Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech

I'm so excited to be taking part in the blog tour for this book by the gorgeous Louise Beech. This was actually the first of her books I had read, although I have all her other ones on my TBR pile - I just haven't had the time yet! A huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours and Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books for my review ebook.

The Blurb:

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 twelve 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 chilling 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…

Call Me Star Girl was published by Orenda Books on 18th April 2019 and you can purchase it from Waterstones and Amazon.


My Review:

Oh gosh, where to start? As I mentioned above, this is my first Louise Beech book, but I had only seen praise and positive reviews for her other work, so I was excited to read this one. And I wasn't disappointed.

Stella is doing her last late night show at the local radio stay and focusing on secrets. She encourages listeners to phone in with their secrets and in return she'll share some of hers. And she has a few. The news bulletins she plays are still full of Victoria Valbon, a young pregnant woman murdered three wee earlier, and whose killer still hasn't been caught.

Stella really wants to hear from the man who has been calling her for a while, saying he knows what happened to Victoria.  Is he the same man she's seen lurking around the station? And who left Stella a book with a note saying 'This will explain everything ", and what does it mean?

And she has so much else on her mind. She's worried about her relationship with Tom, whom she loves deeply. Her mother, who deserted Stella when she was twelve leaving a note telling her to go to the next door neighbour, is back in her life. Will she find out who her father is? And she has lost her treasured bottle of perfume.

The story is told in the first person by Stella, and her mother Elisabeth, jumping between 'now' and 'then' as we learn more, bit by bit, about what brought Stella to this point. I really enjoyed this - a little bit from the present, then a wee piece from the past, helping us to build up a picture.

Stella is such an interesting character. Despite her mother leaving, and never knowing her father, she has made a success of her life. But she carries within her a deep sadness, stemming from her mother's desertion. That has also left her with a slightly skewed idea of what love is - that her mother left because Stella was boring, or didn't prove her love enough. She seeks solace in the stars. After all, her name means star, and her most treasured possession is a perfume bottle with a heart shaped stopper.

I wasn't sure what to make of Tom. He seems a decent chap, who clearly adores Stella, but he has some dark ideas of fun, and seems to have secrets of his own. I have to say, I disliked Elizabeth from the get go. The decision she took, and the reason she made it...just no. But it's the fact that everything is so well described that made me feel that way.

Stella is exquisitely written. In fact, the whole book is - there's not a wasted word. It's full of heart and emotion, but not without its shocks. Oh, there are some moments where my heart was in my mouth.

All Stella's 'now' scenes are set in the radio station, which is deserted apart from her. It's late at night, it's dark, claustrophobic and downright spooky. I actually shivered reading some of the scenes. The final few chapters were shocking and unexpected and the last two short ones, are both beautiful and heart breaking.

There is so much I want to say but dare not, for fear of revealing too much. This is a beautifully written gem that you need to discover for yourself. This is Louise's first psychological thriller, and she has done a fine job. It's a beautifully written piece on love, loss, sadness, obsession, secrets and heartache. Not to be missed.


The Author:

Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. The follow-up, 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.