The Chalk Man Mass Market Paperback – 25 May 2021

“What shapes us is not always our achievements but our omissions. Not lies; simply the truths we don’t tell.”4-stars (3.5 rounded up) for Tudor’s debut novel that was extremely well plotted with the perfect creepy atmosphere that is just ideal for Halloween month and with a killer ending that I just didn’t see coming.The Plot - The story is told in two timelines 1986 and 2016 with many of the characters at play over the two timelines. Four 12 year old boys stumble across chalk drawings in the trees, after a freak accident with a fair ground ride – the waltzer and a rotting corpse. Curious about the chalk drawings they start to leave messages for each other that only they know the meaning of.Fast forward to 2016, and it is Mickey’s return that resurrects those dark memories of the gruesome discovery and the chalk drawings and with a someone claiming to know who was behind the killing we are off on a suspenseful mystery and voyage of discovery as we do some ‘detecting’ that didn’t end well for me. I got the wrong person.What I loved about the bookThe ending was superb. I thought I had this whodunnit sussed from earlier in the book, to be completely caught off guard at the end. What a conclusion – just brilliant.The relationships among the boys and men was fascinating. Whilst I wasn’t particularly invested in any of the individual characters, I was drawn into the intriguing group dynamics that kept spinning in different directions throughout the story.The mystery, plot and story were suitably complex that will keep you immersed as the author revealed secrets and elements to the story and characters – all at a steady pace.The story telling was excellent and the author created a very creepy atmosphere that lingered throughout the book, a book boarding on horror at times.What I did not enjoy!!!First of all, the characters, I just didn’t engage with any nor did I think any particularly likeable so when events happened, I didn’t shutter or care much and I want to be horrified and shocked. The pace was good, but it was like sitting on a motorway at 50 miles an hour wishing the driver would speed up because everyone else is flying past. I kept itching for the book to pick up in pace. Alas it did not. That said – it did not dip either.Overall, the author chalked up a very good debut, hence the rounding up for a great plot, the intense and creepy atmosphere, and one of the best endings for a thriller.

It was the second week of our summer holiday. The weather was a little cooler than it had been, and the sunny spells punctuated by the odd thundery shower. But that didn’t matter, because we had moved our caravan to the middle of the New Forest, where the canopies created by the overhanging trees did a very good job of absorbing or diverting light rain before it actually hit the ground. And even when the rain got a bit heavier, that was OK too. Because have you ever been in a caravan, with a glass of wine – well, alright, several glasses. Large ones – on the table next to you, listening to the sound of the rain on the roof? Provided you’re not actually trying to sleep, it’s surprisingly therapeutic. And of course, it gives you plenty of reading time.There was just one small problem. The book I was reading at the time was The Chalk Man by C J Tudor, and after I had finished it I couldn’t quite look at the surrounding forest in the same way again.Because, wow, it’s creepy. Wonderfully, delightfully creepy. The story begins in the summer of 1986, when Eddie and his small group of mates were 12 years old. Chalk markings on the ground direct the children into their local woods, and to the dismembered body of a girl who they had first seen at a fairground a few weeks earlier. Fast-forward 30 years, to when the same character receives an envelope, containing a drawing of a stick figure with a noose around its neck, and a single piece of chalk.The characterisation, throughout the book is simply superb. The behaviour of the child Eddie, as he hangs out with a small group of mates from his village during the school summer holidays, was so wonderfully reminiscent of my own childhood that all of the chapters felt evocative. Except, of course, it wasn’t because those same chapters are also tense. The chalk markings were just a childishly innocent secret code, used by the friends to communicate with each other … weren’t they? Could there really have been a more sinister element? Was the only thing ‘different’ about Mr Holloran his skin condition, or was there something else more mysterious about him?The adult characters are equally well done. I absolutely loved the portrayal of the adult Eddie: a world-weary, introverted and slightly socially awkward schoolteacher. And the banter between him and his eccentric lodger Chloe relieved the tension and made me laugh out loud at just the right moments. But when one of Eddie’s former childhood friends turned up dead, with an identical drawing and piece of chalk to the one that Eddie himself had received in his pocket, can Eddie delve into his memories of 30 years ago and work out for himself what really happened that summer?I finished the book in little more than 24 hours, because I absolutely couldn’t help but pick it up at every opportunity, and then frantically turn page after page after page. The pace is spot on – fast enough that the story flows and yet slow enough that the dark and compelling writing can really do its magic.My one slight problem is that, the morning after I had finished the book, I couldn’t actually remember the solution to the plot. Perhaps this was down to the wine, in which case I can only apologise. I suspect though that I had become so absorbed by the characters – I’ll say it again, the characterisation is just so good – that I was paying more attention to them than to the storyline.This, though is nothing more than a quibble. The bottom line is that I loved this book. But if you’re tempted to read it – and I really hope you are – may I suggest that you do so in the middle of a desert. Or indoors. Or anywhere where there isn’t any place in sight that you might find a body with its head missing …

The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor started strongly, with alternating chapters from 1986 and ‘present day’ 2016 laying the foundations for a mystery never truly solved. The body of a teenage girl, dismembered and left in a wood to be discovered by a group of twelve-year-old friends. Why were they given the clues with which to find her, who killed her – and why was her head never found?In 1986, the police felt the case was solved and life moved on, but in 2016 the main protagonist – Ed – receives a letter containing the same chalk figure he saw on the day he found the body. When he discovers each of his friends also received a similar note, his interest – and fears – resurface.There was a lot to like about this mystery, woven into which are the backstories of all the main characters, their lives, loves and losses in the intervening years. There’s a lot going on, and although this isn’t a long book – my copy came in at 277 pages – it’s packed full of secrets and revelations.Strangely enough, though, by the time I got to the actual denouement, I felt no emotional attachment to the outcome – and I realized I hadn’t particularly bonded with any of the characters. That aside, though, this was a great read with an intriguing prologue and a poignant final page.

Loved the story and especially the characters. Not a difficult read so ideal for people trying to get into reading.Has some twists, some shocking moments that seem to happen out of nowhere but also a relatable almost comforting setting in small town England with characters who’ll want to come back to throughout.Highly recommend.