Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton

This is Bolton's first novel, and she promises to be a mainstay of British thrillers for a long time to come.

The author blurb indicates that the novel is borne out of Bolton's fascination for British folklore, and the basis for this book is a blood curdling folktale from the Shetland Islands that goes back to the Viking heritage of the isles. The heroine, obstetrician, Tora Hamilton, is a transplant from the mainland who moves to the Shetlands with her native born husband, Duncan Guthrie and discovers while trying to bury her fallen horse on their newly purchased farm a dead body of a woman who has both recently given birth and had her heart torn out from her body while she was still alive. Naturally, this sets off a forensic hunt for the killer or killers.

The frigid land and reserved people are finely drawn in this chilling tale. It is hard to know who to trust and whether most of the people Tora meets are in on a huge conspiracy to hide an ancient, bloody practice.

I must confess this book was hard to put down and I read it cover to cover in only two or three sittings, ignoring all kinds of other things I should have been doing.

This book is not for the squeamish, but those who can stomach a little gore will be well rewarded by the intrigue and twists and turns in the plot.

I can't wait for more by this new British author.

Liz Nichols