Dead Woman Walking

by Jessica Mann

Gillian Butler moved away from Edinburgh 50 years ago, or so her friends thought. When her murdered body is found, they must try to remember who last saw her alive. Perhaps it was Isabel, now a novelist and people-tracer, or the twice widowed Hannah, or the psychiatrist, Dr Fidelis Berlin, an expert on child abuse, abandonment, abduction and adoption, who had herself been an unidentified infant rescued from Nazi Germany and now hopes to discover her real name at last. Fidelis Berlin and other characters from Mann’s earlier books reappear in this tense, gripping tale of vengeance, family ties and the mystery of identity.

Genres: Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 18, 2013

About the author

Crime-writer Jessica Mann was born in London, England in 1937. She studied archaeology at Cambridge University and Law at Leicester University.

She is the author of a non-fiction book, Deadlier Than the Male: An Investigation into Feminine Crime Writing, about female crime writers from Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers to Ngaio Marsh. She contributes reviews and feature articles to many newspapers and magazines, is a regular broadcaster on TV and radio and tours regularly promoting her books at events and festivals.

Jessica Mann lives with her husband, an archaeologist, in Cornwall. Her latest book is The Mystery Writer (2006).

Reviews

[Julian King · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Jessica Mann; I understand the main character here, Dr Fidelis Berlin, appears elsewhere? This is her story, and very fascinating it is, too.

It seems that this novel is being sold in the 'crime' category, but really this element is secondary - or even tertiary. It is a complex narrative taking as its themes recovered memory, the mother-daughter relationship, witchcraft and child-abuse, Germans and Germany since the war, etc., etc.

Big ideas, then, and Mann creates a world teeming with vivid and credible characters with which to explore it. One cavil might be that it's sometimes difficult to remember who's who, or the relationship between whoever happens to be on the page at any given moment - but it's definitely a good read.

However, do be warned: this is a disturbing read, and sometimes a challenging one.

I might read Jessica Mann again, but probably not very soon.

[Susanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I abandoned this book.

The blurb reads like a crime novel, but it was not my experience. More of a memoir looking back on a rather dull dinner party.

I struggled mostly because the characters were so similar - we switched characters without any indication of who we were jumping to, and to be honest, I really did not care a jot about any of them.

I think this author's style is just not my cup of tea.

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jumping between characters and time periods, I found the book muddled. The characters, though individuated, seemed flat and lifeless, though considering that the psychological states of the two main characters involved repression and dislocation, perhaps that was unavoidable. Some interested psychological observations, but just not to my taste.