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Bloody Women
Returning to Scotland to organise her wedding, Catriona is overcome with the jitters. She decides to tie up loose ends before settling permanently in Tuscany, and seeks out her ex-boyfriends. Only problem is, they're all dead.
249 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
28 people are currently reading
384 people want to read
About the author
Helen Fitzgerald
20 books345 followersHelen FitzGerald is the second youngest of thirteen children. She grew up in the small town of Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, and studied English and History at the University of Melbourne. Via India and London, Helen came to Glasgow University where she completed a Diploma and Masters in Social Work. She works part time as a criminal justice social worker in Glasgow. She's married to screenwriter Sergio Casci, and they have two children.
Follow her on twitter @fitzhelen
Follow her on twitter @fitzhelen
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
July 8, 2024
Bloody Women by Helen Fitzgerald was a perfect palette cleanser after wrestling with Johnny “Boy” Updike recently.
I rarely dive into suspense-thrillers and this one had the added bonus of wonderful black comedy. So, as well as sitting on the edge of my chair at times, being well and genuinely surprised, I also had a few chuckles. That can’t be a bad thing, hey?
Cat Marsden, a Scottish woman, living in Italy with her Fiancé, Joe – returns home to Glasgow for her wedding. Her mother advises her to ensure she’s tied up all of her ‘loose ends.’ Upon further enquiry, Mum meant – her ex-boyfriends (gulp!).
So, Cat decides to meet with her four ex-boyfriends on consecutive days, prior to the big day. Naturally, she has sex with them – however, they are later found dead. Cat is the prime suspect.
Johnny Marshall’s jacket washed up on Portobello beach on the afternoon of Cat Marsden’s wedding. He’d been thrown off the pier. Almost simultaneously. His penis was found in the bottom of a complementary bowl of peanuts at the Hammer Bar in Glasgow.
The writing here is simple and fast-paced and it was a quick read. It had twists and turns, and I certainly didn’t pick the ending. Good fun.
4 stars
I rarely dive into suspense-thrillers and this one had the added bonus of wonderful black comedy. So, as well as sitting on the edge of my chair at times, being well and genuinely surprised, I also had a few chuckles. That can’t be a bad thing, hey?
Cat Marsden, a Scottish woman, living in Italy with her Fiancé, Joe – returns home to Glasgow for her wedding. Her mother advises her to ensure she’s tied up all of her ‘loose ends.’ Upon further enquiry, Mum meant – her ex-boyfriends (gulp!).
So, Cat decides to meet with her four ex-boyfriends on consecutive days, prior to the big day. Naturally, she has sex with them – however, they are later found dead. Cat is the prime suspect.
Johnny Marshall’s jacket washed up on Portobello beach on the afternoon of Cat Marsden’s wedding. He’d been thrown off the pier. Almost simultaneously. His penis was found in the bottom of a complementary bowl of peanuts at the Hammer Bar in Glasgow.
The writing here is simple and fast-paced and it was a quick read. It had twists and turns, and I certainly didn’t pick the ending. Good fun.
4 stars
January 27, 2024
Unnecessarily dirty, messy prose and tenses. Unclear plot. Felt like a chore to read :/
The last 50 pages saved it from being a 1* read.
The last 50 pages saved it from being a 1* read.
February 12, 2011
The Amazon synopsis does this book no favours - it makes it sound like a pot-boiler murder mystery, and this book was so much better than that. If I say "it wasn't really my kind of book" I don't want that to put anyone off - I just don't usually read thrillers. This is a really dark psychological thriller, with a thoroughly unlikeable heroine (as are most of the other characters), a really unusual story line (with a liberal helping of descriptions of sex, alcohol abuse, mental illness and violence), and twists and turns that turn your expectations on their head. I didn't "enjoy" it as such, but as a piece of work I really appreciated it greatly and would really like to read some more of her work. I hope I'm not doing either author a dis-service if I say it reminded me a lot of Louise Welsh's The Cutting Room - not for the story, but for the originality and darkness of its style.
May 3, 2015
This is such a fun read, despite the macabre and serious subject matter. The frank, no holds barred language and messed-up characters, the deft characterisation and sly asides: this seems a stormy assault on British restraint, yet at the same time has a lot of the British self-deprecating humour.
The timeline is unusual, in that we get to hear most of the story in retrospective, while the main character is in jail on remand, via a trashy biography and her own sometimes hazy memories. I did guess the final plot twist, but to me this book is not about the twists and turns of a criminal investigation.
So a bit of a zany ride, for those who like their crime fiction with a dash of difference.
The timeline is unusual, in that we get to hear most of the story in retrospective, while the main character is in jail on remand, via a trashy biography and her own sometimes hazy memories. I did guess the final plot twist, but to me this book is not about the twists and turns of a criminal investigation.
So a bit of a zany ride, for those who like their crime fiction with a dash of difference.
February 19, 2014
Really liked the clever plot twists; however, after the first major change and realising I was only half way through the book I then guessed the next changes - I have a habit of doing this. I cannot attest to the accuracy of the locations and scenes in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Italy but they rang true. The descriptions of prison life and a bi-polar personality also rang true and were believable.
A good tale and I intend to look out for other offerings
A good tale and I intend to look out for other offerings
March 5, 2023
Setting: Scotland and Italy.
In the run-up to her wedding to the latest of her string of boyfriends, an Italian doctor called Joe (Giuseppe), Catriona returns to Scotland to, as her Mum put it, 'tie up loose ends', by which she meant re-visit her ex-boyfriends to resolve her past issues with them. What her Mum, Irene, didn't mean was that she should sleep with each of them - and certainly not then go on to murder and mutilate them! For this is what Catriona now stands accused of: three of her four ex-boyfriends (one didn't make it to Scotland when his flight was cancelled) have been found dead and Catriona, who suffers from bi-polar disorder and has occasional black-outs, cannot honestly tell the police that she didn't commit the crimes. She is now on remand, awaiting trial, but no murder weapon has been found. To add insult to injury, an author who has had candid interviews with Catriona and Irene and been granted access to all her records has written a damning manuscript, portraying Catriona as a bloodthirsty, man-hating murderer. But is all as it seems? As Catriona casts her mind back to her previous relationships and the events leading up to the murders, she starts to have doubts....
This was an intriguing tale by an author whose work I have come to appreciate greatly. The story meanders along interestingly although not totally gripping until just after halfway when it really takes off with a couple of astonishing twists. Overall, Catriona is a severely-flawed character yet I couldn't help but feel quite a lot of empathy for her as the story unfolded. Definitely enjoyed it and always on the look-out for more of her books - 9/10.
In the run-up to her wedding to the latest of her string of boyfriends, an Italian doctor called Joe (Giuseppe), Catriona returns to Scotland to, as her Mum put it, 'tie up loose ends', by which she meant re-visit her ex-boyfriends to resolve her past issues with them. What her Mum, Irene, didn't mean was that she should sleep with each of them - and certainly not then go on to murder and mutilate them! For this is what Catriona now stands accused of: three of her four ex-boyfriends (one didn't make it to Scotland when his flight was cancelled) have been found dead and Catriona, who suffers from bi-polar disorder and has occasional black-outs, cannot honestly tell the police that she didn't commit the crimes. She is now on remand, awaiting trial, but no murder weapon has been found. To add insult to injury, an author who has had candid interviews with Catriona and Irene and been granted access to all her records has written a damning manuscript, portraying Catriona as a bloodthirsty, man-hating murderer. But is all as it seems? As Catriona casts her mind back to her previous relationships and the events leading up to the murders, she starts to have doubts....
This was an intriguing tale by an author whose work I have come to appreciate greatly. The story meanders along interestingly although not totally gripping until just after halfway when it really takes off with a couple of astonishing twists. Overall, Catriona is a severely-flawed character yet I couldn't help but feel quite a lot of empathy for her as the story unfolded. Definitely enjoyed it and always on the look-out for more of her books - 9/10.
January 10, 2023
1.5 ⭐
What an odd book. Wouldnt recommended.
What an odd book. Wouldnt recommended.
June 20, 2016
Helen Fitzgerald’s novel Bloody Women is told in three parts, and for anyone who has read any of her other books will already know that they should expect the unexpected and that the tale being told is a commentary on a world far wider than the characters that inhabit the small one inside its pages.
In a tiny prison cell sits a young woman who didn’t get married because she was arrested for murder on the morning of her wedding. Not just one murder, three. And these were murders with a particularly spiteful twist, each of the men were missing a vital appendage! The three men were exes of Catriona’s, men she met in the week before her wedding whilst coming to terms with the fact that her home would soon be Italy with Joe and not Scotland where she has been a TV celebratory on an interior design show. So now Catriona sits at the mercy of the prison guard she names ‘The Freak’ awaiting trial and hoping her fiancé Joe will come to visit.
We learn all about this crime through Catriona Marsden own view of events as well as one of those hastily written, sensation seeking biographies that spring up around certain true crimes. Catriona, her mother and her best friend Anna were all interviewed for the book but Cat can’t see any of her words amongst the pages.
This novel shows Helen Fitzgerald’s ability to write black comedy that doesn’t let up but nor does it become in any way predictable. At the time the book was published, 2009, British TV was just coming out of the surfeit of design shows like the one that Cat presented – her comments about the rooms she made-over and her ‘clients’ were absolutely spot-on. She also taps into the culture of the Scots and the Italians, throws a few mental illnesses into the mix and stirs it all up with a few dashes of heartbreak. In other words this isn’t a straightforward mystery, although that element is there too but more a look at life for someone who doesn’t fit into what’s expected.
As the book moves from part to part the change of time and circumstance allows the reader to fill in the gaps with the new knowledge revealed. This is a refreshing type of device, although it took me a couple of pages to find my bearings at each swap point, it served to up the feeling of unease which pervades throughout the book. What happens is there are more people to worry about, because although I didn’t ‘take’ to Cat, or any of the other characters if I’m honest, I did sympathise with her. It takes a stone-hearted soul that doesn’t feel something for a young woman who has lost her way, as so many of Helen Fitzgerald’s female characters have.
I really enjoy the writing style characterisation and pace and this has only confirmed to me that this is an author with a huge amount of talent!
This book has been on my kindle since February 2014 and is the fourth of this author’s books I’ve read. Bloody Women was published by Polygon in 2009.
In a tiny prison cell sits a young woman who didn’t get married because she was arrested for murder on the morning of her wedding. Not just one murder, three. And these were murders with a particularly spiteful twist, each of the men were missing a vital appendage! The three men were exes of Catriona’s, men she met in the week before her wedding whilst coming to terms with the fact that her home would soon be Italy with Joe and not Scotland where she has been a TV celebratory on an interior design show. So now Catriona sits at the mercy of the prison guard she names ‘The Freak’ awaiting trial and hoping her fiancé Joe will come to visit.
We learn all about this crime through Catriona Marsden own view of events as well as one of those hastily written, sensation seeking biographies that spring up around certain true crimes. Catriona, her mother and her best friend Anna were all interviewed for the book but Cat can’t see any of her words amongst the pages.
This novel shows Helen Fitzgerald’s ability to write black comedy that doesn’t let up but nor does it become in any way predictable. At the time the book was published, 2009, British TV was just coming out of the surfeit of design shows like the one that Cat presented – her comments about the rooms she made-over and her ‘clients’ were absolutely spot-on. She also taps into the culture of the Scots and the Italians, throws a few mental illnesses into the mix and stirs it all up with a few dashes of heartbreak. In other words this isn’t a straightforward mystery, although that element is there too but more a look at life for someone who doesn’t fit into what’s expected.
As the book moves from part to part the change of time and circumstance allows the reader to fill in the gaps with the new knowledge revealed. This is a refreshing type of device, although it took me a couple of pages to find my bearings at each swap point, it served to up the feeling of unease which pervades throughout the book. What happens is there are more people to worry about, because although I didn’t ‘take’ to Cat, or any of the other characters if I’m honest, I did sympathise with her. It takes a stone-hearted soul that doesn’t feel something for a young woman who has lost her way, as so many of Helen Fitzgerald’s female characters have.
I really enjoy the writing style characterisation and pace and this has only confirmed to me that this is an author with a huge amount of talent!
This book has been on my kindle since February 2014 and is the fourth of this author’s books I’ve read. Bloody Women was published by Polygon in 2009.
March 30, 2016
Really enjoyed the way this was written, something a bit different :) I have read a couple of books by Helen Fitzgerald so far and I think I am going to have to get the rest now.
November 7, 2022
Waarom dit boek een literaire thriller zou zijn is mijn een raadsel. Het is geen pageturner in de zin dat het zo spannend is dat je niet kan stoppen met lezen. Het is vanaf het begin duidelijk wie er dood zijn en ook wie er verdacht wordt. Omdat er exen zijn vermoord lijkt het eerder op een chicklit dan een thriller. Desondanks zat ik vrij snel in het verhaal, leest het lekker weg en wilde ik wel graag weten wie het gedaan had. Was dat echt Catriona of toch iemand anders? De twist op het einde zag ik niet aankomen en dat was een meevaller want ik dacht dat het helemaal voorspelbaar zou zijn. Wil je beginnen met een simpel boek om in een goede leesvibe te komen? Dan is dit het boek om mee te starten. Oh behalve als je niet tegen wat mishandeling of zelfmutilatie kan, dan even overslaan.
November 25, 2017
Readable.
January 20, 2024
There was so much plot in this book it moves very quickly and rather chaotically but it was still a fun time.
August 30, 2017
Een echte pageturner.
May 7, 2018
Main character was annoying and I thought the ending would be predictable but happily I was wrong, I even got the whodunit mixed up a bit with quite a few scenarios . So glad I persevered I was ready to stop reading the book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2017
When I first started reading I thought this was for teenage girls but with all the twists and turns it turned in to quite a good book. If you like penises don't read this book!! It is a bit disturbing and also thought provoking.
September 15, 2024
Thought I had it figured out very early on but then it turned in another direction, was half way through when it felt it should have been finished, last few chapters kept you intrigued but wouldn’t be recommending this book!!!
January 31, 2021
This is a quick 249 page read of pure brilliance. It’s fun, thrilling and unpredictable. I made the silly mistake of checking how many chapters there were and the last chapter has a huge spoiler in block capitals. To save anyone the same mistake there are 42 short chapters. I’m such a slow reader but managed to finish this in a day. Definitely one I’d recommend
April 4, 2014
Started off well enough but by the end it seemed to have taken on a Point Horror vibe - Point Horror with sex, however. Four hours of my life I won't see again gone with the wind...
February 10, 2022
I picked this book up randomly one day and devoured it in a single sitting. An older novel that you might have difficulty getting your hands on but it is certainly worth the effort.
Bloody Women is a well needed breath of fresh air in the murder mystery genre. Fitzgerald perfectly blends typical chick-lit with a mix of mystery and crime to create this wonderfully suspense-filled novel.
Frank speaking, no holds barred Catriona decides to visit her exes for one final goodbye before marrying her perfect Italian fiancé. When her exes all turn up dead and their bodies mutilated, she is suspect number one.
The dark humour which runs throughout the novel propels the reader to continue, desperate to find out the truth as to who committed these dreadful crimes. This search is filled with twists and turns of varying levels of absurdity. Janet Edgley, tasked with writing Catriona’s biography, follows a winding trail to the truth and assists our protagonist in taking the reader on a journey to find out who exactly killed these men. Along the way Catriona realises something that changes everything, not just the case but her life as she knows it.
The case relying on an unreliable suspect, no witnesses and seemingly no connection between the victims besides once dating the same woman leads the reader to investigate their own leads. False hope, false memories and bad intentions result in an investigation into every person in Catriona’s life. The reader is forced to reevaluate their assessment of Catriona more than once, each time changing their mind as to whether she committed these gruesome acts or not.
This is an excellent novel that keeps the reader wanting more, desperate to remedy the feeling of unease that runs throughout the novel.
Expect twists.
Bloody Women is a well needed breath of fresh air in the murder mystery genre. Fitzgerald perfectly blends typical chick-lit with a mix of mystery and crime to create this wonderfully suspense-filled novel.
Frank speaking, no holds barred Catriona decides to visit her exes for one final goodbye before marrying her perfect Italian fiancé. When her exes all turn up dead and their bodies mutilated, she is suspect number one.
The dark humour which runs throughout the novel propels the reader to continue, desperate to find out the truth as to who committed these dreadful crimes. This search is filled with twists and turns of varying levels of absurdity. Janet Edgley, tasked with writing Catriona’s biography, follows a winding trail to the truth and assists our protagonist in taking the reader on a journey to find out who exactly killed these men. Along the way Catriona realises something that changes everything, not just the case but her life as she knows it.
The case relying on an unreliable suspect, no witnesses and seemingly no connection between the victims besides once dating the same woman leads the reader to investigate their own leads. False hope, false memories and bad intentions result in an investigation into every person in Catriona’s life. The reader is forced to reevaluate their assessment of Catriona more than once, each time changing their mind as to whether she committed these gruesome acts or not.
This is an excellent novel that keeps the reader wanting more, desperate to remedy the feeling of unease that runs throughout the novel.
Expect twists.
May 2, 2021
** 3 stars**
This is my second Helen Fitzgerald novel, and I was somewhat disappointed.
I read a lot of books on crime, both fiction and non-fiction. That might be one of the reasons that I didn't love this book. It has a very different structure and tone to what I have come to expect (and enjoy) from crime fiction. This had elements written in the style of a True Crime biography, I didn't enjoy these parts, it read like trashy journalism. It also had a tone that was more similar to a chick lit book than a crime novel, not very dark or sinister at all. The descriptions of the murders in the novel felt childish and unsophisticated.
One of the things I really enjoyed about my previous Helen Fitzgerald was the character development. I didn't really get that from this novel, most of the characters were shallow and one dimensional.
I did not enjoy how Bipolar disorder was discussed in this novel. How the person with the disorder was referred to as 'mad', 'bad shit crazy' and 'unstable'.
Overall, a very different read than what I am used to, but not in an enjoyable way.
This is my second Helen Fitzgerald novel, and I was somewhat disappointed.
I read a lot of books on crime, both fiction and non-fiction. That might be one of the reasons that I didn't love this book. It has a very different structure and tone to what I have come to expect (and enjoy) from crime fiction. This had elements written in the style of a True Crime biography, I didn't enjoy these parts, it read like trashy journalism. It also had a tone that was more similar to a chick lit book than a crime novel, not very dark or sinister at all. The descriptions of the murders in the novel felt childish and unsophisticated.
One of the things I really enjoyed about my previous Helen Fitzgerald was the character development. I didn't really get that from this novel, most of the characters were shallow and one dimensional.
I did not enjoy how Bipolar disorder was discussed in this novel. How the person with the disorder was referred to as 'mad', 'bad shit crazy' and 'unstable'.
Overall, a very different read than what I am used to, but not in an enjoyable way.
January 12, 2018
Interesting book.
Catriona, Cat, is arrested on the day of her wedding. She is incarcerated, accused of murdering three men, all of them exes of hers.
The author tells the tale in three parts. Each time we learn more about Cat, her life, and how she ended up where she is.
Cat has a faithful friend, Anna. Anna has known Cat since school days. She has loved her almost as long. She has stood by Cat while Cat has made disastrous personal choices, always been there to help Cat recover from those choices.
Other integral characters are Irene (Cat’s mother), Joe (Cat’s fiancé) and Janet (the unscrupulous author of a book about Cat’s life and the murders).
There are some twists and turns that keep the book interesting and enough misdirection to keep you guessing. Although, by part three, it is pretty much obvious what the ending will be.
Catriona, Cat, is arrested on the day of her wedding. She is incarcerated, accused of murdering three men, all of them exes of hers.
The author tells the tale in three parts. Each time we learn more about Cat, her life, and how she ended up where she is.
Cat has a faithful friend, Anna. Anna has known Cat since school days. She has loved her almost as long. She has stood by Cat while Cat has made disastrous personal choices, always been there to help Cat recover from those choices.
Other integral characters are Irene (Cat’s mother), Joe (Cat’s fiancé) and Janet (the unscrupulous author of a book about Cat’s life and the murders).
There are some twists and turns that keep the book interesting and enough misdirection to keep you guessing. Although, by part three, it is pretty much obvious what the ending will be.
July 22, 2024
Bloody Women este cartea care mi-a fost recomandata de o prietena de-a mea.
La citirea rezumatului de pe coperta a 4a m.-a atras si am pus mana pe ea.
Nu este un thriller excelent, dar nici slabut.
Catriona ajunge la inchisoare cand cu o zi inainte de a se casatori cu Joe este arestata pentru crima.
Cei 3 iubiti avuti anterior, au fost gasit cu penisurile taiate, iar Catriona este prima si principala suspecta.
Limbajul este deochiat. Pe tot parcursul cartii se aduce in discutie relatia dintre aceleasi sexe.
Va las sa aflati cum Catriona I.a ucis? Sau cine este vinovatul?
3⭐️
La citirea rezumatului de pe coperta a 4a m.-a atras si am pus mana pe ea.
Nu este un thriller excelent, dar nici slabut.
Catriona ajunge la inchisoare cand cu o zi inainte de a se casatori cu Joe este arestata pentru crima.
Cei 3 iubiti avuti anterior, au fost gasit cu penisurile taiate, iar Catriona este prima si principala suspecta.
Limbajul este deochiat. Pe tot parcursul cartii se aduce in discutie relatia dintre aceleasi sexe.
Va las sa aflati cum Catriona I.a ucis? Sau cine este vinovatul?
3⭐️
March 16, 2018
This is a strange, funny and actually quite disturbing little read. I accidentally spoiled myself on this book by dropping it down the stairs and as I picked it up seeing a sentence that basically told me how the entire book went down (it’s in big bold letters, I couldn’t have missed it) but I still really enjoyed it. The conclusion is a bit out of nowhere and could’ve been set up better throughout the plot but a very enjoyable 250 page read that could easily be done in one sitting.
January 4, 2024
Although this book was mildly entertaining as an audiobook. Great Scottish accent put the authenticity into the book. It didn't live up to the expectations I had of books by this author.
Black humour and a female character who doesn't know herself well enough yet leads to a half decent story. But it wasn't thrilling enough for me. Seems like a lot of the character talking about herself and the book being written about her, and the plot fell a bit behind the characterisation.
I wouldn't give up on this author as I've heard great things about her other books. This one just wasn't for me.
Black humour and a female character who doesn't know herself well enough yet leads to a half decent story. But it wasn't thrilling enough for me. Seems like a lot of the character talking about herself and the book being written about her, and the plot fell a bit behind the characterisation.
I wouldn't give up on this author as I've heard great things about her other books. This one just wasn't for me.
September 8, 2018
I picked this up as recommended. Ive never heard of this author until now. This is so dark in places and covers some really serious issues I thought a few times ‘is this for real’ There are also some humorous parts. I have never seen a book with so many twists and it was so so good. Highly recommended. Will be looking for more by this author.
December 10, 2019
Helen Fitzgerald is a hell of a writer. I've probably said this before, but the Queen of Scottish Noir never fails to surprise and delight with distinctly undelightful subjects.
I could read her books all day, every day. On finishing I'd probably go to Enid Blyton as a palate cleanser as nothing Fitzgerald writes about would ever happen atop the Faraway tree.
I could read her books all day, every day. On finishing I'd probably go to Enid Blyton as a palate cleanser as nothing Fitzgerald writes about would ever happen atop the Faraway tree.
February 5, 2022
As a fan of Ann Cleeves, I was hoping for a novel with some of her multi-faceted characters and brilliant plot lines. Fitzgerald had enough twists and turns to keep me reading the dark novel. While it did not make me keen to read more of her books, it was impressive enough to recommend to avid readers of the thriller/mystery genres.
September 30, 2017
A darkly comedic, gripping page turner. If you're unfortunate enough to have experienced a destructive relationship, with a jealous, controlling type, (and hopefully survived it), you will shudder when you read this book. Be afraid, be very afraid.
August 3, 2021
a short and quick read!! i would say one of a page-turner books that i have read so far this year. not to forget, the double plot twist that shocked me!! when you thought it's kinda predictable, but it's not actually!! just wait for it!!
September 20, 2021
I love Helen Fitzgerald's characters. They are always weird but wonderful. You should really hate them but you love them. She writes in such a unique way which is unapologetic and honest. Love her books!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews