Daisy in Chains: A Novel Paperback – June 13, 2017

This book kept you on the edge of your seat throughout. The ending was very surprising and sad. Sharon Bolton is a fantastic author.

He loves me...He loves me not. He loves me . . . Or does he? All women love the charismatic Hamish Wolfe. The fact that he is a convicted serial killer locked away for life for brutally murdering three women and suspected in the disappearance of a fourth doesn't phase them. The proof of their love and devotion is in the hundreds of letters and photographs Wolfe receives weekly, many of them graphic, many of them proposing marriage. Devastatingly handsome with a charming, manipulative personality and a killer smile, Wolfe is always in control, an intensely compelling and lethal man. His fan club of dedicated groupies call themselves The Wolfe Pack. With a passion bordering on obsession, they are united in their mission to undo what they perceive as a gross injustice - Wolfe's incarceration. The Pack has set their sights and hopes on lawyer & true crime writer, Maggie Rose. Problem is some of these followers are a few bricks shy of a load - looney as the day is long. Are they also dangerous?Maggie Rose is an eccentric, compulsive, gaunt yet beautiful woman who shuns the public eye even as she flaunts bright blue hair. Protecting her privacy at all costs, she lives as a recluse, avoiding interviews, and public appearances and only meeting with clients when necessary. Maggie has made a great deal of money by challenging the cases of convicted murderers and then writing books about them. She will only accept a case IF she sees flaws in the chain of evidence. Whether they are guilty or not is truly irrelevant in her eyes. Every client deserves to have every stone turned, every piece of evidence validated, every lead explored, every question answered. Maggie is good at what she does. She has represented seven convicted murderers in the past and gotten five of their convictions overturned. It didn't matter that she didn't believe in their innocence . . . in fact, she's pretty sure some of them were guilty as sin. It's all about winning. Can Wolfe and his followers convince her to take his case? Will Maggie fall under his spell?Daisy In Chains is a psychological thriller that grabbed me by the throat and held on until the final shocking page. The story is revealed through three main characters in a brilliantly written narrative intermingled with emails, letters, and police and newspaper reports. Complex, multifaceted characters kept me off-balance - leaving me guessing, never quite sure who was telling the truth and who was lying. I quickly found myself lost in a sinister maze of twists and turns, frantically searching for answers as the author manipulated both the characters and me. The ominous atmosphere of the setting took on a life of its own, engulfing me with a edgy, almost spooky feeling of impending doom as I read late into the night. Several social issues involving discrimination of certain classes are interspersed and woven into the plot line, giving voice to the flawed perceptions of people who often judge others by class, body size, or celebrity status.Like a puzzle with a missing piece, Daisy In Chains perplexed and taunted me as the suspense builds to the shocking, blockbuster ending. While I was able to find and place some pieces of the puzzle, the final piece eluded me until the very end. Brilliantly written, this is a psychological masterpiece! A Page Burning, Keep Me Up All Night Must Read!

This is the first book by Sharon Bolton That I've read. I can't even remember where I heard of her. However, being a lover of good thrillers, mysteries and psychological thrillers, I had a field day with 'Daisy in Chains'.Hamish Wolfe is a convicted serial killer who has been given a life sentence in England for the murders of at least three women. He likes his victims to be large women with a lot of meat on their bones. Prior to his conviction he was a well-respected surgeon. Since he's been in jail, a group of people have formed to oppose his conviction, believing that the trial was not conducted adequately and there is a lot of room for appeal. They try to convince Maggie Rose, a reclusive but very effective attorney, to take Hamish's case for appeal. If she accepts a case, the odds are very high that she will win.Maggie attends one of hamish's 'fan club' meetings and decides that most of the members are a little off what she considers normal. However, she agrees to visit Hamish in jail and finds him charismatic and intelligent. She is slowly being drawn into the case.Everyone involved has secrets. There is the detective who appears to know more about Hamish than one would expect. Maggie has secrets of her own, perhaps leading to her reclusive lifestyle that keeps her away from others. Hamish's own mother, active in her son's appeal group is hiding quite a few things of her own.What I liked best about this novel is its page turning quality combined with its great characterization and literary style. I have already ordered some more of Ms. Bolton's books and can't wait to dive into them.

While this book kept me engaged until the very end, it's shortcomings are too many in number and too egregious to be overlooked.The first half of the story was far superior to the second half, which left me in hopeful anticipation that it would come back around. Sadly, that never happened.The story features Maggie Rose, a lawyer/true crime writer who has agreed to take on the case of the enigmatic serial killer Dr. Hamish Wolfe. I enjoyed Maggie as a character. She is seemingly intelligent and self-assured, a take no prisoners type of woman. However, by the end she is anything but, with virtually no explanation as to why. (It's soooo hard to explain without spoilers!)As for Hamish, while he was a fun guy to read, he was super stereotypical and so over the top playing the bad boy murderer that just so happens to be drop dead gorgeous and charming. Been there. Done that. A million times.Shortly after the halfway mark the plot twist becomes glaringly obvious to even the most novice of bookish detectives. It's so glaring in fact that I figured I had to be totally off base. I hoped I was off base. But alas, I was sliding into home. Which is fine if the rest of the story fully develops this twist, taking you deep into the minds of the players. Yet again, the author disappointed.The final twist and the ending were super dramatic in an almost laughable sense in a cheesy Hollywood thriller-esque fashion, leaving me with far more questions than answers. There were a lot of holes in the plot and motives were never really explained.I give this one 4 stars for the first half, 2 stars for the second half. I think you can do the math.

If you buy the Kindle version, you will need a very good magnifying glass to read parts of this book. I read "The Pact" and "Dead Woman Walking" and enjoyed both books, so I thought I'd give another book by Sharon Bolton a try - "Daisy in Chains". It certainly had excellent reviews. I am sorry not to be able to give a favourable review. I nearly quit reading it early on - it jumped around a lot using correspondence, articles and other devices to tell the story. The most irritating bit was the book is peppered with numerous items of correspondence (letters to and from the character who is in prison) in a font that simulates handwriting. I tried increasing the size of the font, but the 'handwritten' bits stayed tiny. Fortunately I have a good magnifying glass, but still found them difficult to read due to pixilation/distortion when magnified. I found the characters very unlikeable, and the ending rushed. I can see that the author had a good story idea and the details were obviously well researched, but I didn't enjoy the writing style.

Five unapologetic stars for a story where the unforgiving set out on a course of murder, betrayal, and revenge as the art of duplicity takes centre stage. An awesome read, a fantastic plot, a superb ending and a story that had me hooked from beginning to end.“Unrealistic narcissism lies at the heart of a woman’s relationship with an evil man. It matters not how many others he’s mistreated; in her twisted mind, she will be different. Fall for his charms see the essential evil in him as a vulnerability. He’s broken; they can fix him.”Is this the reason why Hamish Wolfe has such a credible following of people, called the Wolfe Club, campaigning for his release?. Or is he innocent?Hamish Wolfe has been convicted of the murders of 4 women Jessie, Chloe, Myrtle and Zoe. All different but one thing in common, they are all plus size girls and most of their bodies were found in caves regularly visited by caving groups, except Zoe she was different. Then there is Daisy, Wolfe’s first girlfriend who was videoed by him when they were having sex. Find Daisy and the case is solved, because Daisy has a lot of secrets, but no one can find her. It is easier to disappear than you think despite the advances in technology.Meanwhile, in jail Hamish continues to profess his innocence but with the iron clad evidence the justice system doesn’t think so. The evidence of hair and carpet fibres found on Jessie’s body that link her to Wolfe, the Facebook posting from Hamish’s computer and the sighting of his car at the petrol station on the night Myrtle Reid disappeared, Hamish argues were all planted to frame him for murder. So why does Maggie Rose finally decide to take on his case?. A ruthless investigator who cares not whether people are guilty or not, but her notoriety is created because of her ability to overturn convictions based on the evidence used to convict criminals. Some of guilty, many have secrets but who killed the women and where is Daisy?Daisy in Chains is one of the most captivating thrillers I have read. The duplicity of some of the characters was fantastic, the character development superb, the pace of the story controlled the suspense just right and the plot was thrilling, addictive, and totally absorbing.I have to conclude that not a word could have been written differently, the plot building, the heightened suspense, the wonderful characterisation all came together perfectly in a writing style that was just perfect for readers of Crime/Thrillers. I would have no hesitation in recommending to anyone.

THE TITLE is deceptive: this has not mistakenly slipped into a mainstream imprint from the Silhouette catalog! It is, rather, a straightforward detective story, but probably the best in that genre that I've read in the last decade.What's so special? Pace, for one thing; a no-giveaways plot which, at the same time, does not cheat and might allow the sharpest-eyed among you to solve the riddle about three-quarters of the way through. (If you guess whodunnit any earlier, you're a genius.)Characterization is spot-on brilliant. One memorable scene involves our heroine meeting the chief suspect's groupies in a dance hall attached to a godforsaken carnival. Bolton's description of these creepy, abject, badly-dressed people is laugh-out-loud funny; there are lots of similarly deft touches throughout.However, it's all in the business of serving the plot. There are "atmospheric" whodunnit writers who imagine they're born-again Chandlers, and give us screeds of sardonic descriptions of characters or noir-ish setting... while failing to advance the story.Not Bolton.Every adjective live and breathes... but there's hardly a word that doesn't move things along, and briskly, and all the time: you'll barely catch your breath.I would welcome a suggestion or two from Bolton fans as to her other titles: I tried one set way up north (Sacrifice) and it didn't work for me, lacking above all the pace that made Daisy in Chains a winner. Like all great writers, she's certainly capable of having a bad day.But rest assured: I'm pointing you to a world-class Bolton here.Now, can someone who agrees with me about Daily in Chains point me to another?

4.5*Hamish Wolfe, handsome and charming, swears he is not guilty of the crimes for which he’s been imprisoned. His mother and posse of devotees also believe he has been wrongly convicted and, although the evidence against him seems beyond doubt, Wolfe steadfastly maintains his innocence. He and his supporters want to engage the services of Maggie Rose.Maggie Rose is a successful lawyer and best-selling author of true crime books. She is well known for her success in getting convictions quashed in several high profile cases, whether or not she believes them to be innocent. Maggie’s mantra is that no-one should be convicted based on a flawed case. For all she wants to remain in the background, once seen Maggie is not forgotten. She is a striking woman with bright blue eyes and hair to match.Detective Sergeant Pete Weston is with the Avon and Somerset Police Department. The highlight of his career was getting Hamish Wolfe convicted and sent to prison. Wolfe wants Maggie Rose to look into his case, and even as Pete tries to talk her out of it, they form a friendship of sorts. Pete is convinced the conviction is sound and can’t understand why Maggie even wants to consider seeing Wolfe.The story line is skilfully multi layered, intriguing and developed, as are the characters, both leading the reader one way, then another and yet another, as more is revealed about events and personalities. The narrative comes mostly from Maggie’s, Wolfe’s and Pete’s third person perspectives, incorporating a mixture of articles, case files and letters which add to the suspense and twists. The characters each have their own secrets and motivating forces. It was impossible to know whether or not Wolfe was guilty, if Pete really believed in the evidence that proclaimed his guilt and why Maggie does what she does.Pertinent subjects are explored, such as the appeal convicted murderers have for some women, and the ever present issue of being more than a little overweight, the obsession with body image and the resulting perceptions by others. The serial killer’s victims were all on their way to being obese, which makes you wonder if it could be relevant to the club Wolfe belonged to as an arrogant medical student.I enjoyed Sharon Bolton’s compelling writing very much, the descriptions, atmosphere and structure of the story. I had no idea where it was going, there was lots of misdirection, and I never would have guessed the ending.

I enjoyed this book. I love reading this author's work and though I did guess some of the plot there were still a couple of hidden twists there that threw me. The characters were really well done and the house that Maggie lived in was very visible. Super read would recommend it.A little note to publishers though. This book includes some pages that are presented as hand written letters. These are in a very small font that cannot be changed on a kindle. There were evening when I simply could not be bothered with the magnifying glass that I was having to use. (My vision is okay my reading font is set at 3 which is perfectly respectable I think) This is nothing to do with the author or the quality of the writing but it did spoil my reading pleasure.