In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real—and she could prove it.

That belief got Becca killed.

It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night—that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.




Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a great experience first time reading anything from this author. It had me on the edge of my seat.

Four teenage girls with a morbid fascination with serial killers and death form the Dead Girls Club, where they read about Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and other killers. Then one of the girls, Becca begins to talk about the Red Lady, a woman buried alive for witchcraft centuries earlier. She becomes so fixated on her, it begins to drive a wedge between the girls. Years later, as adult Heather is spooked when reminders of Becca and TDGC begin arriving in the mail. Only Becca could have access to the objects and information Heather is getting, but Becca is dead, as Heather well knows. The premise for this book is fantastic, but it falters somewhat in the telling. The back and forth between past and present is a little clunky and there are no huge surprises.

From the very beginning I did not like the protagonist/narrator. I find her selfish, self-centered, egotistical, and a drama queen. Almost immediately she goes into the "huff, puff, I'll swoon" stage like a well-bred Victorian noblewoman on her fainting couch. I'm reminded of the antagonist Kate in Robyn Harding's HER PRETTY FACE; I could not abide her character either (though I adored the book). Heather also reminds me of the unreliable narrator of GIRL ON A TRAIN. This protagonist has no reason I could see to be as she is: she didn't have an abusive childhood; she had supportive and loving parents, a best friend, and two other almost-best friends. They seemed to have much freedom as far as being able to roam and go about, separately and together. Perhaps she is one of those cases of "damned by faint praise," a person whose life is too stable so she gets spoiled and seeks out excitement, then blames her failings on others (including the victim).

All that aside, the novel did catch my interest about 18% in, and the plot is intriguing, especially certain events which begin to occur in the life of the protagonist in an odd but compelling sequence, so that the reader wonders if the protagonist is having blank spells and acting thus herself, or is being gaslighted, or is in actuality being threatened. Throughout the story, the past is interwoven with the present, so that we see why events in the past happened as they did, and in what I think is the denouement, we find out exactly what was and was not done that fateful past night, and why, and what were the intents. I will only say how tragic, for all, but especially for some.

Despite my strong and persistent dislike of the protagonist, Heather Cole, the story line did maintain its intrigue and keep me turning the pages till the end.

For #stitchmaynia11 I'm working on Glendon Place's Monster Mash. I'm stitching it on a fabric called Eye of Newt, This was the perfect recipe of my favorite kind of Thriller. And it delivered. The characters are well fleshed out and you either like them or you don't like them but they seem real. The story moves along at a good pace, not too fast not too slow - so you really find yourself falling into the storyline, wondering what's going to happen next.

*I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and exchange for a fair and honest review.* is a 32-count line by Weeks Dye Works - deep outrange with smudges of purple.

It's a lovely fabric. I'm using the monochromatic palette, in black and in the purple of 208 209 and 210. I've always loved the old style Universal monsters and this is what it reminds me the most!

Happy Saturday stitching, everyone!

"What begins as a story became something more, and what started as a chain around my ankle turned into a noose around my neck. Maybe Becca and I were damned from the first mention of her name."
Twelve year olds Heather, Becca and two other friends made up a club called the Dead Girls Club where they talked about serial killers and exchanged ghost stories. One night Becca tells her friends about about a witch name the red lady who she truly believed was real. This belief got her killed...by her best friend Heather. Now 30 years later, Heather has still not told anyone the truth about what has happened but when she received the necklace Becca was wearing the night she died in the mail, she knows that she is not the only one who knows her secret.

I am not normally do nothing ready supernatural thrillers but I decided to give this one a try. Unfortunately, it fell pretty flat. The writing was a bit all over the place and very choppy. There was no development of the characters and overall I just didn't find it very engaging.