A calculating, whip-smart 60-year-old woman named Grace meets an easily influenced young woman named Janice in Holloway Prison. Once they’re out, they cook up a plan to trick and rob old women by drugging them with sleeping pills and taking anything valuable they can find. ‘Sheep’s Clothing’ was republished in September 2023 by Daunt Books, a publisher interested in “reissuing beautiful new editions of lost classics”. This description – “a lost classic” – fits Celia Dale’s last novel nicely. I had never heard of it, nor had most the people I know, but after reading it I felt that everyone should. It’s a classic story of the cunning preying on the most vulnerable people in society that still resonates – only if it were written today, maybe Grace and Janice would be creating phishing ads on social media instead of cold calling. The repugnant scheme of these two women makes for an exciting and timeless read. MG

Daunt Books