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Serenity Falls
Not yet published
Expected 10 Sep 26Welcome to Serenity Falls – the most idyllic town in the US and the safest place for families to grow up together, where crime is non-existent. It seems the perfect relocation option for Dan and his daughter Sadie as they move from the UK. A fresh start, thousands of miles from their troubled past.
But their new idyll is shattered when they find a dead body in their swimming pool.
And it turns out that’s just the start of a series of odd discoveries. Abandoned houses where people have seemingly just upped and left. The strange woman Sadie keeps seeing around town putting up ‘missing’ posters for a child who drowned twenty-five years ago. An ice cream van that drives around at night making sure residents are asleep...
As plans gear up to celebrate Serenity Falls’ fiftieth anniversary, something is stirring beneath the surface of the idyllic façade. Is Serenity Falls really the perfect town or is it founded on something far darker? And is someone so desperate to keep its secrets that they’d resort to anything to preserve them?
Welcome to Serenity Falls – the perfect town. For murder.
But their new idyll is shattered when they find a dead body in their swimming pool.
And it turns out that’s just the start of a series of odd discoveries. Abandoned houses where people have seemingly just upped and left. The strange woman Sadie keeps seeing around town putting up ‘missing’ posters for a child who drowned twenty-five years ago. An ice cream van that drives around at night making sure residents are asleep...
As plans gear up to celebrate Serenity Falls’ fiftieth anniversary, something is stirring beneath the surface of the idyllic façade. Is Serenity Falls really the perfect town or is it founded on something far darker? And is someone so desperate to keep its secrets that they’d resort to anything to preserve them?
Welcome to Serenity Falls – the perfect town. For murder.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 10, 2026
About the author
C.J. Tudor
16 books8,899 followersC. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter.
She left school at sixteen and has had a variety of jobs over the years, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, shop assistant, ad agency copywriter and voiceover.
In the early nineties, she fell into a job as a television presenter for a show on Channel 4 called Moviewatch. Although a terrible presenter, she got to interview acting legends such as Sigourney Weaver, Michael Douglas, Emma Thompson and Robin Williams. She also annoyed Tim Robbins by asking a question about Susan Sarandon’s breasts and was extremely flattered when Robert Downey Junior showed her his chest.
While writing the Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl.
She’s been writing since she was a child but only knuckled down to it properly in her thirties. Her English teacher once told her that if she ‘did not become Prime Minister or a best-selling author’ he would be ‘very disappointed.’
The Chalk Man was inspired by a tub of chalks a friend bought for her daughter’s second birthday. One afternoon they drew chalk figures all over the driveway. Later that night she opened the back door to be confronted by weird stick men everywhere. In the dark, they looked incredibly sinister. She called to her partner: ‘These chalk men look really creepy in the dark . . .’
She is never knowingly over-dressed. She has never owned a handbag and the last time she wore heels (twelve years ago) she broke a tooth.
She loves The Killers, Foo Fighters and Frank Turner. Her favourite venue is Rock City.
Her favourite films are Ghostbusters and The Lost Boys. Her favourite authors are Stephen King, Michael Marshall and Harlan Coben.
She is SO glad she was a teenager in the eighties.
She firmly believes that there are no finer meals than takeaway pizza and champagne, or chips with curry sauce after a night out.
Everyone calls her Caz.
She left school at sixteen and has had a variety of jobs over the years, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, shop assistant, ad agency copywriter and voiceover.
In the early nineties, she fell into a job as a television presenter for a show on Channel 4 called Moviewatch. Although a terrible presenter, she got to interview acting legends such as Sigourney Weaver, Michael Douglas, Emma Thompson and Robin Williams. She also annoyed Tim Robbins by asking a question about Susan Sarandon’s breasts and was extremely flattered when Robert Downey Junior showed her his chest.
While writing the Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl.
She’s been writing since she was a child but only knuckled down to it properly in her thirties. Her English teacher once told her that if she ‘did not become Prime Minister or a best-selling author’ he would be ‘very disappointed.’
The Chalk Man was inspired by a tub of chalks a friend bought for her daughter’s second birthday. One afternoon they drew chalk figures all over the driveway. Later that night she opened the back door to be confronted by weird stick men everywhere. In the dark, they looked incredibly sinister. She called to her partner: ‘These chalk men look really creepy in the dark . . .’
She is never knowingly over-dressed. She has never owned a handbag and the last time she wore heels (twelve years ago) she broke a tooth.
She loves The Killers, Foo Fighters and Frank Turner. Her favourite venue is Rock City.
Her favourite films are Ghostbusters and The Lost Boys. Her favourite authors are Stephen King, Michael Marshall and Harlan Coben.
She is SO glad she was a teenager in the eighties.
She firmly believes that there are no finer meals than takeaway pizza and champagne, or chips with curry sauce after a night out.
Everyone calls her Caz.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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April 30, 2026New C.J. Tudor AND nostalgic eighties font?
Say. No. More.
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Say. No. More.
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Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5
Upon the death of his mother, Dan discovers he's inherited a glamorous house in the picturesque town of Serenity Falls.
There is a catch, of course.
A quick sale is quite impossible when it turns out both he and his daughter, Sadie must inhabit the property for at least five years before it's eligible for the market.
His life in turmoil, and with a job offer on the table as well as the visa arrangements already seen to, it seems like an easy choice to move to the States despite Sadie's reluctance to do so.
Their idyllic life in their perfect new town is immediately thrown into turmoil when a dead body is discovered in their pool in an apparent accident – and nothing bad ever happens in Serenity Falls...not by accident at any rate.
I rather enjoyed this one. Tudor got off to a fantastic start from the first page and as soon as the Stepford-esque, Serenity Falls made its grand debut, the story hit maximum speed. The mood was eerie, the paranoia continued to build with each turn of the page, the sense of claustrophobia juxtaposed perfectly against the picture perfect town of Serenity Falls.
Told from several points of view, from our main characters to deceased citizens of the town, the stories, while seemingly unconnected at first, formed a deeply compelling tapestry of unfortunate events buried deep in the rotten black heart of Serenity.
I also found the supporting characters to be utterly fascinating and distinct. Oddly enough, Dan was relatable in some respects, yet when it came to some of his choices and actions, he left me wanting to reach into the pages and smack him across the head.
Overall, while I'm still contemplating whether the ending worked for me, I think fans of Tudor will be pleased with this one.
With thanks to Penguin Random House for the ARC.
Upon the death of his mother, Dan discovers he's inherited a glamorous house in the picturesque town of Serenity Falls.
There is a catch, of course.
A quick sale is quite impossible when it turns out both he and his daughter, Sadie must inhabit the property for at least five years before it's eligible for the market.
His life in turmoil, and with a job offer on the table as well as the visa arrangements already seen to, it seems like an easy choice to move to the States despite Sadie's reluctance to do so.
Their idyllic life in their perfect new town is immediately thrown into turmoil when a dead body is discovered in their pool in an apparent accident – and nothing bad ever happens in Serenity Falls...not by accident at any rate.
I rather enjoyed this one. Tudor got off to a fantastic start from the first page and as soon as the Stepford-esque, Serenity Falls made its grand debut, the story hit maximum speed. The mood was eerie, the paranoia continued to build with each turn of the page, the sense of claustrophobia juxtaposed perfectly against the picture perfect town of Serenity Falls.
Told from several points of view, from our main characters to deceased citizens of the town, the stories, while seemingly unconnected at first, formed a deeply compelling tapestry of unfortunate events buried deep in the rotten black heart of Serenity.
I also found the supporting characters to be utterly fascinating and distinct. Oddly enough, Dan was relatable in some respects, yet when it came to some of his choices and actions, he left me wanting to reach into the pages and smack him across the head.
Overall, while I'm still contemplating whether the ending worked for me, I think fans of Tudor will be pleased with this one.
With thanks to Penguin Random House for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale.
"Serenity Falls" opens in the present day, when Manchester teacher Dan inherits a fabulous house from his mother. This comes as a complete surprise to Dan since it's located in an idyllic gated complex in America. But it represents a fresh start for Dan and his teenage daughter Sadie, so despite her protestations, they head to their new home. Their arrival isn't great, as they find a dead body in the swimming pool of their new house, and soon they discover other disturbing facts about the seemingly perfect town.
The story slowly develops a deep sense of paranoia, and Dan and Sadie uncover secrets and lies in the town which is about to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. It's difficult not to imagine a Stepford Wives, primary-colours feeling when reading the book - even the characters can be visualised as some three-dimensional cartoon characters, but don't be misled - they all have secrets, and hidden motives, and are certainly not your friend. There's a wonderful casts of characters - suspicious pool men, menacing police, too-nice headmasters, and narky old ladies. Who to trust??
This is another chilling and disturbing tale from CJ Tudor - possibly the best yet in terms of suspense and genuine fear. Serenity Falls itself is wonderful - typical small-town USA in a box. Sadie is excellent - curious, unafraid and determined to uncover the truth.
If you're a fan of CJ Tudor, you won't be disappointed. Highly recommended.
"Serenity Falls" opens in the present day, when Manchester teacher Dan inherits a fabulous house from his mother. This comes as a complete surprise to Dan since it's located in an idyllic gated complex in America. But it represents a fresh start for Dan and his teenage daughter Sadie, so despite her protestations, they head to their new home. Their arrival isn't great, as they find a dead body in the swimming pool of their new house, and soon they discover other disturbing facts about the seemingly perfect town.
The story slowly develops a deep sense of paranoia, and Dan and Sadie uncover secrets and lies in the town which is about to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. It's difficult not to imagine a Stepford Wives, primary-colours feeling when reading the book - even the characters can be visualised as some three-dimensional cartoon characters, but don't be misled - they all have secrets, and hidden motives, and are certainly not your friend. There's a wonderful casts of characters - suspicious pool men, menacing police, too-nice headmasters, and narky old ladies. Who to trust??
This is another chilling and disturbing tale from CJ Tudor - possibly the best yet in terms of suspense and genuine fear. Serenity Falls itself is wonderful - typical small-town USA in a box. Sadie is excellent - curious, unafraid and determined to uncover the truth.
If you're a fan of CJ Tudor, you won't be disappointed. Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I’ve read a couple of books by CJ Tudor and have enjoyed them and I do like how diverse her stories are from one another so I had high hopes for this one.
Unfortunately, between the ridiculously slow start (I almost DNF it on several occasions) and the completely unbelievable story that was laughably bad, I unfortunately didn’t really enjoy this one much at all.
This isn’t a horror, isn’t really a thriller, it borders on sci-fi I guess (the most similar I can think of to this is the Wayward Pines books) but the lazy way of the ghosts telling what happened to fill in the backstory was awful.
The cringy British-isms were so bad (like a foreigner just Googled British attitudes and behaviours, I actually can’t believe Tudor is from England!) and her constant desperate attempts to name drop anything Stephen King (how many IT references?!?) was shameful.
I’m not completely trashing this book as it did have some interesting bits throughout (if I turned my brain off for 20 minutes) and the ending was ok but the bottom line is that this was pretty bad overall.
Anyway, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and I just hope Tudor’s next book is back up to her usual standard.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Serenity Falls completely pulled me in from the start. The atmosphere was incredible — eerie, tense and unsettling the whole way through. What I loved most was how Serenity Falls itself felt like a character of its own, hiding secrets around every corner. C. J. Tudor is so good at making ordinary things feel deeply creepy, and this book absolutely delivered. Dark, addictive and impossible to put down.
The whole “perfect town hiding something rotten underneath” atmosphere was so unsettling and addictive, and every new discovery made me more desperate to know what was really going on.
The whole “perfect town hiding something rotten underneath” atmosphere was so unsettling and addictive, and every new discovery made me more desperate to know what was really going on.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I can certainly say, hand on heart, that i would never pass the suitability checks to live in Serenity Falls, but if I did i wouldn't last long!
Another knock out book thats in a league of it's own.
I loved the nods to Stephen King and the red herrings that lead to the perfect ending.
I could quite easily read it again straight away!
Another knock out book thats in a league of it's own.
I loved the nods to Stephen King and the red herrings that lead to the perfect ending.
I could quite easily read it again straight away!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
⭐️ 4 ⭐️
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May 31, 2026Excellent. Further cements C.J Tudor as a must-read author, who successfully creeps me out and makes a 500 page book fly by.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews