Well I don’t think I breathed during that reading! What a fabulously terrifying topic. The weirdness didn’t stop coming, page after page. That was a brilliant, rushing, roiling ride.

It all starts with a shock as new vicar Jack turns out to be female. She has moved to the area with her daughter, fifteen year old Flo. Neither of them wanted to leave their previous parish, one that came with all the attractions of a city parish. Quite unlike the backwater they have ended up in. They shouldn’t worry that it will be too quiet - as soon as they move in, all hell lets loose.

The story grabs you from the beginning. Who can’t get caught up with missing, burning children? This all starts around five hundred years earlier, with the burning of Protestants. They were made martyrs, and now are infamous and worth a lot of current cash. The previous vicar of the parish committed suicide, and the whole town seem to be involved in a secret that they don’t want to share.

Flo is an artistic young person, seeking time away from her mother who tries to suffocate her attempts at becoming independent. She soon meets up with a boy her own age, much to the disappointment of her mother. While her mother is meeting her new parishioners, Flo gets involved in some gruesome house hunting. She loves taking photographs and the results of her art are incredibly creepy.

This is a fabulous book for keeping you on your toes and making you carry on reading far into the night. I love the way Tudor writes, it’s like reading a stream of consciousness. This is an amazing book, I don’t want to tell you any more tales as I want you all to discover this book for yourselves. It is her best book in my opinion. I can’t wait for the next.

A twisty, fast-paced, disturbing thriller! This had me hooked immediately, from the unconventional vicar and her very likeable but defiant teenage daughter, to the creepy ‘burning girls’ tradition and the untrustworthy villagers.

This was an excellent read, the characters are so well-defined and there are so many twists and turns I didn’t guess a single one! There are lots of subplots to follow, lots of gasps to be had, and a few scares too!

I hadn’t read anything by C.J. Tudor before this, but I’ll be going through the back catalogue ASAP! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Reverend Jack Brooks yearns to escape her past, and is assigned to Chapel Croft by the Church. After all, a small village in the Sussex countryside, miles from your previous ministry, seems the perfect place to seek solace and rebuild your life. But Jack Brooks isn't keen. Chapel Croft is close-knit community with its own dark past; eight martyrs, two of which were young girls, were burnt to death during Queen Mary's Protestant purge, and the village commemorates the event annually by burning two twig effigies. And only 30 years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without trace. Perhaps Chapel Croft isn't the best place to discover if Flo, Jack's teenage daughter, will adapt to rural life?

The narrative builds a malevolent atmosphere, filled with unwelcoming locals, anonymous packages, abandoned cottages, endless creaking doors in the dead of night, the underlying threat of satanic rites, and disturbing visions of headless ghosts in flames. If you are a devotee of this genre, you won't be disappointed — and be prepared for a denouement twist which will catch you completely by surprise.

Followers of C. J. Tudor will be delighted by this addition to her portfolio. And if you are new to the author, I'd certainly recommend you also read her excellent novel, "The Chalk Man".

#TheBurningGirls

This was fantastic! Tudor's best work yet in my opinion.

Jack Brooks is a vicar who is being transferred at a short notice to a small village in Sussex to escape bad press and gossipping in her old parish in Nottingham. Jack and her teenage daughter Flo are not keen on their new home which has a bloody history as 7 martyrs were burned alive here under the Protestants' persecution under the reign of Queen Mary. In addition, 30 years ago two teenage girls disappeared and were never found, and the previous vicar committed suicide only two months previous.

A lot is going on here but for me it was the vicar, Jack, herself who I liked the most. She is not your stereotypical vicar but a down to earth woman with flaws who smokes and swears when the situation requires it. You've just got to like her. Strange things start to happen after the arrival of Jack and Flo opening questions into the suicide, the girls disappearance and even the death of the martyrs. I won't say more as it's best to read it and find out for yourself.

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

Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a person who’s frequently awake at 2am (or 3 or 4 ..) for no apparent reason, I usually read a few pages of my latest book to help me drop back off again. Hmmm not sure this book helped in that regard but I couldn’t not read it – I was hooked! There is a mounting sense of dread as you turn the pages .. but turn the pages you must as the author has drawn you into their chilling story. It’s dark and atmospheric and the tension builds. You want to shout at Flo “don’t go into the woods, and definitely don’t go with him” as the plot unfolds and you make the little connections towards the final twist. It’s an excellent read. Thank you for the ARC

I’m a huge fan of C.J. Tudor’s writing and her latest novel, The Burning Girls, is another deliciously dark and creepy read. I really enjoyed C.J. Tudor’s last book, The Other People, so I jumped to at the chance to read her next book. It did not disappoint; I read it in just a couple of sittings. C.J. Tudor writes horror really well, and the dark tales she weaves into The Burning Girls are really chilling. If you’re a fan of C.J. Tudor, then you are in for a treat. C.J. Tudor is fast becoming an auto-buy author for me. I don’t even have to look at the blurb before I buy it.

I loved Jack, the main character in this book. Jack is a vicar, and she leaves her old Parish under something of a cloud, which instantly made me interested in her. When she arrives at the new village, Chapel Close, with her teenage daughter, Flo, right away the creepy vibes set in. There are stories of the burning girls, Protestant martyrs who were burned outside the church during the reign of Mary I of England. Decades earlier, two young girls also disappeared. The girls were never found, and their fates remain a mystery. But that isn’t all. The priest who preceded Jack died. It was concluded that he committed suicide, but the circumstances surrounding his death are very suspicious.

One of the things I really liked about this book was the relationship between Jack and Flo. They are very close to each other. After they first arrive, Flo makes friends with a young boy, Wriggly, who has been targeted by bullies for years. It isn’t long before Flo too finds herself at the mercy of the teenagers who have bullied Wriggly. They are some nasty individuals who will make your skin crawl.

As Jack and Flo become acquainted with their new home, they make some disturbing discoveries revealing long buried secrets. We also begin to understand just what went on in Jack’s last Parish, and we find out why she had to leave.

The Burning Girls is a really addictive read. The writing is taut, and it is chilling from the start right the way through to the end. There are some jaw-dropping twists in this book which I didn’t see coming. You need to add this book to your to be read pile. I have no doubt that this will be an instant bestseller. I can’t wait to read what C.J. Tudor writes next.

Rating : 4.5/5.
📚 Recommendation : Yes

Trigger Warning : Bullying, child abuse, exorcism

Jacqueline Brooks (Jack), a lady vicar of Nottingham is asked to take charge of Chapel Croft - all in haste without any other details. She along with her daughter Florence (Flo) move to Sussex, a small village of Chapel Croft.

An old, almost-about-to-crush chapel, surrounded by a graveyard, with Jack's small wonky cottage overlooking the graveyard - such is the spooky environment, the author has presented.

Sussex has a horrendous folklore according to which 500 years ago eight martyrs, including two young girls, were burnt at stake during Queen Mary's purge of protestants. Thirty years later two young girls, 15 years of age, suddenly go missing.

Amongst all the mysteries and in an attempt to digging the truth will Jack be able to protect her daughter? Will she unravel the mystery of the two missing girls? Will she be able to protect her own secret, her past which she has long buried in the corner of her heart?

Read the full review on my blog! Link given below!

This genuinely is the best of the books that CJ Tudor has written, she just goes from strength to strength. I have to say I was pleased as the last one was ok but this returns to her at her best. Her characterisation is particularly strong and the story is one of mystery, gothic chill and contemporary issues all bound up in an historical mystery. This book is perfect for anyone who is interested in folklore and natural superstition and legend as well as anyone who wants to read a darn good story. Do not read this book if you do not have any imagination or don't want to suspend disbelief, you are clearly not a reader who wants to let go and enjoy the ride.

.#TheBurningGirls #NetGalley

A dark and creepy tale which gave me goosebumps.
The characters were a huge surprise, with many hidden undertones.
A rural village setting with rumour and folklore added in to provide a deeper layer to the cleverly crafted plot
Packed with gritty realism to produce a thoroughly modern mystery that is well worth reading

An unremitting kitchen sink of horror and malevolence, human and supernatural

I would have liked this much more if the writer had had ‘Less Is More’ as their writing mantra.

Tudor writes well, and had there been far fewer human societal malevolence issues in the mix – all the various prejudices which lurk within mainstream culture – this would have been a better, more thought provoking AND suspenseful read.

I won’t detail all the issues, but, if you were to write a check list of all the areas in which human unkindness might be found, in collective awareness of crimes and misdemeanours, you will find them herein. This meant I was reading ‘tick…tick…tick’ as each appeared

There ARE some genuine shock reveals, but their effect is reduced by too much, too many.

I shall not detail any, as that would be to offer spoilers to those who might enjoy the piling on of twist after twist.

Personally, I prefer those books within the genre which have more light and shade, so that the reader (and the characters) have a little respite from constant pile on of the same note, over and over. That way, suspense, shock, settle, suspense again, time to breathe, normalcy, creeping suspense is a subtler and more telling journey.

A fast paced tale with intriguing characters and (for me) a gasp out loud moment. Lots of twists only one of which I guessed
Got up at the crack of dawn to finish it

This review will go live at the link below on 21 January.

Hi and welcome to my review of The Burning Girls! I requested the ARC from NetGalley, sure I’d never be approved, but hey, it’s C.J. Tudor, one must try against all odds. And apparently bookish miracles do happen and here we are!

First of all I must tell you that I have learnt not to wear socks when reading a C.J. Tudor, as she blows them clean off every single time. High expectations? Me?! Of course not, don’t know what you’re talking about! In any case, it doesn’t matter, since The Burning Girls was every bit as amazing as I knew it would be!

By the time I’d reached the end of the shocking, gasp-inducing and highly intriguing prologue, I’d already fallen for The Burning Girls hook, line and sinker. No, actually even before that, with the Wikipedia entry explaining that burning girls are twig dolls to set alight to commemorate the Sussex Martyrs, two of whom were young girls, who were burnt at the stake during Queen Mary’s purge of Protestants. Just an itty-bitty text but it set my spine tingling with anticipation, that feeling you get when you know you’re in for a bookish treat.

The Burning Girls kicks off with Reverend Jack Brooks, and Flo, Jack’s daughter, forced to relocate to the small Sussex village of Chapel Croft, which is currently without a priest, since the last one killed himself. Minutes after their arrival, they meet a blood-soaked girl in the garden, and later that evening, Jack finds an exorcism kit, including a rather unorthodox set of knives. Something is clearly a little off in Chapel Croft.

And then Jack is told that the twig dolls they’ve been finding everywhere aren’t meant for commemoration, but rather to ward off the vengeful spirits of the girls who took refuge in the chapel, but were betrayed and caught, tortured and killed. Which would be fairly easy to dismiss if it wasn’t for Flo who is 100% sure she has actually seen the spirit of one of the girls.

The death of two girls hundreds of years ago, the disappearance of two girls thirty years ago, the apparent suicide of a man of the cloth, the arrival of a new vicar, chequered pasts, ghost stories. Once again, C.J. Tudor has struck the right balance between thriller and horror, creating a story that will appeal to fans of both genres. A mystery, a thriller with an occult thread woven into the story, it works like a charm on me, and it’s what C.J. Tudor does like a queen!

The village of Chapel Croft and its residents emit a perfect Twin Peaks vibe. I just love that kind of creepy small town setting with its folklore and its one family that seems to have a finger in every pie and its oddballs, with everything and everyone, even the most benign, coming across as suspicious. Except of course that one person I trusted blindly who turned out to be the least trustworthy of them all, I’m the worst judge of character!

I loved Jack and Flo as main characters. Modern opinions, firmly rooted in everyday life, genuinely in it for helping people, delightfully sarcastic and not opposed to occasional swearing, Jack is a brilliant priest. Although, like many other Chapel Croft residents, not quite without secrets…

I remember saying that The Other People would be a tough act to follow but The Burning Girls pulls it off. It sucked me in, chewed me up and spat me out a dazed mess, and I mean that in the best possible way! Nothing what it seems, The Burning Girls is a twisty and twisted story that kept me captivated and intrigued throughout and one I’d highly recommend!

The Burning Girls is out today, get it now!

Huge thanks to Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

This was a tense read!! But the pages just seem to turn by themselves and it kept me up late wanting to find out what happened next. An unconventional vicar, Jack, and her daughter move to run a church in a sleepy village but all is not as it seems. Burning dolls, murders, satanic markings, lies, suicide etc

Oh my God what a brilliant book. To say I couldn’t put it down is no exaggeration. Especially at the end with so many unexpected twists and reveals I’m exhausted. One in particular I NEVER guessed – or maybe I wasn’t concentrating hard enough.

Reverend Jack Brooks has been asked to leave her parish in Nottingham under a cloud and move to a remote village in East Sussex. The chapel she is taking on has a chequered history from the eight martyrs burnt at the stake 500 years ago to the mysterious suicide of the previous vicar. However, these are just some of the mysteries the small village of Chapel Croft has to offer. And Jack has more than her own share of secrets which she is determined to keep hidden.

A strange tradition in Chapel Croft is known as the ‘burning girls’ where twig effigies are thrown on a bonfire every year to ‘celebrate’ – is that the right word – the burning of the Sussex Martyrs. Apparently if you see the burning girls, they are trying to tell you something and trying to protect you.

Now those familiar with the town of Lewes, also in East Sussex, will know about the town’s tradition of holding the largest and most famous bonfire night in the UK. Every year on 5th November, it is held partly to celebrate Guy Fawkes night and partly to commemorate the memory of the seventeen Protestant martyrs from the town burned at the stake for their faith during the Marian Persecutions.

But back to the story. Jack’s daughter Flo has been forced to leave her friends behind in Nottingham and is not happy. Till she meets Lucas Wrigley – a strange boy with a neurological condition called dystonia which causes sudden twitching and involuntary movements. A perfect target for the village bullies, as is newcomer Flo.

But is Wrigley the innocent boy Flo thinks and hopes he is? Why is everyone so in awe of wealthy, farm-owner Simon Harper and why does youngest daughter Poppy turn up covered in blood? And what happened to two missing girls Joy and Merry who disappeared thirty years ago – supposedly they ran away – and were never seen again?

All this but other threads too including an abusive childhood and a killer released from prison.

There is no let up in this story. No time to relax. The excitement is incessant. I absolutely loved this book. Murder, jealousy, supernatural hauntings – just up my street.

Some of my family live in East Sussex and I didn’t recognise Lewes as a kind of flowery-dresses-and-joss-sticks middle class Glastonbury or Eastbourne as a town with grey seas. I guess it’s a matter of perception.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another cracker of a heart stopping, chilling, excellent read from this wonderful author. I've enjoyed all of C J Tudor's books and this doesn't disappoint.

A new vicar, Jack, and daughter, Flo, arrive in a quiet Sussex village. They've obviously left behind a troubled past. However, that's nothing to what lies ahead.

Jack is a fabulous character. At last in fiction we have a vicar who is humorous, down to earth and real. The story is tense, nerve wracking and fabulous as Jack discovers strange 'burning girls' symbols and sees strange sights. There's also a village filled with unusual characters. It romps along at pace and I finished it in 2 sittings.

Fabulous!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and C J Tudor for another wonderful read.

"Plenty of villages have a dark past. History itself is stained with the blood of the innocent and written by the ruthless. Good does not always triumph over evil. Prayers do not win battles. Sometimes, we need the devil on our side. The problem is, once you have him riding shotgun, he's hard to get rid of."

The Sussex village of Chapel Croft has a bloodier history than most - the story of the Sussex Martyrs, villagers who were burnt to death during Queen Mary's purge of Protestants, including two young girls who are "commemorated" annually by the setting alight of twig dolls - the Burning Girls.

Centuries later in 1990, two teenage girls from Chapel Croft disappeared, believed to have run away. Neither Merry Lane nor Joy Harris were ever found.

In the present day, new vicar Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo arrive - a bit reluctantly - in Chapel Croft, where Jack is to take over the parish on an interim basis. Things are immediately weird - twig dolls, exorcism kits and peculiar locals. But there are secrets in Jack's history, too.

There's a lovely little deception right at the beginning - it's of a kind which I usually dislike as it can be very gimmicky and forced, but it's done so well here and pulled off so neatly that I really didn't mind. It made me happy I hadn't read any reviews in advance!

CJ Tudor has been compared to Stephen King, and King gets a few namechecks here courtesy of fifteen-year-old Flo. I didn't get the King vibes as strongly here as in her first book, The Chalk Man, though there's certainly no shortage of horror, with some truly shocking moments (too much so on occasion for this reader, but I have a low tolerance for the grisly stuff) and one turnaround which I certainly didn't see coming.

I liked Jack, who narrates a lot of the story and is far from your conventional stereotype of a vicar, and Flo, whose viewpoint we also hear from a fair bit and who is equally not your stereotypical teenager. (Then again, who is?) Not all the characters are likeable, though, and a couple of them turn out to be quite diabolically awful. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled is convincing the world he didn't exist...

While there is a certain supernatural element, it's lightly handled and the story is really far more about a human mystery, albeit heavily overlaid with religion. It did get a little convoluted towards the end and I found myself struggling to work out what had happened to whom in the past. There were also perhaps slightly too many vicars, past and present, for me to keep them all straight in my mind.

Some of the names have a strange and presumably deliberate consonance: Merry and Joy; Poppy, Ruby and Rosie...

Almost the whole time I was reading, I was imagining this as a film - which is no something I usually do, but it was hard not to imagine many scenes would easily transpose directly to the screen. Though I would definitely have my eyes closed at certain moments.

Overall, this was an excellent, highly compelling read. It did have me going back to reread certain passages in the light of later knowledge, and I was impressed by how cleverly the author had wrought her deceptions.

An utterly compelling and once again spectacular thriller/horror title from C J Tudor who is one of my all time favourite writers. The supernatural and spooky settings of the story blend with true-crime and mystery to bring a very cleverly layered story full of suspense, secrets and of course, twists.
I couldn't put it down and at one point near the end my battery ran out on my Kindle because I was so engrossed in the story, waiting 20 minutes for it to charge back up was torture!
I loved the perspectives of Jack and Flo, I truly can see this making an exceptional film/TV drama.
Another 5 star read from this brilliant author!

This a very entertaining if rather disturbing read. It's well written and clevelrly plotted with lots of twists and turns.

‘The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was pretending he didn’t exist.’
Bloody hell - this book has everything- martyrs, murders, ministers and maniacs.
Completely different from most books I’ve read.
Jack is a widow, female minister with a teenage daughter Flo. After a death in her parish in Nottingham Jack is moved to a country parish in Sussex. The old chapel is in a terrible state and it’s history is worrying - the Sussex Martyrs were six Protestants burnt at the stake.
The previous minister had recently committed suicide, two local girls have been missing for fifteen years and stories of burning girls , two of the martyrs, abound.
You would think that would be enough intrigue but that is only the start of the secrets in the village.
One incident leads to another and Jack and her daughter tumble headlong into danger leading to new murders being committed and old ones being uncovered.
The only constant is that nothing is at it seems - right up until the very end.
Enjoyable, full of twists and turns this book will keep the reader hooked.
4 Stars ⭐️
Thanks to Penguin/Random House and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.

This is an interesting one, I found it hard to score the review, between 3 and 4.

I actually very much enjoyed this atmospheric and brooding thriller, it has a feel of a horror kind of lurking in three background but is in fact much more of a murder mystery.

Reverend Jack Brook is a vicar, who is uprooted from her big city parish and sent to look after a small church in Sussex when the local vicar commits suicide. The village in Sussex however isn’t your happy place. It’s a village steeped in dark fare. A village with the past full of missing young girls, murders and pagan rituals.

Everything is set up perfectly for a cracker and for the most part it’s very good but the ending really jolted with me. It wasn’t bad but I just didn’t like it. Not to say this ain’t be a 5 star read for many as it is well written, it has a great plot, intriguing characters and it’s well paced, if a little slow but then that suits a brooding tale,

A good read and I would happily recommend to both crime and fans of a bit of a spook

Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for my review copy