Review| Call Me Star Girl By Louise Beech

DIVA taut, emotive, devastating dark and all-consuming psychological thriller, reminiscent of Play Misty for Me … from the critically acclaimed author of Maria in the Moon and The Lion Tamer Who Lost…
WINNER of Best magazine's BIG Book of the Year 2019
LONGLISTED for Guardian‘s NOT THE BOOKER PRIZE
'A complex and layered tale that charmed me as a much as it traumatised me. An atmospheric, haunting and beautifully written page turner!' C L Taylor
‘Noirish psychological thriller with fascinating, disturbing characters. Compelling, twisty, and seriously addictive. EXCELLENT' Will Dean
'As twisty and deadly as barbed wire, this book will leave you breathless' Erin Kelly
Stirring up secrets can be deadly … especially if they're yours…
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 fourteen 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 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…
‘It's a slow burn at first until it twists and turns at a head-staggering rate to a devastating climax. Original, moody and totally gripping' Claire Allan
‘Louise Beech blasts into the world of thriller writing with this moody and tense tale. With secrets, lies and plenty of twisty turns, it's story is dark and it's setting eerie and evocative. Definitely one where you might look over your shoulder more than once while reading!' Fionnuala Kearney
‘An original story and beautifully written, so atmospheric … Dark, mesmerising and utterly devastating' SJI Holliday
‘Beech has used her unique flair and constructed a crime fiction story that will have you frantically turning the pages until you get to the end' Michael Wood
‘It's EXTRAORDINARY – tense, twisted and utterly compelling, written with such raw beauty and unflinching honesty' Miranda Dickinson
'A thriller with heart, passion and twists that will surprise even the most astute readers' John Marrs
‘With Call Me Star Girl, Louise proves that she can blow us all away with her writing powers – in whatever genre she chooses' Jack Jordan
‘A Smart, complex and beautifully written psychological thriller, with a raw intensity at it's heart. Twisty, addictive and completely compelling, this powerful story will keep you hooked and leave you haunted' Best Magazine
‘Call Me Star Girl is a unique psychological thriller which is packed with tension and suspense … A Dark and atmospheric read which sends shivers down your spine'

Call Me Star Girl.  An intriguing title if ever there was one.  A girl comfortable in the dark.  A girl that ultimately becomes a product of her upbringing.  Tragedy, survival, and a precious memento that brings light into the darkest of days.  No childhood is perfect and for that matter neither is any mother.  Hell, I’ve made mistakes in my journey as a mother but never for one second have, I ever imagined abandoning any of my children.  This narrative was enticingly chilling – imagining a young impressionable child being left alone in the world longing for that connection with a parent and instead being faced with the selfishness of a parent. 

Heartbreakingly dark, Call Me Star Girl was my second outing with Louise Beech – having previously read and reviewed I am Dust.  I personally didn’t feel that Call Me Star Girl was as powerful and brutal as I am Dust, but it is a highly enjoyable read all the same.  I love just how clever and thought-provoking Beech’s novels are.  You have an intricate plot with highly flawed characters and a disturbing atmosphere.  All the perfect ingredients to grab the readers attention and keep it. 

Psychological thrillers are one of my favourite genres.  I have read so many of them, especially in the last year and sometimes the magic and mystery can wear off.  One aspect that will have an instant winner in my view is the emotional connection I have to the main characters.  I had big problem with Stella’s mother.  The mother who abandoned her twelve years ago.  I mean hate is quite a strong word, but I felt it was pushing it towards that for me.  I know that everyone’s situation and experience of motherhood can indeed be different, but I could not abandon my own children.  Too often the scenes describing Stella’s childhood had me shaking with rage.  Her mother was never there physically, she always wanted to be somewhere else.  It was incredibly cold and unloving. 

A local girl, someone unknown but has now been put on a pedestal due to the heinous act that led to her murder.  A pregnant girl, who would do such a thing?  The parallels were not lost on me.  The similarities between Stella and Victoria were close.  Two childhoods lost.  Call Me Star Girl gave us a crime that that was as twisted as the cables behind my tv.  The setting of this murder, the atmosphere, and the culpability.  Just who would kill a young girl and her child. 

The mystery aspect of the book wasn’t a big mystery.  You could get a sense of where things were leading to and at different points the plot seemed to get a little confused.  The actions of Stella were embroiled in the trauma that could be causally linked to the treatment from her mother.  I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t angrier at her mother just re-entering her life.  The execution just wasn’t as slick as I would have liked. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. Her second book, The Mountain in My Shoe was shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Both of her previous books Maria in the Moon and The Lion Tamer Who Lost were widely reviewed, critically acclaimed and number-one bestsellers on Kindle. The Lion Tamer Who Lost was shortlisted for the RNA Most Popular Romantic Novel Award in 2019. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice. Louise lives with her husband on the outskirts of Hull, and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.

Louise Beech