olive Martin, a grossly fat, untidy woman serving a long prison sentence for the particularly grisly murder of her mother and sister. Visiting Olive in jail, Roz finds herself drawn to the woman, and despite the fact that "the sculptress" readily confessed to the crime, she begins to find odd discrepancies in the evidence against her. Roz becomes involved with the former policeman who arrested Olive (and who had his own doubts), and together they unravel the complicated morass of sex and madness that led to the butchery. While there are many intriguing plot turns, Olive's odd personality never quite convinces and subplots about the ex-policeman's restaurant and Olive's crooked lawyer are largely extraneous. For most of the way, despite these caveats and the novel's continuing strain on credulity, this is still a gripping read.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Media Books Llc; Abridged edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157815023X
• ISBN-13: 978-1578150236
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,576,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars TRUE BEAUTY COMES WRAPPED IN DIFFERENT PACKAGES..., June 28, 2002

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Sculptress: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an intriguing, well written mystery which garnered the 1994 Edgar Award for best novel of the year for British writer, Minette Walters, who has written quite a number of excellent books. She is a writer in the tradition of that other great British novelist, Ruth Rendell, known also as Barbara Vine. The comparison by those who are familiar with the works of both Ms. Walters and Ms. Rendell is inescapable.

This book revolves around two main stories that become by necessity intertwined. One is that of a morbidly obese, young woman, Olive Martin, who is imprisoned for the brutal and grisly murders of her mother, Gwen, and beautiful, younger sister, Amber, whose butchered bodies shocked even the most jaded of folks. On the eve of trial, Olive made a full confession to the crime and received a prison sentence of not less than twenty-five years for her butchery. Known in prison as "The Sculptress", she passes the time making miniature, carved, wax images, a delicate and sensitive pastime for one with a reputation for such primal savagery.

Enter Rosalind "Roz" Leigh, a thirties something author suffering from writer's block, who accepts a commission to write about the Olive Martin case. After meeting Olive, she becomes intrigued by her, finding her to be other than what she had expected, and a symbiotic relationship develops between the two. As she delves into the facts of the murder case, and as her interviews with Olive reveal, all is not quite what it seems. The more that Roz sorts through the facts and the more people that she interviews who were in some way associated with the Martin family, the more she becomes convinced that a miscarriage of justice has occurred and that the wrong person is paying a horrific price for the grisly murders of Gwen and Amber.

Someone, however, does not wish her to dig too deeply. With the aid of a former police sergeant, Hal Hawksley, an attractive, though conflicted, young man who is now her new love interest and was also the officer who arrested Olive for the murders, Roz stays the course and perserveres in her inquiry. What she discovers is a complex morass of human indifference, greed, and passion that makes for a compelling and well crafted mystery.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb achievement, August 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sculptress: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Minette Walters' The Sculptress, which deservedly won the 1994 Edgar Award for best mystery novel, is that rare book that deftly interweaves many different elements into one convenient package without sacrificing any of its remarkable qualities or losing sight of its identity. It's a book as multi-faceted as it is satisfying, and as an English mystery it packs a surprisingly savage bite.

Rosalind Leigh is a likeable young journalist with a tragic past and an uncertain destiny who is sent to interview Olive Martin, a monstrously obese woman sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for the grisly murders and mutilation of her mother and younger sister. The tension and chemistry between Roz and Olive is somewhat reminiscent of that between Starling and Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. It soon becomes clear, however, that Walters is taking a different and more ambitious direction than Harris. As Roz researches Olive's dark past, she uncovers numerous inconsistencies that escaped the attention of the police, her defense attorney, and even her tight-lipped solicitor. That and a genuine liking for the mysterious "Sculptress" are enough to persuade her that Olive is innocent, and is concealing more than she lets on. From there Walters, demonstrating masterful control of pace and plotting, slowly and with infinite cunning unravels a web of subtle intricacy. The details of the crime are meticulously worked out; each new plot complexity fits seamlessly into place with each subtle nuance of character in a way that reminds one of Ruth Rendell, one of the few writers who actually rivals Walters.

The characters are wonderfully engaging. Rosalind is the perfect protagonist for the contradictory reason that she is far from perfect; she is a fully rounded character whose flaws contribute as much to the story as her considerable assets. Hal Hawksley, the burly and attractive young ex-policeman who arrested Olive after the murders, is no less complex, and he makes an ideal love interest for Roz. Both people are troubled souls with considerable spunk, and their blossoming romance, mercifully unclichéd, brings a welcome humor and passion to what would otherwise be a bleak psychological thriller. Most fascinating of all is Olive Martin, a woman of incredible sensitivity and wisdom trapped in a fat and unappealing body. Side characters, like Roz's tactless friend Iris Fielding and the liberal and compassionate Sister Bridget add delightfully to the depth of the story.

The Sculptress succeeds as both a compulsively readable entertainment and as a richly rewarding mainstream novel, but like all masterworks it is far more than the sum of its parts. It's a novel worth reading for the sheer enjoyment of the prose alone. Sometimes you'll come across a line of dialogue so scathingly witty you'll find yourself laughing out loud; sometimes you'll read a passage so profound and beautifully written you have to reread it. This book made me want to thank God and Minette Walters that there are still some authors who can really write. You'll be grateful, too.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE SCULPTRESS -- A PERFECT TITLE FOR THIS BOOK, June 18, 2000

By 

Nancy Martin (Pennsylvania (orig. NY)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sculptress: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an intriguing story about Olive Martin, who is in prison for murdering and cutting up the bodies of her mother Gwen and her sister Amber. Enter Roz, an author who is not really interested in writing any longer. Her publisher gives her an ultimatum and an assignment to write a book about Olive and the murders. She reluctantly agrees and once she sinks her teeth into this task, she is no longer convinced that Olive really committed the murders that she has confessed to. Walters' portrayal of Olive as an obese, unkempt woman adds to the story as she allows the reader to want to believe that Olive is in fact the murderer, while at the same time, the story that Roz is unraveling could perhaps tell us otherwise.

This book won the 1994 Edgar Award for best mystery novel and it is no surprise why. The real surprise is how deft Minette Walters is at making this gruesome story come alive. It is filled with darkness, tension and sensitivity to the protagonist. Can Minette Walters write a bad book -- I don't think so. She's obviously a master of her craft.