Dorothea Truelove is a wealthy young heiress in Victorian England. Her widowed father despairs that his only child is, at 25, still unmarried and does his best to set up suitable matches. But Dorothea chafes at the restrictive life of a society lady. She would prefer to do good works and pursue her study of phrenology. She is a regular visitor to the local women’s prison, where she hopes to prove her theory that the shape of a person’s skull will shed light on their crimes.

Through her visits, she meets 16-year-old seamstress Ruth Butterham, who is accused of murdering her mistress. As Ruth unfolds her grim story of poverty and hardship, Dorothea’s views of rationality are shaken and tested by Ruth’s claim that she has a supernatural power in her stitches that can cause death. Is Ruth mad and spinning a fanciful story to save herself from the gallows, or is there truth in her disturbing tale?

I loved this deliciously creepy Gothic tale of murder and the supernatural. Laura Purcell conjures up Victorian England, with its jarring worlds of genteel wealth and grinding poverty. The flimsy beauty of frocks for wealthy ladies masks the relentless work and oppressive conditions suffered by the poor seamstresses who make them. Ruth is apprenticed to Mrs Metyard, whose beautiful dress shop hides a hellish, miserable place. Dorothea recoils from Ruth’s crimes but sympathises with her plight, questioning whether criminality is something someone is born to or forced into through life circumstances.

Events in her own world show Dorothea that wealth and status are not the protector against male power that she has always presumed. There are many intrigues in this dark tale, which ends with a stunning twist I didn’t see coming. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge