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The Scold's Bridle
The Scold's Bridle
Author: Minette Walters
Few tears fall when rich, spiteful old Mathilda Gillespie's bloody corpse is found 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 form the Middle Ages, an iron cage used to gag yapping women. Among the Dorset villagers, only Sarah Blakeney, ...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780312956127
ISBN-10: 0312956126
Publication Date: 10/15/1995
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 51

3.6 stars, based on 51 ratings
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Alohna avatar reviewed The Scold's Bridle on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is my first Minette Walters and this is a great book. She creates fine characters and then turns your ideas about them inside-out. In addition to the suspense/puzzle aspect, there are ideas that linger in your mind. This won't be my last Walters.
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reviewed The Scold's Bridle on + 5 more book reviews
super excellent read
jlautner avatar reviewed The Scold's Bridle on + 105 more book reviews
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.
Brendasbooks avatar reviewed The Scold's Bridle on + 45 more book reviews
Just finished The Scold's Bridle, couldn't put it down. Lot's of twists and turns until the end. The characters were very well written and quite a surprise ending for me at least.
reviewed The Scold's Bridle on + 121 more book reviews
Wasn't able to put it down until I finished it
Kunming avatar reviewed The Scold's Bridle on + 14 more book reviews
The name was odd, the cover looked odd. It was inexpensive, so I took a chance and found out what a Scold's Bridle is. Not a bad little mystery. Was pretty interesting.


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