Once you understand the story behind the Protestant martydom during Queen Mary's reign, then this book gives a brilliant view from the countryside people in the remote villages.

This book brings us up to date and is told from the viewpoint of thirtysomething vicar Jack, a single parent with a teenage daughter Flo. Jack has been moved to the rural village of Chapel Cross from Nottingham as the new priest. She brings with her her only daughter Flo who is 15 and seems to be a typical teenager who is not so keen on country life but loves photography.

Lots of other characters appear within the story that is both fascinating and full of menace within this .small village where traditions are kept alive. Loved it! Jack is brilliantly portrayed. Could this be an excellent TV series?

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin UK for the chance to read and review.

The Burning Girls was outstanding. It isn’t even 2021 yet (for a few more hours) but I am already confident it will be one of my favourites of 2021.

Jack and Flo were forced to move from Nottingham to a remote rural village after some sort of scandal.

The Burning Girls starts with a Wikipedia article on ‘Burning Girls’. These are twig effigies found solely in the small Sussex village of Chapel Croft. These twig dolls are used to commemorate the Sussex Martyrs, a group of Protestants burnt at the stake for their religious beliefs. These burning girls are set alight in a ceremony every year.

The prologue begins with someone covering up a ritualised murder.

Next there is an article from Weldon Herald in 1990 on two missing Sussex teens Merry and Joy.

When we meet Jack she is talking to her superior Bishop Durkin.

“I’m pretty sure Bishop John Durkin does everything benevolently, even taking a shit…He’s also a wanker.

I know it. His colleagues know it. His staff know it. Secretly, I think, even he knows it.”

The character of Jack is humorous, not what you expect from someone in her position. She is not ‘fuddy’ at all.

Jack and her daughter Flo have a very close relationship, but Flo is not impressed with being moved to Chapel Croft.

When she arrives in Chapel Croft Jack is handed a box with her name on it and a quote from the bible in it.

“But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

The box also has an exorcism kit and a bloody knife in it. What a welcome to the village!

From this point on I found it really hard to put down The Burning Girls. I was hooked.

The Burning Girls is written from the perspective of multiple people. One of these people is a murderous ex prisoner who is looking for someone from his past in Nottingham. I don’t think it is too much of a spoiler to say that he is clearly part of the reason why Jack doesn’t like to talk about her history with Flo.

Flo is not happy about moving to Chapel Croft until she meets Wrigley. He is just what she needs to make things a bit more interesting. She loves photography and his love of drawing means he knows of a creepy house that would be perfect for her to photograph.

Despite herself Flo can’t help looking him.

“Wrigley is weird, but weird isn’t necessarily bad. And, if it wasn’t for the strange twitching, he’d actually be kind of cute.”

The Burning Girls is genuinely creepy, not least when the reader discovers that the original burning girls were two real girls among the martyrs who local legend suggests often appear when the person who sees them is in trouble.

So when both Flo and Jack see the girls we know trouble is coming.

“A young girl stands a few feet away.

She’s naked. And on fire.

Orange flames flicker around her ankles and lick at her legs, blackening her skin and stretching up to her smooth hairless pubis. That’s how Flo knows it’s a girl. It would be hard to tell otherwise.

Because she is missing both her arms and her head.

An excellent and incredibly eerie read.

The Burning Girls tells the story of Reverend Jack Brooks and her (yes, she's a woman, sorry for spoiling the first plot twist) teenage daughter Flo. Due to some dramatic circumstances you'll discover further in, Jack and Flo leave Nottingham and move to the small village of Chapel Croft. In the middle of nowhere, Jack comes in to replace the previous vicar, who allegedly killed himself. If this wasn't creepy enough, the village is known for the eight Sussex Martyrs, including two young girls burned to death, and the mysterious disappearance of two teenage girls thirty years before.

If this already seems a lot, you haven't seen anything yet. Within the genre, this is the story with more different mysteries developing simultaneously I've ever read. But worry not, you'll never feel lost, and in the end, every plot thread comes together and paints the whole picture of what is happening.

As the story moves forward, you follow Jack and her efforts to uncover what happened to the previous vicar, as well as Flo and her love of photography. There are also some occasional outsider POVs and flashbacks.

Jack has a dark past and isn't your typical religious person, although she works as one. She's not preachy, not God-fearing, and she clearly loves her daughter. This is also noticeable with Flo, your typical teenager outcast. She doesn't care about fitting in, and keeps a close and understanding relationship with her mother. This is so refreshing in a mother-teenage daughter dynamic. Even if sometimes they omit things and keep secrets, they're together for better or worse and always support each other.

The story starts slow, but you won't be able to drop it as the mysteries pick up. There's a looming feeling of dread that is literally portrayed in the story, like something terrible is about to happen, but you don't know where it will come from.

Expect a lot of creepiness, some graphic violence, a small dash of supernatural horror, bullying, and psycho teenagers. Personally, I enjoy horror and mysteries related to religion, and the spooky Bible verses added to the atmosphere. The last 20% of the book is filled with plot twist after plot twist, and you'll completely change your opinions about the characters as the plot clears up.

I haven’t read anything by C.J. Tudor before, but have come across her books before and been intrigued, so was happy to receive a review copy of her latest title.

Vicar Jack Brooks (female, so don’t be caught out by the name) is forced to move from Nottingham, after a scandal in her parish. Despite her wishes, she is re-located to a rural parish in the village of Chapel Croft, along with fifteen year old daughter, Flo. This has to be the creepiest parish available. Not only is it a place where Sussex Martyrs were burnt during the time of Queen Mary – resulting in rumours of the ghosts of the burning girls of the title, but twig dolls are left in the graveyard and burnt on the anniversary of the purge, in a charming local custom. Add to the that the recent suicide of the previous incumbent, an odd Warden named Aaron, who creeps about and an unsettling meeting with neighbour Simon Harper and youngest daughter, and things hardly seem able to get much worse. Of course they can though and there is the mysterious package given to her on her arrival…

Chapel Croft is a village full of local bullies, secrets and scandals. These include two girls who went missing in1990 and whose disappearance casts a shadow over the locals. As Jack tries to push aside her misgivings, and settle into the shabby cottage she will share with Flo, she can’t help but wonder what happened to her predecessor and why.

As a lover of Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins series, this novel did seem to have some parallels. The female vicar with teenage daughter, both of whom have similar personalities to Jack and Flo. Indeed, even one of the missing girls is called Merry, so I wondered whether there was a nod to the series in this book. The storyline, I would say, is not based on the series at all, but I would say that, if you like this book, then you might well want to explore Rickman’s world too. As for this novel – it is creepy, atmospheric and has excellent characters. A really good read, which made me glad I live in the city and not the countryside! I received a copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

An enjoyable read but I expected something much more creepy having read several reviews. The story is fast-paced and jumps between the different strands. All fiction by it's very nature isn't real but the author managed to weave in twice as many murders and murderers than any episode of Midsomer.
My star rating is 5 for readability and 3 plot.

You have to pay attention with this plot. Lots of characters to keep up with. Try and read in big spells. I read it reading 2 or 3 chapters at a time and it just didn't work as too much was happening but luckily the last 30% I finally got time to sit still and concentrate to tie up the loose ends. I wish I could have longer spells with this and if you do, it's well worth the read.

The Burning Girls
by C. J. Tudor
Penguin Michael Joseph UK
Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph UK for this review copy. This is my unbiased review of the author's work and style. If you want plot lines and spoilers, please see the publisher's blurb and other reviewers' reports.
The is no doubt that Ms Tudor can write or that she deserves being compared with Stephen King. With some notable exceptions in my youth i.e. “The haunting of Toby Jug”, I generally avoid the horror genre and reading The Burning Girls has firmed my resolve not to read anymore.
This is not a criticism of the book but an affirmation that her writing is so invasive, and her descriptive art so well-crafted that during my reading I felt upset, dirty, horrified, and frightened that I had to read P G Wodehouse every night before sleep. To conclude the book is easily worth five stars but I would suggest any parents place it on a high shelf of their library out of reach of impressionable teenagers.

I always like a bit of C J Tudor and this is another enjoyably creepy outing. It's possible there were a couple too many subplots but they did serve to build tension and throw in a few red herrings. The Burning Girls of the title ended up serving as more of an unsettling backdrop than being the main focus of the story, but the setting - a small village centred around a church - felt very true to life, as did the way the locals close ranks when outsiders appear.

Wow! This book is absolutely fantastic! Out of all the books by this author, this is my absolute favourite.
I have been completely pulled into this one and found that it has been a book I have been completely unwilling and unable to put down. I have devoured this book in just one sitting. 
I love the links to Mary Tudor, it's no hidden secret that this is my favourite part of history. Instantly, this aspect had me hooked. I adored how things played out as I was reading. 
The author has thrown a few twists into this one that I really didn't expect and there is no way I could've predicted the outcome. 
I love the mix of characters in this book. I imagine the little village to be quaint and cosy, where everyone knows everyone and their business. The characters have all added their own element to the book, whether we like or dislike them, they have been the perfect mix. 
I adore the cover of this book, it is enough to catch your attention but doesn't give too much away. I found the book was the perfect length and have been left craving more. 
A definite five star rating and a book I will definitely be recommending.

‘Burning girls’ is going to be one of the ‘it’ reads of 2021! I had high expectations thanks to the buzz around this book and the brilliant premise of a secretive small town with a history of missing girls.Tudor has this amazing way of integrating those nods to the horror genre that just creep in and surprise you just when you think you understand where the plot is going. Every chapter seemed to add to the intrigue and the entire novel is perfectly paced.
It all begins when a new vicar and their teenage daughter arrives in town after the sudden suicide of their predecessor and, in true Chapel Croft fashion, they find an exorcism kit as a welcoming gift. Soon the pair are pulled deeper into the dark history of the village and its obsession with the ‘burning girls’; religious martyrs from hundred of years ago and the more recent unsolved disappearance of two best friends.
I cannot say how captivating this thriller is; it is one of those books that I will recommend to everyone and know that they will race through it just as I did. A perfect balance of intrigue, darkness and psychological twists and turns.

BRILLIANT!!!!

This book kept me gripped from the start. All the ingredients for a deeply disturbing, psychological drama, I read this in a day as I couldn’t put it down.

Set in a chapel in a small village, local folklore talks of the ‘burning girls’, small wooden dolls which are burned to commemorate local Protestants who were set on fire many years ago, together with a mystery of two girls who went missing from the village years before. Jack, the new vicar finds herself embroiled in finding out the past as someone sends her mysterious warnings...

I found it chilling and creepy in places, it certainly had me on the edge of my seat throughout.

I would definitely recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My thanks for this review go to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley, for providing me with the pre-release e-book version of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Please support authors and publishers by purchasing The Burning Girls upon its release on the 21 January 2021.

The Burning Girls is a real page-turner. C. J. Tudor manages to create a web of intrigue, not just with its central mystery, but with the way they manage to extract everything from the rural settlement of Chapel Croft. Readers are introduced to a plethora of locals, some savoury individuals and some not, but all giving off the distinct impression that secrets to their past lie just below the surface. Chapel Croft has a history tinged by death, a history that has shaped local traditions. One of these is the ritual of throwing small figures made out of twig into a fire, as offerings to the Burning Girls, two young female martyrs killed hundreds of years ago, but who can appear in visitation to those in mortal danger. Though Chapel Croft has the spirituality of a rural settlement on the surface, darkness in the form of murders and satanic ritual lies just beneath the surface. The touch of rural horror really adds to the paranoia and suspicion the readers share with the protagonists, and makes the central mystery more complex to solve. Occasionally this does stray into the paranormal horror genre too far, to the point where it takes attention away from the mystery, but this is only a minor detail. C. J. Tudor's masterful world and atmosphere building gives The Burning Girls a setting that both adds to the mystery and the paranoia and suspicion in the protagonists and readers alike.

Mother and daughter pairing Jack and Flo make a great pair of protagonists in this novel. Not only are they pitched perfectly in terms of personality but their likeability is boosted by how relatable they manage to be. Neither is portrayed as a pure soul and both are prone to keeping secrets and being a bit too curious into what occurs in the lives of others. Their faults aside, they are easily the most relatable characters in the book, thereby making great audience surrogates when they move from Nottingham to Chapel Croft, and uncover all of the mystery and horror buried deep in the history of the village and its residents. What makes these protagonists even stronger is the relationship the pair have, with the mother overprotective over her teenage daughter and what she gets up to, and the daughter wanting to forge her own path in the world and trying new things; both of these characters' intentions are put in severe risk when they become embroiled in the machinations of the village, and their relationship is stretched. Credit must be given to how much detail C. J. Tudor puts in their relationship, as it allows the readers to be more invested in the narrative with realistic and likeable protagonists.

The narrative itself makes for a highly exciting read at points, especially in the last hundred or so pages when the walls were closing in on the characters as the mystery of Chapel Croft gets revealed in full. When this happens, it is nearly impossible to put the book down. What also makes this section in particular so compelling is the way that the author utilises twists to throw readers off the trail, twists that are brilliant and a real sucker-punch to the readers, and most importantly twists that catch you unawares. Many revelations caught me off guard when reading this book. Much like the nature of this book's narrative and the general tone, C. J. Tudor's storytelling is one of secrecy, where they only give the readers enough information they need to keep intrigue and ask more questions. The book is a hydra of questions; once one is answered, another two are raised. Even in the supposed climax of the narrative, there was a couple of devastating yet clever twists that would change how you see the book on repeat readings. The writing was fantastic in The Burning Girls, maintaining intrigue throughout and providing a highly exciting book that gets harder to put down the more you read.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about mysteries in small rural settlements, in a similar vein to The Wicker Man. The intensity and brief but powerful horrific imagery means this book is not for the faint-hearted. It is also a superb read to anyone who likes to solve a mystery, with twists that will make you doubt your predictions and throw them out of the window. For anyone who has not read C. J. Tudor's work before, expect a thrilling ride with flashes of horror. </p>


C. J. Tudor's The Burning Girls is a chilling and suspense-filled mystery novel that contains a myriad of twists, reveals and questions. Secrecy is a prominent theme in the residents and history of Chapel Croft, and the author matches that by keeping their readers in the dark right until the last pages. The writing and tension hooks the reader in, especially towards the climax, and is one of those books that are nearly impossible to put down.

Star Rating: 4.5/5

If there is one thing you can rely on CJ Tudor for, it is to pack in the chill factor into her stories. The Burning Girls is a kind of mystery crossed with folklore and ghostly goings on that kept me completely intrigued from the very beginning. Chapel Croft is no ordinary village. and Jack is no ordinary Vicar. Certainly not the kind that the villagers were expecting, anyway. When she moves with her daughter, Flo, to the supposedly sleepy village, it is meant to be a temporary move, but no-one could predict what will happen when she arrives. The village is awash with legends and the chapel over which she will preside reputedly haunted by two young girls who were killed before the chapel many years before. Superstition and legend has it that if the girls appear to you, a tragedy will surely follow ....

Now if you were being judgmental, you'd think that being forced to move from a comfortable existence in Nottingham to the middle of nowhere was tragedy enough. Some people like to live in the country, enjoy the quiet life. Those people are definitely not Jack and Flo. But determined as she is to make the best of it and make a difference, Jack launches into the country life. I liked Jack as a character. She was not. your typical Vicar, more Geraldine Grainger in style in that she is completely down to earth and accepting of what really draws people to religion - a need to believe in something - rather than an overwhelming belief in one single God. She is quite astute and although it is clear that there are things from her past that we don't fully understand yet, you immediately feel as though you can trust her.

Less so the other residents of Chapel Croft. They are a very peculiar and ismitached bunch, each with their own strange characteristics and tics, something that CJ Tudor is so adept at winding into. the story, making you automatically suspicious of them all, even, or maybe especially, the clergy. There is a real sense of the village setting in the way in which traditions are always followed and everyone seems to know everyone else. But there is also a real history to the village, one beste with. tragedy that goes way beyond the murder of the two eponymous 'Burning' girls.

The story is threaded with threat and underlying tension. There is a mystery that weaves in and out of the present day narrative - the disappearance of two best friends a couple of decades earlier - and this partly drives the present day action as Jack strives to find out what really happened to the girls. Against this we have Flo and her struggle to settle in a village which is a miles from her friends and form all that she knows. She is definitely an outsider and rubs up against the local teens in a ways that will shock and have readers on edge.

There is a real chill factor to this story, that sense of the otherworldly spirits guiding. the action. Tension and pacing ebbs and flows drawing us on to the discovery of something rather macabre and a show down that really does get the heart pumping. With a real sense of place, characters who you will be rooting for and others for whom you will have a significant amount of mistrust, this was a book that I devoured and that left me completely satisfied. This is not your typical ghost story but it is certainly entertaining and will keep fans of the author rapt.

The burning girls, is like the vicar of dibley meets midsummer murders, it is a wonderful gothic psychological thriller featuring Rev Jack Brooks, a vicar and single Mum to Flo, she has been moved by her bosses to the back of beyond to Chapel Croft a little hamlet after a tragedy at her last parish in Nottingham, but as with all great books things are not what they seem, Jack & Chapel Croft are all hiding secrets and they’re about to be exposed. Another excellent book from C.J.Tudor

This gave me goosebumps from the first page! C.J. Tudor has done it again! When a vicar and her daughter are relocated to a sleepy village they find themselves caught up in the locals superstitions and rituals. What is real and what is imagination? Another spine tingler from the queen of psychological suspense! Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgallery for an ARC.

Fast paced and an interesting storyline that kept me turning the pages, I really enjoyed this until the end. I just found the twists to be too unbelievable, the plot too full of holes and too many questions left unanswered. Judging by the other reviews I am in a minority so I think it is just not my thing and would recommend to those who love pacy thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to this before its publication in January. Unsettling but riveting, and while elements of this were tough to read the overall impact is powerful.
The story focuses on single mother Jack Brooks, a vicar, and her daughter. After an awful incident involving one of her parishioners Jack is troubled, and the Church is unsure how to support her. Their answer is to pack Jack off to Chapel Croft, a temporary placement in a small Sussex village. This village has a long and troubled history, and from their first day in the village it is evident that this place harbours many secrets.
As we follow Jack in her role we are given a number of clues about her mysterious past. She has her own secrets, and has had her own share of troubling experiences. We don’t learn the exact nature of these until later...but there’s little hints and I was desperate to know how her story tied in with that of the mystery voice - a character recently released from prison who we know has committed awful acts and for reasons we’re not sure of wants to find Jack.
The focus on Jack’s mystery was certainly intriguing, but the historical focus of the Sussex Martyrs and the two village girls who disappeared years earlier was just as interesting. The previous vicar had spent time investigating these incidents, and there’s lots of clues given as to what happened though the significance of certain details isn’t pertinent until later. The body count was surprisingly high, and I can only imagine the fun Tudor had planning this and working out how to combine elements of a number of story threads.
I don’t want to say more in case of revealing certain plot details that are best learned at the point Tudor chooses to reveal them. Suffice to say, if you enjoyed her other novels this will probably go down well. There are some elements of the story that aren’t fully resolved and yet this ambiguity - for me, anyway - showed all too clearly how the boundaries between evil and horror can blur.

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was pretending he didn’t exist”

“The Burning Girls” is the third book in my most anticipated reads for 2021 list that gets 5 glowing stars (do I have a great eye picking out books or what?). This book was my only company during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and I was so engrossed in it that not even Santa Claus knocking on my door (no chimney here), would have make me unglue from my Kindle.

First of all, look at that gorgeous red cover. Doesn’t it give you the creeps? Well, that’s only an appetizer for what’s waiting for you in this story. It has all the elements I ask for in a suspense/mystery book:

- Multilayered characters, whom despite their faults and sometimes silly decisions, you can’t help to root for. I loved Jack’s duality and how, a character that on paper should be all goody-goody, had so many edges, specially when it came to protect her daughter. I also loved the banter and humor in the mother/daughter relationship.

- An eerie and creepy setting that I could perfectly picture in my head. You would not catch me dead visiting that cottage/chapel/graveyard combo, much less living there!

- A complex plot that although initially may seem quite straightforward soon starts revealing different layers. At first I thought the story was gonna lay more heavily into the supernatural elements, but as a bigger suspense than horror fan I was glad that it didn’t, although they added a nice touch to the background story.

I’ve read some people saying that it starts off a bit slow but that was not the case for me. The tense atmosphere was palpable from the very first scene and it kept building till near the end, when the fireworks started going off. Twists and turns kept coming and it was so satisfying to find out how all the puzzle pieces fell into place. Some clues were given throughout the story, making some of the reveals not so surprising, but they were equally enjoyable.

Incredible writing and a very engaging plot made it very hard to put “The burning girls” down, and you know best of all? This was my first C.J. Tudor, so that means I still have three more books I can’t wait to delve into.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Michael Joseph UK and Gaby Young for providing and eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book with many threads. Jack and her daughter have moved to a new parish. She is the new local priest. There is a legend of the ghosts of girls who were burned as witches and still haunt those who are in trouble. There is the disappearance a few decades ago of two teenage girls and there is the death of the previous vicar. Jack also brings secrets of her own and someone who is looking for her. For me, it was a little bit too busy with threads that resolved before the end but it was very clever. Moral boundaries are sometimes blurred or destroyed altogether by some characters. Jack is asked once if she believes in evil and that resonates in the book. A good but busy read. 3.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I started reading this book, I could not remember what it had said in the synopsis and so found it a bit odd. Once into the book it started to make sense and by the middle it started to make proper sense in my head and then turned into a real "page turner". Normally, with a "mystery", I have a reasonably good idea of who the "naughty" people might be but this tale took me totally by surprise.

Well deserving of 4 Stars and I suggest, strongly, that you treat yourself to a copy. I doubt you will be disappointed.