📖 Book Review ~ The Burning Girls by C J Tudor

 

Michael Joseph
21 January 2021

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

500 years ago: eight martyrs were burnt to death

30 years ago: two teenagers vanished without trace

Two months ago: the vicar committed suicide

Welcome to Chapel Croft.

For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it's supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn't easily forgotten.

And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft's history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome.

Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns.

Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls?

Who's sending them sinister, threatening messages?

And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself?

Chapel Croft's secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn't touch them if not for Flo - anything to protect Flo.

But the past is catching up with Chapel Croft - and with Jack. For old ghosts with scores to settle will never rest...

📖 My Thoughts..

I always have a real sense of excitement when there is a new book out by this author as I know, from past experience, that she will never let me down and the story will be every bit as good as I want it to be. The Burning Girls is a story which is so fraught with danger and menace that just after reading a few pages I was already frightened of my own shadow!

Reverend Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo are sent to the tiny village of Chapel Croft to replace the last vicar who has died in tragic circumstances. Their arrival in the village is met with a great deal of mistrust and from the start it is obvious that the villagers are not going to give up their secrets easily. A series of events threaten not just Jack and Flo's safety but also their peace of mind and as tensions start to run high so danger is never far away.

This is one of those clever stories which is all to easy to spoil by giving away even a little snippet of something which later bears relevance so I won't do the author a disservice by recounting her clever plot. What I will say is that after reading all this author's books, and there are four, this one is my favourite, but then I've said that after each book, and that's just how good this writer is that after finishing you are always eager for more. 

The Burning Girls is not for the faint hearted and won't be everyone's choice but if you enjoy a deeply suspenseful novel with lots of genuinely creepy moments which make you jump at shadows and which give you a burning desire to sleep with the light on, then do give it a try. It's perfect escapism.

Note to self - don't go walking in the woods when you've just read a chapter of The Burning Girls..👻

About the Author

C. J. Tudor lives in Nottingham, England with her partner and three-year-old daughter.

Over the years she has worked as a copywriter, television presenter, voice over and dog-walker. She is now thrilled to be able to write full-time, and doesn’t miss chasing wet dogs through muddy fields all that much.

Twitter @cjtudor #TheBurningGirls

@MichaelJBooks

📖 Published in hardback 21 January 2020 📖

Amazon UK