The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

Author: C.J. Tudor 

Title: The Burning Girls 

Publisher: Penguin 

Published: 2021

Pages: 416

Genre: Mystery / Horror

 

     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...

     I first came across Tudor when she had just started to promote her first book The Chalk Man. This was a story that captivated and creeped me out in equal measures. She had this way of crawling up inside your brain and scratching at those parts that lurk in the deep dark recesses of our minds. This time she brings her twisted pen to that most tranquil of places a small village in  Sussex. At first glance, one might be mistaken for thinking this is the setting for the latest episode of some BBC drama. But as we know with this author nothing is as harmless or gentile as it might seem.  I was intrigued to see what she would bring to the table this time especially bring in some more historical elements to the narrative. And whilst England may call itself that green and pleasant land, look close enough and those hills most certainly run red with blood.

     For me, it was an interesting take to place us in the mind of the new local vicar. Too often is the case the local clergy are assigned to the role of suspect or villain.  Also in an ever-changing world, it was nice to see this woman of the cloth be a bit more down to earth. So used to either getting the hard-nosed ruler with an iron first or the bumbling do-gooder that it comes as a breath of fresh air to find someone a little more relatable to the reader. She is someone who has lived a life not always on the straight and narrow. Mistakes have been made and scars have dug their way in deep. Her relationship with her daughter Flo also seems to come from somewhere genuine and heart-felt. Their interaction throughout would be instantly recognizable to anyone with teenage children. That butting of heads that goes along with these years of change, when parents hope to guide their children the best they can. But such is always the case teenagers will find their way into doing stupid and dangerous things. After all, haven't we all been there at one point or another. 

     As you would come to expect from this author her surrounding cast comes with its fair share of not only shiftiness but also creepy goings-on. She manages to take these people that you might not give a second look to on the high street and mold them into those things that go bump in the night. These monsters are all too real as they skip and dance their way crosses these pages. Having grown up in a small village in rural England some of these people are all too familler. That one family that seems to rule over the whole place or those small select group, that would seem to know everyone else business no matter how private the subject. and whist I suspect that these elements could apply to small communities the world over here she manages to walk the linen between quaint and downright sinister. And bring out those elements of the British class system that too often are not seen by those who have not grown up here.  

     The narrative went a long way in reminding me of British horror films of the seventies. If set in England they seemed to exclusively take place in such settings. Maybe it came from a fear of leaving the bustling metropolis and heading off into the wild and untamed who knows. Either way, Tudor managed to pluck just the right pieces from this whilst creating something uniquely her own and modern. And whilst this is not a book of balls to the wall blood spraying here, there, and everywhere horror. Her stories always manage to bring a certain amount of chills and fear to the table. Throughout The Buring Girls, her villains seemed to be heightened versions of people we have seen and even the more supernatural elements find themselves grounded within the realms of her story. In part, I think this is her constant refusal to stick within the confines of one genre. The narrative here dips its foot wherever it plesases in pursuit of where the story must go. But in creating this wonderful hybrid she manages to lock her reads in. So that by the time we come crashing into the brutal climax you could not pull yourself away even if you wanted to.

     For me, this was one of those right books at the right time. Her works always captivate me and The Burning Girls were no different.  It's this very twisted and macabre tale given a very human touch. That whilst the event that takes place here seems to be from a nightmare they are not that far removed from the world that we might dismiss them as some sort of elaborate Hollywood fair. Overall this is a solid book for mystery, thriller, or horror fans. On a side note, I did feel a little proud of myself for having seen all the great horror films made reference within the pages. But anyway for me she did it again and wrote a book that I could scarcely put down.