(Image from Barnes & Noble)

On a lovely Fall morning near the English/Scottish border, thirteen people float languidly along in a hot air balloon.  The passengers are excited to breathe in the fresh air, take in the bucolic scenery, and watch for colorful wildlife.  The last thing they expect to see is a vicious murder.  Below them, a man is brutally killing a young woman, unaware that he is being observed.  From the balloon, one woman captures his face on camera, but he sees hers as well.  When the balloon is shot down, only one passenger survives.  Suddenly caught in a deadly cat-and-mouse game, the woman must outrun the murderer and get her photographic evidence to the police before she becomes the next victim.

It's best to go into Dead Woman Walking, Sharon Bolton's 2017 crime thriller, without knowing too much.  Although the murderer is identified right off the bat, there are plenty of twists throughout the novel that make it both surprising and satisfying.  Because we know whodunit from the get go, Dead Woman Walking isn't quite as tense or exciting as Bolton's other books.  Still, it's engrossing.  Even though I guessed some of the plot's big reveals, the novel remained entertaining for me.  It's not my favorite of Bolton's books, true, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

(Readalikes:  A hundred titles should be coming to mind, but I got nothin'.  Suggestions?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language, violence, blood/gore, sexual content, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Dead Woman Walking from the generous folks at Minotaur Books (a division of St. Martin's Press.  Thank you!)