Book Review: The Burning Girls

When reverend Jack Brooks and her 15-year-old daughter, Flo, move from their big-city life in Nottingham to the remote hamlet of Chapel Croft in Sussex, all they hope is for a fresh start. But what instead welcomes them is a place with a troubled history of its own, a sleepy village mired in secrets and mysterious disappearances involving two teenage girls 30 years ago, with the ravages of time erasing whatever trail is left of them. Things soon start going south once Jack discovers that her predecessor killed himself, leading her to get to the bottom of the mystery, little realising that she may be putting herself on the line. Tales set around interconnected events in the past and present are nothing new, but C. J. Tudor, to her credit, weaves an engaging story of abuse and trauma, garnishing it with elements of horror and the supernatural, even as the truths, lies, deceptions, and murders, old and new, come to light in a twisted, if slightly indequate, conclusion. The setup's intrigue and backstory offers flashes of what The Burning Girls might have been, but it's let down by half-baked plotting that stumbles considerably in its middle portions and stretches itself too thin before finally clicking into place.