22 – C.J. Tudor and the Lure of the Oddball Loners

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In a week in which the White House becomes a little less orange, it’s hard to dwell on the nasty side of life. But this is Talking Scared and we can find the grim and creepy on even the most optimistic days.

Our guest is C.J. Tudor – the current queen of the British thriller. She sits quite comfortably on the cusp of horror and crime, and we get into the subject of exactly where that borderline is. Her new novel, The Burning Girls continues her blending of the fast-paced American thriller, with the folk-tradition of the British horror story. A tale about a vicar, who moves with her daughter to a small Sussex town, with a terrible history of child sacrifice, and a more recent taste for murder and suicide – what’s not to like? 

C.J and I talk in depth about the perils of causing offence in your fiction, how to write a vicar protagonist, and what it felt like when Stephen King said he liked her book! Oh, and I may cause a bit of controversy when I give Kubrick’s adaption of The Shining a good kicking.

The Burning Girls is published by Michael Joseph Books on January 21st 2021. 

Other books discussed include:

• The Chalk Man (2018), by CJ Tudor
• The Other People (2020), by CJ Tudor
• The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018), by Stuart Turton
• The Last (2019), by Hanna Jameson
• If It Bleeds (2020), by Stephen King
• The Shining (1977), by Stephen King 

Come talk books with us on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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