The Flower Girls | Alice Clark-Platts

The Flower Girls was hyped up to be one of the biggest releases of 2019 and I had been looking forward to reading this for a few months before I finally got my hands on a copy.

Living in the UK during the time of the Jamie Bulger killing and following the investigation and subsequent years of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables lives and new identities I was intrigued to see if this particular book was inspired by or echoed any similarities.

The first few chapters were not compelling for me, I found the language overly descriptive and I was almost disappointed with the start. I was expecting excitement from the first page and it just didn’t deliver. The story centers around "the flower girls" Laurel and Rosie - who abduct and murdered a toddler when they are just 6 and 10.

Laurel is sentenced to prison whilst Rosie, aged six, isn’t old enough to be tried and goes on to live her life under a new identity (Hazel). Hazel is in a relationship with Jonny, and the couple (along with Jonny's teenage daughter) are staying in a remote hotel for the holidays when a young girl goes missing.

When an author staying in the hotel recognises Hazel, her new world is turned upside down and through a series of flash backs to the original crime, and the current unfolding investigation the story moves at a relatively quick pace, culminating in the re-connection of Laurel and Rosie.

I waded through the book hoping it would get better and although I must admit the story does ramp up slightly overall it falls short. The author never really delves into the psychological suspense and narrative I was expecting as the synopsis was so full of intrigue but I really disliked the “twist” and the ending, and overall I’m just really disappointed.

Although well written and worth a read this just doesn’t live up to the hype. 2/5