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Olive Martin, convicted of the brutal ax murders of her mother and sister, is the Sculptress, so-called because she spends her solitary days in prison carving tiny, grotesquely distorted human figures out of wax. Rosalind Leigh, a best-selling author with a bad case of writer's block, is told by her publisher to produce a book on the hapless ax murderess by the end of the year or else. Reluctantly, Roz interviews Olive and immediately becomes intrigued with the woman whose hideous obesity hides what Roz perceives as childishly devious intelligence. Roz begins to believe Olive is innocent of the horrible crime and, investigating her story, soon finds plenty of reasons to doubt the official police version of the killings. Walters mesmerizes her readers with a sleek, exciting tale whose slick veneer disguises a sinister, menacing evil. Stunning in its intensity, this powerful novel should establish Walters as one of today's more intelligent writers of psychological suspense. ~--Emily Melton

Library Journal
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There are many excellent British actresses who regularly read audiobook productions; so with all the talent available, why did the producer choose an American to read this very British thriller? Sandra Burr handles the dialog with an adequate accent but lapses into American pronunciation for the narrative. The shifts vary from distracting to irritating. The deficiencies in the narration are unfortunate because the story is a good one: Rosalind Leigh is a writer assigned to investigate a sensational murder case. Olive Marting has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the grisly murders of her mother and sister. Roz finds the woman to be sane and comes to believe that Olive is innocent. The Sculptress is a compelling tale of psychological suspense that will appeal to fans of Ruth Rendell. Larger collections may consider purchase.‘Nann Blaine Hilyard, Fargo P.L., N.D. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly
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This Edgar Award-winning mystery turns on the relationship between a troubled journalist and a woman convicted of a gruesome murder. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Walters follows her dark debut, The Ice House (1992), with the even more striking tale of enormous, unloved Olive Martin, serving a life sentence after confessing to killing and dismembering her mother and sister. Rosalind Leigh, dispatched to interview Olive in prison preparatory to writing a book about the case, finds her unnervingly unrepentant, but finds as well suspicious discrepancies between her confession and the evidence of the crime scene and other witnesses. More and more convinced of Olive's innocence, Roz joins forces with Hal Hawksley--the retired arresting officer whose restaurant has come in for some mysteriously hard times--to dig up whomever Olive's been covering up for. The search will bring Roz up against some singularly nasty neighbors, a brace of spineless lovers, a supremely dysfunctional family--and a denouement whose horrors are touched with unexpected compassion. Walters brings a shivery mastery to the old-fashioned British whodunit, with plotting as twisted as the characters' secrets.

Publishers Weekly
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Walters, whose first mystery, The Ice House , was well received on this side of the Atlantic, attempts a combination of psychological thriller and mystery here that doesn't quite come off. Roz Leigh, an author embittered by the tragic death of a child and a split from her husband, agrees to write the story of Olive Martin, a grossly fat, untidy woman serving a long prison sentence for the particularly grisly murder of her mother and sister. Visiting Olive in jail, Roz finds herself drawn to the woman, and despite the fact that ``the sculptress'' readily confessed to the crime, she begins to find odd discrepancies in the evidence against her. Roz becomes involved with the former policeman who arrested Olive (and who had his own doubts), and together they unravel the complicated morass of sex and madness that led to the butchery. While there are many intriguing plot turns, Olive's odd personality never quite convinces and subplots about the ex-policeman's restaurant and Olive's crooked lawyer are largely extraneous. For most of the way, despite these caveats and the novel's continuing strain on credulity, this is still a gripping read. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved