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The new Victorian chiller from the author of Radio 2 Book Club pick, The Silent Companions sees a teenage seamstress convinced she can control people´s fates through the clothes she makes for them

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The new Victorian chiller from the author of Radio 2 Book Club pick, The Silent Companions. Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor and awaiting trial for murder. When Dorothea´s charitable work leads her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted with 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. But when she meets teenage seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another theory: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread. For Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches. 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. Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer?

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