Title: The Broken Girls
Author: Simone St. James
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
Pages: 336
Publisher: Berkley Books
Date Started: February 23, 2018
Date Finished: February 24, 2018
Format: Hardcover

With Halloween rapidly approaching, I thought now would be the perfect time to get around to reviewing The Broken Girls by Simone St. James. I read this book back in February as my Book of the Month Club choice and it left a lasting impression, despite the numerous mystery books I have gone on to read this year.

The book, like many of my favorite mystery/suspense books, focuses around a cold case but this book has the added bonus of having a second cold case from a completely different era, but revolving around the same location: Idlewild Hall. In the 1950’s, Idlewild Hall acted as a boarding school for girls that nobody wanted, like the daughters resulting from affairs, ones too smart for being a girl, or girls who are too reckless for their parent to handle. There are rumors surrounding the facility of a ghost that haunts the grounds, and when one of the girls goes missing under mysterious circumstances, nobody goes looking. Jumping to the 1990’s, a young girl is found murdered on the grounds of the now abandoned Idlewild Hall. Twenty years later, her sister returns to the grounds searching for answers, and ends up investigating the fate of both young women: her sister and the girl who disappeared all those years ago.

This was such a captivating read and it was almost effortless for me to read in one sitting (though I admit I didn’t sleep that night because of it!). What really added to the spook factor was the ghost story entwined throughout the book, hence why I recommend this as a Halloween read. It wasn’t scary by any means, but the slight paranormal twist made this book quite unlike any other that I’ve read before. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it!

Overall, 4/5 moose