“A dark, gothic story… Purcell alternates character narratives to question motives, reality, and truth on a ‘bumpy’ ride full of violence and death.” -Booklist This smart and sophisticated historical thriller will appeal to fans of Sarah Waters’s Fingersmith and Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace.' -Publishers Weekly

' well-wrought chiller.” -Wall Street Journal Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer? For fans of Shirley Jackson, The Poison Thread is a spine-tingling, sinister read about the evil that lurks behind the facade of innocence. 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. 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. 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. Ruth Butterham is young, poor, and awaiting trial for murder. Reminded me of Alias Grace.'-Kiran Millwood Hargraveįrom the author of The Silent Companions, a thrilling Victorian gothic horror story about a young seamstress who claims her needle and thread have the power to killĭorothea Truelove is young, wealthy, and beautiful.

'A romping read with a deliciously dark conceit at its center. Satisfying.' - New York Times Book Review

Laura purcell the poison thread