THE BURNING GIRLS by C.J. Tudor
Ballantine Books; 2/9/21
CBTB Rating: 4.5/5
The Verdict: chilling suspense-meets-folk horror
C.J. Tudor never writes the same book twice, but you can always count on her books to be consistently great. Tudor, author of fan-favorite thrillers including The Chalk Man and The Other People, returns this week with her latest offering: THE BURNING GIRLS, a sinister story that blends folk horror with small-town mystery to chilling end. Tudor’s genre-bending novels are some of my favorites, and THE BURNING GIRLS more than met my high expectations. In this spine-tingling story, Tudor invites readers to Chapel Croft, a small village with a dark history that seems to be informing the sinister events of its present. Things haven’t been right in Chapel Croft in quite some time, and for newcomer Jack and daughter Flo, a fresh start in the quiet village is going to be much more complicated—and potentially dangerous—than either could have imagined. Jack is the town’s new vicar, come to step in after the untimely death of their predecessor. As Jack and Flo navigate this new community, they find themselves confronted not only by the town’s brutal and violent history, but also by the ghosts of the past that seem to linger in Chapel Croft to this day. THE BURNING GIRLS is a story of folk horror perfect for fans of The Wicker Man; it’s also a compelling mystery, inviting readers to unravel the truth about a missing persons case that has long gone cold, but has never stopped haunting this small community. Written with C.J. Tudor’s trademark razor-sharp plotting and sinister, atmospheric suspense, THE BURNING GIRLS is perhaps the author’s most ambitious—and most haunting—story yet.
Plot Details:
A dark history lingers in Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, Protestant martyrs were betrayed—then burned. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And a few weeks ago, the vicar of the local parish hanged himself in the nave of the church.
Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping for a fresh start. Instead, Jack finds a town rife with conspiracies and secrets, and is greeted with a strange welcome package: an exorcism kit and a note that warns, “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.”
The more Jack and daughter, Flo, explore the town and get to know its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into the age-old rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo begins to see specters of girls ablaze, it becomes apparent there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest.
Uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village with a bloody past, where everyone has something to hide and no one trusts an outsider.
Welcome to Chapel Croft: a sleepy little town where the past isn’t gone—it’s lurking in plain sight. In THE BURNING GIRLS, C.J. Tudor welcomes readers to a quiet corner of the world that’s haunted—figuratively and maybe just literally—by the violence in its past. Jack and Flo are in need of a fresh start, and Chapel Croft seems like just the place to start over. A mysterious and tragic event at Jack’s previous church hangs like a dark shadow over the little family; Jack’s move to Chapel Croft and new job couldn’t come at a better time. But when Jack and Flo arrive in the town, they quickly realize this “fresh start” is going to be a bit more complicated than either could have imagined. After all, it’s not every day that one moves to a quaint little village and receives an exorcism kit as your welcome gift. As Jack and Flo learn about their new home, they begin to understand the scope of the darkness that shrouds it. Five hundred years ago, the town was the site of a brutal act of violence: Protestant martyrs in the town were betrayed and burned at the stake for their faith. The community now honors these martyrs in an annual ritual in which twig dolls known as “burning girls” are burned to commemorate those terrible deaths centuries ago. If this weren’t enough to creep out our story’s newcomers, Jack and Flo soon learn that Chapel Croft has more recent ghosts haunting its streets, too: thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared from the town without a trace, a mystery that continues to haunt the town’s residents to this day… and may even be endangering those who dare to investigate it. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of the ghostly girls haunting Chapel Croft, who are said to appear to those in trouble—apparitions who won’t leave Flo alone. Following Jack and Flo as they each navigate their new lives in the Chapel Croft community, THE BURNING GIRLS draws readers ever deeper into a town where the past truly won’t stay buried.
It takes a skilled storyteller to weave together as many unique elements as exist in THE BURNING GIRLS into one cohesive thriller, and that’s exactly the magic trick that C.J. Tudor pulls off in her latest release. At the center of this complex story are its two protagonists, Jack and Flo. These characters are the axis around which the many moving pieces of THE BURNING GIRLS rotate, and they are the kinds of characters readers will fall instantly in love with—characters whose quirks and rough edges make them all the more relatable and engaging. Jack is an unconventional vicar—a totally original character in whom readers will become instantly invested. It’s not every day that you read a thriller that centers around a vicar who smokes, swears, speaks candidly about the imperfections of their faith, and blasts My Chemical Romance while driving, but that’s exactly who Jack Brooks is. Jack is also an individual haunted by an unnamed tragedy in the past. At Jack’s previous church, something terrible occurred, threatening Jack’s career and necessitating the Brooks family’s move to Chapel Croft. For Jack, Chapel Croft is a fresh start; for Jack’s daughter, Flo, Chapel Croft is an exile from her friends and happy life in the city. Flo was perhaps my favorite character in this entire novel. Flo is a teenager who marches to the beat of her own drum: she loves Stephen King novels and photography, she knows self defense (and isn’t afraid to use it), and has an inquisitive and courageous personality. Flo’s experience in Chapel Croft is complicated from just about day one. Moving to a new town as a teenager means navigating the complex and treacherous process of finding her place with her new peers—a process which takes a dangerous turn when Flo finds herself the focus of the town’s resident bullies. And then there’s the pesky little problem of apparitions of burning girls that keep appearing to her, a dark omen of an even greater danger lurking just around the corner. Flo is smart, strong, rebellious, and all around delightful to read, and Tudor expertly explores elements of the teenage experience through her character.
THE BURNING GIRLS isn’t a traditional mystery novel—it is not a story following detectives as they investigate a crime—but it does have a mystery element to it that kept me turning pages. As Jack prepares to take over as the leader of the town’s small congregation, it becomes increasingly obvious to Jack (and to the reader!) that the past weighs heavily on this town’s present. To truly become part of this community, Jack is going to have to understand it… and understanding it means exploring its secrets and asking the questions that no one wants asked. What happened to those teenage girls who disappeared years ago? Did they leave town of their own free will, or could someone in the community have harmed them? And what about the vicar who Jack has replaced? Was his death truly at his own hand? Or could he, too, have asked the very same questions that Jack is now taking on, and met with a terrible fate as a result? The closer Jack gets to getting these questions answered, the more dangerous things become. As this story unfolds, C.J. Tudor expertly ratchets up the tension and illustrates for the readers just how precarious Jack and Flo’s situation really is. Even in the sleepy village of Chapel Croft, there are powerful players with a vested interested in some secrets never seeing the light of day… and Jack’s “fresh start” may be over before it even has a chance to get started.
Blending missing persons mystery with elements of historical intrigue, hints of the supernatural, and a dash of folk horror, THE BURNING GIRLS is C.J. Tudor’s most haunting novel yet. This intricate, masterfully-layered suspense novel builds to a jaw-dropping conclusion that will turn your understanding of this story inside out and leave you tempted to start the book over again just to experience it from a whole new perspective.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own.
Book Details:
Publisher : Ballantine Books (February 9, 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 198482502X
ISBN-13 : 978-1984825025
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