The Broken Girls

In 1950, a girl from Idlewild Hall goes missing. Not much investigating is done, since the school is for wayward and unwanted girls. In 1994, Fiona Sheridan’s sister Deb is found there, most likely murdered by her boyfriend. Now twenty years later, Fiona is still struggling to move on from her sister’s death, and being a journalist doesn’t allow her to not ask questions. Someone has recently bought Idlewild Hall with plans to restore it. Fiona immediately grasps at the chance to write this story and hopefully find some answers and closure along the way. During the construction, a body is found in the well, which takes things in a whole new direction. Is it the girl who went missing all those years ago? What other secrets does Idlewild Hall hold? There are a lot of ghosts at the school, and some will not stay buried until the mystery of The Broken Girls is solved.

Strong female leads, ghosts, murder, small-town history. This book is full of entertaining features. It had a lot of suspense, and I think it actually does qualify as a thriller because the ghost scenes are fairly creepy. The author succeeded in making it a mystery, as it was not fairly obvious what was happening until near the end. Fiona was a feisty character who you could easily see not being able to let things go. Katie, Roberta, and CeCe, the friends of the missing girl, were all strong as well in their own unique ways. You couldn’t help but agree with them in their pursuit of justice for their friend.

I enjoyed reading this book. I couldn’t put it down. I love ghost stories, and although that wasn’t the main focus of this book, it still had enough entwined throughout that I was intrigued. I think if you enjoy reading stories by Wendy Webb, you would also enjoy this book. I look forward to reading more stories by Simone St. James.