The Cursed Girls

#TheCursedGirls #NetGalley
A good read.
Megan Melvick has returned home after a three-year absence to visit her dying sister, Melissa, for the last time. As she approaches the grand Scottish country estate where she grew up, the memories come flooding back. Just what did happen on the night of Melissa's wedding five years before? Where has Megan and Melissa's mother disappeared to? And why does Melissa whisper that solitary word before she finally slips away: Sorry.
In order to overcome her demons, Megan must confront her painful recollections of that terrible night, the night of Melissa's wedding. The night somebody died. But can she really trust her memories? And who is so determined that she should forget?
Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for giving me an advanced copy of this book.

Fast paced roller that literally kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page. Characters are realistic and the story draws you in quickly. I highly recommend this book.

Megan's sister is dying. After three years away from her family she is going back to the family estate. While there she discovers things aren't what they seem.
A story of family dysfunction and murder.
Great storyline and characters.

Having and loved all the Anderson and Costello mysteries, this one one-off was even better. Really well constructed and the characters made this a marvelous read. Caro Ramsay deserves be more well known here in the States.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Thorn for an advance copy of The Cursed Girls, a stand-alone psychological thriller set on a family estate on the West Coast of Scotland.

Megan Melvick returns home to the estate she fled three years earlier because her sister is dying. Megan feels like an outsider, her mother left just before she did and hasn’t been heard from again, her deafness means she doesn’t catch everything being said and there are too many secrets.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Cursed Girls which is a mesmerising tale of secrets, lies and misinterpretations. I wasn’t sure of what I was going to get with this novel as it isn’t my usual fare, but Ms Ramsay’s name was enough to give it a try and I’m so glad I did. I was blown away by the mystery, the execution and the characters.

Where to start? The novel is told alternately from Megan and her best friend Carla’s points of view. Megan is somewhat naïve and trusting, living in a bubble and floating through life, taking what she’s told at face value. Carla, on the other hand, is tough, street smart, slightly anarchic, due to a troubled upbringing, and very funny in her acerbic, sometimes bawdy take on life and analysis of events
. Their present day is tied up in the past so they both muse over past seminal events to try and make sense of the present. I found the contrast between their two strong voices fascinating and compulsive. All, however, is not as it initially seems so there are plenty of twists and surprises for the reader.

The novel is very well paced with hints and reveals in every chapter and I found myself analysing every little snippet for a clue about what was going on. I can’t say that my analysis took me very far as there is always a new reveal to supersede any line I thought I might have. There is a denouement in the novel, but it doesn’t seem so important in comparison with all the secrets that are laid bare and the home truths that the girls have to learn. I found this really interesting as normally I’m all about the perpetrator and their just deserts. I think it’s a testament to the characters and their story that I feel like this.

The Cursed Girls is one of the best books I have read this year so I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Full of suspense
Fast paced
Very well written
Highly recommend this book

Thank you netgalley, Caro Ramsey and Black Thorn

Megan Melvick returns to her Scottish island based ancestral home to say her goodbyes to her dying sister Melissa. This is a family that has had more than it’s fair share of tragedies such as one five years ago at Melissa’s wedding in which someone dies, there have been suicides and for the last three years their mother Beth has been missing. Will the many demons that Megan is carrying be finally laid to rest?

First of all, I really enjoy seeing the dark pieces of the Melvick family jigsaw slot into place through Megan’s eyes. She is fascinating and her growing insights give us a really good picture of the events of the last twenty years or so. I like her humour especially on Heather (the Plether) who is trying to fill Beth’s obviously expensive boots/shoes and get her own quite well shod feet under the wealthy Melvick table. The characters are good although not necessarily likeable or even trustworthy and in fact it’s very hard to determine in whom to place your trust. The storytelling is full of atmosphere on this small island (I’m imagining Arran or Bute), we have an old house, family portraits with beady ancestral eyes seemingly observing the proceedings (if only they could talk!), ghostly presences, circling rooks the harbingers of doom, faery pools and creepy Tenton Woods which are as dark and forbidden as the mysterious past. There’s a building toxic atmosphere growing, an air of malevolent uncertainty. This is a family that has controlled its secrets but they can remain contained no longer. I like the way the conclusion and outcome builds and there’s a clever nod to Agatha in the Christiesque summoning to the Drawing Room by the investigating detective thus confronting the suspects just as the Queen of Crime would have done.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery which is a compelling, well written novel. This sure is one dysfunctional family!

With thanks to NetGalley and Blackthorn for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Edge of your seat kind of book. The Cursed Girls is a page turner.

Very well-crafted characters and a captivating storyline. Definitely a winner!

This is a fast paced story full of suspense which had me hooked from the very beginning. There was lots of twists and turns and it definitely didn’t end how I was expecting!

A gripping tale, I was unable to put it down until the very last page, highly recommended. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advance copy of this book.

4.5 stars.
I'm a big fan of this author's Anderson & Costello series of Police Procedural books so I was quite intrigued to see how she would do with a stand-alone psychological thriller. And I wasn't disappointed.
Megan returns home to say goodbye to her sister Melissa who is at death's door. She's pretty much estranged and it's been three years since she visited. She has her reasons. Just before she dies, Melissa whispers something to Megan, something she can't quite understand the reasons behind. What is she sorry for? Soon, the memories of growing up on the big Scottish estate where she is now staying start to flood back - alarmingly so - especially those of Melissa's wedding some five years since, and Megan starts to worry that her past is coming back to haunt her, especially regarding best friend Carla and what happened to her on that day. It was also soon after the wedding that their mother upped and left, there was talk of an affair but nothing solid and she has not been seen or heard of since, apart from one message soon after leaving. There's a lot more that goes on in this book but it is so convoluted and interconnected that pretty much everything else I could say might include spoilers.
Suffice to say that this book held me rapt throughout my time reading it. I was, along with Megan, pretty much confused for the majority but, instead of feeling uncomfortable, I revelled in this feeling as it brought me closer to Megan as a character in a quite claustrophobic, but satisfying, way. As others have said, it is a bit Agatha Christie in style - the big country house, one policeman investigating and a similar style of reveal - but it's not a copycat by any means. The story and characters stand up themselves very well.
It's a story about secrets and control. There are various family issues throughout, some more influential than others, some really rather shocking too. Sibling rivalry is a bit front and centre too as Melissa is the golden child to Megan's black sheep! And there's a fair slice of manipulation to be found too - all elements that, if done well, can make a book of this genre. And they are!
All in all, an interesting change for an already enjoyed author, more of the same please! My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.