“Love isn’t a choice. It’s a compulsion.”
C.J. Tudor is a bestelling British author best known for dabbling in the dark and macabre. After leaving school at sixteen, she fell into a job as a television presenter for a show called Moviewatch where she interviewed celebrities ranging from Robin Williams, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Douglas, Emma Thompson and Robert Downey Jr. First published in 2018, The Chalk Man was her debut novel and instantly became a Sunday Times bestseller, won the Barry Award for Best First Novel and made its way across thirty-nine territories. C.J. Tudor books are known for their creepy vibes, complex and captivating storytelling and jaw-dropping twists. So, if you’re like us and love all things thriller, join us at What We Reading as we run through the best C.J. Tudor books in order!
The Chalk Man (2018)
The Chalk Man is C.J. Tudor’s debut release and was nominated for both Best Debut Author and Best Mystery & Thriller in the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards. In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the cusp of adolescence. They spend their days cycling around their sleepy English village, looking for any excitement they can get. They all leave chalk stick figures around the town as messages for one another that only they can understand. Then, a mysterious chalk man leads them to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same again for them.
In 2016, Eddie is fully grown and thinks he can put the past behind him. But then he gets a letter containing a single chalk stick figure. When all of his friends get the same letter, they dismiss it as a prank. Until one of them winds up dead. To save himself, Eddie must finally figure out what happened all those years ago.
Check Out Our The Chalk Man Book Review
The Hiding Place (2019)
Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang – the betrayal, the suicide, the truth behind what happened when his sister vanished, the last thing in the world he wants to do is return to his hometown. But, after a chilling email lands in his inbox, he knows that he has no choice.
Lying his way into a job at his old high school is the easy part. Reuniting with his one-time friends (none of whom are pleased to see him return) – whilst avoiding the enemies he’s made in the years since – is a much tougher task. But the hardest part of all will be returning to the abandoned mine where his life changed forever. Where he will have to confront the awful truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn’t when his sister disappeared. It was when she came back. First published in 2019, The Hiding Place is one of the best C.J. Tudor books for readers looking for plenty of twists and some serious horror vibes.
The Other People (2020)
Driving home one night, stuck behind a beaten-up old car, Gabe sees a little girl’s face appear in the rearview mirror. She mouths one word: ‘Daddy’. It’s his five-year-old daughter, Izzy. Three years later, Gabe spends his days and nights travelling up and down the same motorway, searching for the car that took his daughter. Most believe she is dead. But Gabe refuses to give up hope.
Fran and her daughter, Alice, put in a lot of miles on the motorway. Not searching, but running. Doing all they can to stay one step ahead of the people who want to hurt them. Because Fran knows the truth. She knows what happened to Gabe’s daughter. Then the car that Gabe saw is found, in a lake, with a body inside. His search leads him to a group called The Other People. If you’ve lost a loved one, The Other People want to help. They know what loss is like, they know what pain is like. The only problem? They want others to know what it’s like too. 2020’s The Other People is a mystery-thriller where C.J. Tudor showcases the influence authors like Harlan Coben have had on her writing.
The Burning Girls (2021)
Five hundred years ago, eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake in the village of Chapel Croft. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And, just two months ago, the local vicar killed himself. Reverend Jack Brooks, a single mother with a fourteen-year-old daughter, arrives in the village hoping to make a fresh start and find some peace.
Instead, she finds a community shrouded in secrecy. She is given a strange welcome gift: an old exorcism kit and a scrawled note quoting scripture. The more Jack and her daughter, Flo, get familiar with Chapel Croft and its inhabitants, the deeper they find themselves pulled into its rifts, mysteries and suspicions. And when Flo spots something eerie in the chapel, it soon becomes clear that there are some ghosts in the village that refuse to be laid to rest. But uncovering the truth can be a deadly affair in a place where everyone has something to protect, and no one trusts an outsider.
Check Out Our The Burning Girls Book Review
The Drift (2023)
Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and splintered glass. During her escape from an isolated boarding school, her coach spun over a hillside road during a snowstorm, trapping her inside with a handful of survivors, a virus brewing and no means of getting help. Former detective Meg wakes up in a cable car suspended over a snowstorm surrounded by strangers with no memory of how they got there. Carter is gazing out the window at the abandoned ski chalet he and his compatriots call home. They fasten together a precarious survival against a deadly virus. But, as their generator begins to waver, the threat of something outside their chalet threatens to sever the fragile bonds they have built over the years.
2023’s The Drift is the story of three ordinary people who risk everything for a chance at redemption. Audacious, ambitious and gripping, it is one of the best C.J. Tudor books that captures the feel of catastrophe and survival at the end of the world.
Check Out Our The Drift Book Review
The Gathering (2024)
In a small Alaska town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The inhabitants of Deadhart haven’t seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. But, they know who is responsible: a member of the Colony, an outcast community of vampyrs hiding out in an old mine deep in the forest.
Detective Barbara Atkins is an expert in vampyr killings. She is called in to determine whether this a genuine killing, and to authorise a culling of the Colony. Determined to uncover the truth, Barbara enlists the help of Sheriff Jenson Tucker, a man who knows the Colony better than anyone, but whose previous investigation nearly cost him his life. In her 2024 book The Gathering, C.J. Tudor goes full-on horror as this pair delves into the town’s history, uncovering secrets darker than they could have ever imagined. As the snow thickens and the nights grow darker, a killer stalks Deadhart. But, are they hunting a bloodthirsty monster or a twisted psychopath?
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
