1864
Even though death is the greatest equaliser, only some can afford a luxurious send-off. Some can manage nothing but a hole in the ground, and some get only what they deserve.
Marianne Walker is nearly twenty-three, with no suitors and a dislike for impractical skirts. She sees and feels things before they happen, just like her mother, but it’s not always clear what her visions are trying to show her. She has to figure that out for herself.
But now she is seeing bloodied hands, and, for the first time, Marianne is scared – her visions always come to pass.
When one of the custodians of the local Friendly Society is found dead, the residents of Hazelbirch are in uproar amid rumours of fraud and dishonesty. With the help of the undertaker’s sister, Marianne begins to realise that not all is as it should be with the society known by the townsfolk as The Burial Club.
Marianne knows only she has been given all the clues to work out what is really going on and find out who has blood on their hands. But can she reveal everybody’s secrets without sacrificing everyone she holds dear?
What did I think?
Having loved Claire Bamford's debut novel, The Messenger, I was very excited to read her new book, The Burial Club, and I was not disappointed. It's a very intriguing mystery with a wonderful paranormal element and a fantastic main character.
I loved Marianne from the start. Her mother died when she was young but Marianne is more like her than she realises as her visions can tell the future, she's just not sure how to interpret them. Marianne knows someone is going to die but she doesn't know who, when or where.
The other mystery is what is happening to the funds that people are paying into 'The Burial Club'? It's certainly a one-way street with people regularly paying in but not being able to withdraw anything when they need to arrange a funeral. It's both intriguing and maddening as this is 1864 when people didn't have two pennies to rub together, yet someone is still managing to steal what little they have.
There is so much mystery and intrigue that I couldn't put the book down and I wasn't going to bed until I had devoured every single word. Beautifully written, mesmerising and captivating, The Burial Club is a stunning multi-genre novel that will appeal to all readers. Claire Bamford is certainly one to watch and I'm looking forward to reading whatever she writes next.
I received a gifted ARC for the Novel Tours bookstagram tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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