CJ Tudor is excellent as always. A recommended first purchase for collections where thrillers are popular.

The Burning Girls is about Rev. Jack Brooks and her daughter, Flo, who moved to the small hamlet of Chapel Croft. They faced a community of malice, a legend of burning girls and martyrs, and many dark moments including a few murders.

I did not enjoy the writing style. The constant switching of POVs was confusing. There were many storylines happening at once, and they all came together much too abruptly at the end. Abruptly to the point of preposterous.

I expected to like this one more than I did because I so enjoyed Ms. Tudor’s previous books. It was a bit disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

After an unfortunate incident at her local parish, Reverend Jack Brooks and her teenage daughter, Flo, are sent to Chapel Croft to fill in as the temporary vicar. Jack hopes that her interim position will allow her to find some peace until things return to normal back home. Upon her arrival, Jack receives an unwelcome gift comprised of an old exorcism kit along with a threatening scripture. The village residents hold deep-rooted superstitions, leaving "burning girls" as offerings around the parish in which eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake 500 years prior. The disappearance of two teen girls and the apparent suicide of the previous vicar appear to play a role in the town's dark history. Jack will have to expose the truth and face her past before she and Flo become the next victims.

The Burning Girls is the brilliantly sinister new novel by C.J. Tudor...one of my all-time favorite authors. The novel begins with our main protagonist, Reverend Jack Brooks, whose sexually ambiguous name plays a role not only in her character development but also as a main plot twist of the novel. Jack's daughter Flo reminds me a bit of Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice) as a bit of a social outcast with a love of photography who is drawn to the darker history of the village. Although this novel does contain aspects of the horror genre (ghosts, witch trials, etc.) it could easily be classified as a dark mystery/thriller. The novel has several underlying plot points that eventually come together making one heck of a surprise ending. The Burning Girls was the perfect fall read for me with its chilling atmosphere and occult theme...a must read for fans of C.J. Tudor.

Thanks Ballantine books and Netgalley for an ARC.
C.J Tudor at her best. Creepy good full of twists and turns and lots of surprises. Set in a small village known for its burning of martyrs during the reign of Catholic Mary in the sixteenth century. A vicar and her daughter are sent to this parish and mysteries unfold. The last few chapters unfold so fast that you are left gut punched.

An unconventional vicar moves to a remote corner of the English countryside, only to discover a community haunted by death and disappearances both past and present--and intent on keeping its dark secrets--in this explosive, unsettling thriller from acclaimed author C. J. Tudor.
I have been following this author since the very first book and I've yet to read one that doesn't deliver a big punch in a subtle and unnerving way. While this story veers more towards full supernatural than the prior books, it's still a believable and compelling, not to mention chilling, read. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Single parent, Reverend Jack Brooks, moves to Chapel Croft with daughter, Flo, in tow after a horrific incident at St. Anne's in Nottingham hoping for a new start for them both. Unfortunately, some secrets don't stay buried, and the past can be a dark and dangerous place.

I have described CJ Tudor's writing as delightfully creepy, and she doesn't disappoint with this new book, The Burning Girls. The stories of three pasts entwine peppered liberally with movie references, some of which just might be clues for the reader. How do the stories of the Sussex Martyrs, the 30 year disappearance of two teen girls, and Jack's own story relate to one another? Do they at all?

The past comes back to haunt everyone in this new novel by CJ Tudor.

A mother also a vicar, and her teenage daughter are sent packing to a new parish in rural UK. When they arrive they slowly are realizing there are some strange activities and a folklore of the Burning Girls. As always Tudor relates another fun u ravel the mystery with a lot of suspense. Well done.

What a great read! C.J. Tudor is fantastic. This could be her best yet.
Creepy, supernatural mystery with little cliffhangers ending each chapter.
Absolutely loved it! Read this, and all of her books. A definite must read author.

Oh this is a difficult review for me to write. I really enjoyed “The Chalkman” and “The Other People” but with this new book I think that Ms.Tudor has crossed that line between thriller and horror.

This was a bit of a shock to me. I’m fine with ghosts and supernatural elements. The burning girls I knew were trying to warn them of bad things that were going to happen. The descriptions and stories of the Sussex Martyrs’ from the 16th century were appalling but those were different times.

What felt so very evil and stomach churning to me were the descriptions of teenage bullying, to the point of harm. Physical violence with a “satanic feel” made the book uncomfortable for me to read.

So those are some of the thoughts I wanted to share. As for a synopsis, this is a novel about a single priest, Jack, raising a 15 year old daughter, Flo. After an incident at her parish, involving an exorcism gone very wrong, she is assigned a position in a small town, Chapel Cross, where the 16th century burning of martyrs occurred. Jack is not really happy with the placement but she goes along with it. Her daughter would have preferred a larger city.

The congregation is a small one. Upon arriving, Jack finds out some things about her predecessor that are very disturbing. She’s also been left a box from him which includes an exorcism kit.

Aside from the dark history of the Sussex Martyrs’, there is also the mystery of two teenage girls missing for 30 years. The longer Jack and Flo are in the town the more secrets and lies they discover.

Meanwhile Flo is spending the summer quite alone. She isn’t bothered by it at first because she loves to take photographs and developes them herself. She and her mom are trying to decide if the basement could be converted to a darkroom.

Finally she meets a boy about her age. They have some great conversations and things are going well. Flo may be having her first teenage crush.

As with most young girls in love, sometimes Flo dropped her defenses and did some dangerous things. There will be lessons to be learned. Rosie is another “friend” to watch, she’s a real charmer.

There are so many twists in this one it will make your head spin. Unfortunately for me parts of this novel moved in the horror genre or mood and I didn’t enjoy that feeling. Obviously her writing is incredible if it can make me feel the horror, but I was sort of blindsided by it.

There are many people who loved this book. Ms. Tudor is an amazing writer, this story just wasn’t one of my favorites. One thing I think it lacked was character development, and perhaps that was partly the intent (you’ll know what I mean when you read the book)

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
The novel is set to publish on February 9, 2021

Will publish to Amazon upon publication

“The Burning Girls” is another great thriller by C.J. Tudor. Jack Brooks and her teen daughter move to the English countryside town of Chapel Croft where she has taken a job as the church rector.
The town has a dubious past of ghosts, exorcism, and missing girls. Jack and her daughter, Flo become entangled in the town’s murderous past.

I had a hard time putting down this book. It was extremely suspenseful and the writing and characters were quite good. The one negative criticism I gave is that there were too many plot lines happening and it made it a little unfocused.

Enthralling from the first drop of blood, and that appears quickly at the end of chapter two.
Gripping, twisting, turning, and intriguing.
Right up to the very last chapter... where the reader is blindsided. Totally not what I expected.
CJ Tudor has a true gift. She captures you, develops the characters, builds the scenery, paints the grotesque events, and masterminds the psychological game so well, you think you’re standing right there, witnessing it all.... can you smell the burn?

Phenomenal read. I’ve said this before, but I can’t wait for the next book!

Thank you, CJ Tudor, Kathleen Quinlan, and Random House for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

4 fiery stars

This is my fourth book of C.J. Tudor’s and I was very excited to get the chance to read an early copy. It was also great timing for me to read this just a bit before Halloween as it is spooky!

Picture the setting in the UK – Chapel Croft – with a rich history of religious martyrs burned at the stake and disappearances of local girls all amidst a troubled parish. To commemorate this history, villagers burn stick dolls once a year in celebration.

The main character in this one is Reverend Jack Brooks. Jack is assigned to the village of Chapel Croft and arrives with Flo, 14-years-old. Strange events soon engulf the two including visions of burning girls, an exorcism set, and a mysterious crypt. If you see the burning girls, something bad is supposed to be coming. Flo seems to make some questionable choices, but then again, she is a teenager!

There’s a separate storyline of a man released from prison and it took awhile to figure out just who this was and the relevance to the story.

Will Jack and Flo get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings or will they become part of the troubled history? This one was a slow simmer for most of the book, but the ending packed a wallop and really made the book!

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

What a horrifying title, especially because it's referring to two young girls being burned, after being tortured, all in the name of religion. This happened 500 years ago, when eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake, in Chapel Croft. Now, Reverend Jack Brooks and her fifteen year old daughter are in Chapel Croft so that Jack can tend to the parish, after the last reverend hung himself. Although the location might have some slight resemblance to the TV show Midsomer Murders, as Jack will mention, things run much deeper and darker in Chapel Croft. Jack has her own murky path, covered in controversy, blood, and death and there is a violent stalker, who has just been released from prison. 

Things immediately go badly when Jack and Flo arrive at their new home, with a bloody child arriving at the chapel, stories of sightings of the two burning martyred girls, and secretive and unwelcoming parishioners. Flo becomes friends with a strange, awkward boy, Jack is having terrible nightmares of the past and present, and few people want to discuss what has happened in the past. There is also the parish history of two teenage girls disappearing thirty years ago. And Jack is left a box that contains an exorcism kit and a scriptural warning. Jack is leaving a bloody controversy behind but seems to have landed in even more trouble than she has left. 

I really enjoyed this story a lot although the teenage vicious bullying was more horrifying to me than the legends and sightings of the burning girls. But the bullying isn't just from teenagers, there are parishioners that are bullies, too. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...parents need to beware of behavior that they may be passing on to their children. This is a complex tale with several timelines and with lots of characters to follow. After I finished the story, I had to think about what I'd read to figure out everything that had happened. It was less scary in a ghostly way but instead in real life "humans are cruel" way. 

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Absolutely loved this, couldn’t put it down, all of the twists just blew me away!!!! Fantastic!

This author does not let me down!

THE BURNING GIRLS STILL HAUNT THE CHAPEL...IF YOU SEE THEM, SOMETHING BAD WILL BEFALL YOU..

Reverend Jack Brooks is a Vicar with vices, a wicked sense of humor, and a 15 year old daughter named Flo.

Transferred to Chapel Croft, on an interim basis, the two are greeted with replicas of the Burning girls-twig dolls made each year to commemorate the Sussex Martyrs-eight villagers burnt at the stake during Queen Mary’s purge of the Protestants (1553-8), which are set alight annually on the anniversary of the purge.

And, an exorcism Kit.

Because that isn’t all that has happened in this small town.

30 years ago, two teenage girls went missing, never to be seen or heard from again.
And, two months ago, the presiding Vicar took his own life.

And, now Flo is starting to see visions of the original Burning Girls in the chapel and the adjacent graveyard.

This story starts with a simmer, as the plot points are developed, but the ending is SIZZLING!
I never saw the final reveal coming, and it elevated what had been just a good read for me, to 4⭐️S!

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the invitation to read this early!
It was my pleasure to provide a candid review!

Available Feb. 9, 2021

When Jack and her daughter Flo move to Chapel Croft, their expectations are low. After all, it is a small village where nothing much happens, and coming here was not Jack's choice. She will be the temporary vicar, sent to replace the recently deceased one. Neither one is prepared for the secrets the town holds and nothing in Chapel Croft is what it seems.
For a town in the middle of nowhere, Chapel Croft has quite a history. From Protestant martyrs burned alive, to missing girls, to creepy twig dolls, there is an awful lot of unsavory history here. A wealthy family seemingly above the rules, a little girl who accidentally died, and the fact that the last vicar killed himself make this assignment anything but boring. But Jack has secrets too and someone dangerous is hot on her trail.
Numerous mysteries are waiting to be revealed and I was left with my mouth hanging open and my jaw on the floor more than once. When everything came together and I read the last page, all I could think was C. J. Tudor has done it again. My super sleuth book detective powers were foiled by her words, or as I like to call them, her kryptonite. I absolutely loved Jack as this character had more layers than an onion.
I have read some very good books that are publishing in 2021, and this one ranks right on top. When I hear that the author is publishing a new book, I don't have to see the cover and I don't have to read the synopsis. All I need is to get my hands on a copy and clear my schedule because I won't be getting anything done until I finish. Creepy, clever, and oh so twisty! Did I mention I loved it!

Jack and her teenage daughter move to a small village for Jack to be the vicar of the church. The town is infamous for burning protestant martyrs 500 years ago. Odd things seem to be happening: the daughter sees ghosts, the mom sees lights in the locked up church, an exorcism kit is delivered to Jack plus the disappearance of two teenage girls years ago. Some chapters are narrated by a strange man who recently was released from jail and others are told by one of the missing girls. As Jack comes closer to the truth, she and her daughter are placed in danger. What are the many secrets of Chapel Croft?

Having your parish priest be accused of neglect and having blood on their hands, due the death of a young girl at a Nottingham parish, is not exactly good for church business, so the powers that be are quick to ship Rev. Jack Brooks and daughter, Flo, off to a new parish in the English countryside, away from the unforgiving lens of the big city press. Jack is looking for a respite, a place to relax the mind and nourish the soul, sadly, Rev. Jack won't be finding any of that in Chapel Croft a town ripe with a malevolent secrets, murdered citzens, missing girls, and malicious people. Can the reverend and the daughter survive this town with their lives unblemished and their faith intact? I suggest you pick up The Burning Girls when drops Feb 9, 2021 to find out.

The Burning Girls is a fast paced, thrilling, and horrifying page turner. C.J. Tudor just keeps getting better with each book, concise yet eloquent writing, knotty stories, and vulnerable but strong and evolved characters check all the boxes of what I crave in the horror/creepy thriller genre. I really enjoyed it 4.75 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Burning Girls.

I enjoyed the author's previous book so I was excited when my request was approved.

The Burning Girls superseded my expectations; it was thrilling, suspenseful and had a few twists I didn't see coming. I love it when that happens because it rarely does!

Jack Brooks is a vicar who has been relocated, with her teenage daughter, to a small town after suffering a personal tragedy from her last parish.

The town has a dark religious history and coupled with the tragedy of the disappearance of two young girls from over two decades ago, Jack and her daughter will soon realize that the past never truly dies.

I really liked Jack; at first her nickname made me assume she was a he (I don't know any vicars since I'm a New Yorker) but Jack as a protagonist and as a female in a male dominated career taught me about my own prejudices about the gender I assume will be in a given role.

Jack is a good mother and a good person; it's rare to read about a person of faith and the author describes Jack well and why she chose her profession.

I also liked her daughter; she's a teen but not annoying. She loves her mother; she's a bit angsty, irritated at having to uproot her life (who wouldn't be?), yet also creative, smart and self-aware, rare for a young woman.

My favorite parts were the origin story behind The Burning Girls and the supernatural element.

There's a lot going on; the sudden death of a previous vicar, a hidden crypt, a family secret, a few mysteries solved, but the author handles all these plot threads well and concludes them satisfactorily.

The biggest twist I figured out early on but there were a few I didn't expect or see. Very exciting!

The Burning Girls was a very surprising (in a good way) and thrilling read. I can't wait to see what the author has planned for her next book!

Loved this book! My second of CJ Tudor’s, but definitely not my last! This book was very well written, unputdownable, and at times scary book! I loved the way it intertwined the horror, with some possible supernatural, myths in small towns, and mystery with suspense mixed together! I found the characters to be very well developed, and the story quite haunting! Lots of stocks, chills, scares, and even thrills! Highly, highly recommend, as I promise it’s not one to be missed! Make sure to clear scheduled and not start before bedtime!

Will make sure to buzz around and use lower amazon reviewer number on release date!