Laura Purcell is a former bookseller and lives in Colchester with her husband and pet guinea pigs. The Silent Companions was a Radio 2 and Zoe Ball ITV Book Club pick and was the winner of the WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award, while The Corset was acclaimed as a 'masterpiece' by readers and reviewers alike.

Her third novel for Raven Books, Bone China, will be published in Autumn 2019.

laurapurcell.com

@spookypurcell

'Laura is a masterful writer, her deliciously gothic stories so skilfully woven that you can't get them out of your head even if you wanted to' Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars

'The Corset is a contender for my Book of the Year. Beautifully written, intricately plotted, a masterpiece' Sarah Hilary

Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain?

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 finds herself drawn to Ruth, a teenage seamstress - and self-confessed murderess - who nurses a dark and uncanny secret. A secret that is leading her straight to the gallows. As Ruth reveals her disturbing past to Dorothea, the fates of these two women entwine, and with every revelation, a new layer of doubt is cast...

Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer?

Bone China, the new Daphne du Maurier-esque chiller from Laura Purcell, is out now.

A compelling slice of early Victorian gothic . Vivid and well researched, this book is an evocative portrait of a society that punishes women who dare to contravene social norms . as well as a splendid mystery with suitably melodramatic flourishes

The Silent Companions was a chillingly note-perfect take on Victorian gothic and [Purcell] makes a brilliant return to the genre with this much-anticipated tale ... Heart-pounding . A classic Victorian tale of murder most foul, twisted with a curious supernatural thread

Laura is a masterful writer, her deliciously gothic stories so skilfully woven that you can't get them out of your head even if you wanted to

The Corset [sent] chills shooting down my spine ... Nods to the classic gothic novel and Sarah Waters's Affinity

This gothic chiller casts an addictive spell

Intricate, atmospheric and chilling - with a wonderfully dark premise at its heart

[A] thrilling, chilling Gothic tale . [A] deliciously dark mystery

Chilling ... All but the most cynical will find it hard to stop turning the pages

The Silent Companions was a gothic masterpiece and The Corset follows with confidence ... 16-year-old Ruth is on trial for murder but finds herself on the receiving end of Dorothea Truelove's charitable ministrations ... their joint narrative twists and turns, leading readers to the most haunting of endings

Deliciously creepy and atmospheric with a gripping plot, this book will disturb your sleep. And I didn't see THAT ending coming

Purcell's tale brilliantly captures the restricted lives of Victorian women, while pitting magical thinking against scientific rationale

The Corset is a contender for my Book of the Year. Ruth and Dorothea will live in my mind for a long time. Beautifully written, intricately plotted, a masterpiece

She's done it again. More macabre magnificence from Laura Purcell - intricately stitched together like one of seamstress Ruth's terrifying creations. The Corset will have you crushed within its vice. Brilliant'

An intriguing premise deftly executed, The Corset is genuinely thrilling

A romping read with a deliciously dark conceit at its centre. Reminded me of Alias Grace. A worthy successor to The Silent Companions

With the skill of a born story teller Laura Purcell has crafted a tale as intricate and flawless as Ruth's stitches. By turns horrifying and humorous, The Corset is a darkly compelling, unsettling and fascinating book, where pseudo-science meets needlework in the most chilling and unexpected ways ... The Corset is the very best kind of gothic fiction. Reminiscent of Sarah Waters and Margaret Atwood, but uniquely and unmistakably Laura Purcell

The Corset is a sharp-edged, emotionally freighted mystery, rooted in the pitch-black darkness of Victorian poverty. An intriguing, page-turning gothic tale of murder and the supernatural

Praise for The Silent Companions: 'A sinister slice of Victorian gothic . Creepy and page-turning

A perfect read for a winter night . An intriguing, nuanced and genuinely eerie slice of Victorian gothic

This intriguingly plotted novel is the full-blown gothic, maintaining throughout an unsettling claustrophobic atmosphere mixed with some unusual historical detail

The nights are drawing in, low mists hang over the ground. What you really need is something to terrify the bejeezus out of you. And Laura Purcell has nailed it with a story that conjures up Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, Henry James's The Turn of The Screw and a little bit of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Irresistibly creepy, this romps along, Purcell turning her screws with skill. It's what crumpets and dismal afternoons were made for