Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech @LouiseWriter @OrendaBooks #MustReads

Today I’m thrilled to be able to share my review for Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech. This book is a ‘MUST’ read for those readers who love a character led psychology thriller with a dark 🖤

Tonight is the night for secrets…

Pregnant Victoria Valbon was brutally murdered in an alley three weeks ago – and her killer hasn’t been caught.

Tonight is Stella McKeever’s final radio show. The theme is secrets. You tell her yours, and she’ll share some of hers.

Stella might tell you about Tom, a boyfriend who likes to play games, about the mother who abandoned her, now back after twelve years. She might tell you about the perfume bottle with the star-shaped stopper, or about her father …

What Stella really wants to know is more about the mysterious man calling the station … who says he knows who killed Victoria, and has proof.

Tonight is the night for secrets, and Stella wants to know everything…

With echoes of the chilling Play Misty for Me, Call Me Star Girl is a taut, emotive and all-consuming psychological thriller that plays on our deepest fears, providing a stark reminder that stirring up dark secrets from the past can be deadly…

Louise Beech is such a versatile author, each of her books has made for an original read, each one has been different in tone, characters and plot, which for me means the author’s books are a “MUST” read. This is the author’s first foray into the psychological genre, but never fear yet again the author has written a book that has all her trademarks, a compelling plot, steeped in emotion, beautifully written, and yet within its covers lie a dark and disquieting read. Call Me Star Girl is a book that is guaranteed to haunt you long after you reach the last page of this all-consuming dark psychological thriller.

It’s Stella McKeever’s last ever radio show, and she wants to make sure it’s her best one yet, so decides to ask her listeners to share their secrets and in return she will share hers, which immediately gave me a sense of foreboding, we all know what happens when secrets are shared, right? Emotions are stirred, long buried memories are disturbed, a baring of the soul rarely ends in a ‘happy ever after’ for anyone. Throw into the mix the fact a local girl has been found murdered in an alley, and the scene is set. Louise Beech weaves a complex tale featuring flawed characters, layered in oodles of tension that made this novel such an unsettling but fabulous read.

I must congratulate the author on creating the perfect setting for this novel, As the reader it takes little imagination to summon up the radio station at night, a place where every shadow, and every noise adds a sense of trepidation to to the read, is someone hiding in the shadows? Or is Louise Beech toying with the reader? The authors characters have the ability to consume your every waking moment, they may be flawed, they may not be likeable, they may even be untrustworthy but I can guarantee their story will enthral you, you will eagerly turn the pages, looking to find how the pieces of this finely tuned puzzle fit together.

Told from the POV of Stella and Elizabeth the mother who abandoned her, you will experience feelings and emotions you never thought possible, their stories will pull at your heartstrings when you least expect it. The author explores themes of abandonment, sacrifice and love, and in doing so has written a tense and atmospheric read. In my humble opinion this is the author’s best book yet and a must read for those who love a riveting psychological thriller that’s very much character led but with a dark heart. It’s definitely a book that will be on my top reads of 2019 at the end of the year, and that’s a fact!

Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Orenda Books in paperback (18 April 2019) available on kindle NOW

Buying links: Amazon UK 🇬🇧 Amazon US 🇺🇸