The Book of Cold Cases

Hardcover, 352 pages

English language

Published March 15, 2022 by Berkley.

ISBN:
978-0-440-00021-1
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3 stars (7 reviews)

A true-crime blogger gets more than she bargained for while interviewing the woman acquitted of two cold case slayings in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel.

In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders: Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect - a rich, eccentric twenty-three-year-old woman, seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion.

Oregon, 2017. Shea Collins is a receptionist, but by night, she runs a true-crime website, the Book of Cold Cases - a passion fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea's surprise, Beth says yes. They meet regularly at Beth's …

3 editions

A bit formulaic now

3 stars

This was my third book by Simone St. James. I totally adored the first one I read, The Sundown Motel, really enjoyed The Broken Girls and am a bit so-so on this one now. All books are pretty much the same. American small town, an inquisitive young woman looking into something from the past, and two interwoven timelines solving the mystery, always involving some form of supernatural haunting. In this case, the inquisitive woman is true crime blogger Shea who operates a website called The Book of Cold Cases. One day she runs into Elizabeth Greer, a woman who was accused of murder in the late 70s. Shea asks to interview her, and then gets swept up into Beth's story and the haunting of the mansion that Beth still lives in.

Maybe it would have worked better for me if Beth had been a likeable character, or Shea. Outstanding character …

Review of 'The Book of Cold Cases' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

This was my first Simone St. James and I didn't realise she writes ghosts into her stories, so that was a bit of a surprise... But I found this a bit boring. I picked this up because it was supposedly about a true crime blogger solving a cold case, but she is just a framing device to be handed the story by Beth, and her story was unsubtle. Not sure if I'll try this writer again, I've seen others say it's not her best.

Subjects

  • English literature