The most gripping mystery book! The Book of Cold Case by Simone St James. Review

Synopsis

A Most Anticipated Novel by PopSugar * Crime Reads * Goodreads *

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 mansion, though Shea is never comfortable there. Items move when she’s not looking, and she could swear she’s seen a girl outside the window. The allure of learning the truth about the case from the smart, charming Beth is too much to resist, but even as they grow closer, Shea senses something isn’t right. Is she making friends with a manipulative murderer, or are there other dangers lurking in the darkness of the Greer house?

Audiobook Review

5 stars

“I have always believed that murder was the healthiest obsession”

Gripping and fascinating!

I listened to that book in a record time, finding any chore I could to just keep listening.

In the beginning, I had needed some time to really fall into the story. But very soon, I was enraptured by the dual timeline and dual POV of Shea the true crime blogger and Beth, the former socialite accused of being “The Lady Killer”.

With an artful mix of paranormal elements, family secrets, shocking revelations, private investigation and mounting tension, The Book of Cold Cases is another outstanding success!

I am usually not a fan of ghosts stories nor do I read a lot of mysteries but Simone St James is IT for me.

In the Book of Cold Cases, we follow Shea, working by day as a medical secretary and as a true crime blogger by night.

Shea has a blog “The Book of Cold Cases” and we guess pretty early on that her fascination with true crime came from a childhood trauma she experienced. That trauma left her with many fears. Fears of cars, fear of being outside alone at night, fear…

Divorced for one year, Shea is corresponding with Michael, a Private Investigator she has never met but with whom she is running her theories for the cold cases she investigates on her blog.

While working at the clinic one day, she meets a patient who she could swear she saw her face somewhere. A celebrity maybe?

Soon she realizes the woman, in her sixties now, is Beth Greer, infamous for having been judged and found innocent of the murder of two men, shot in the face after stopping alongside the road to help someone. A note had been found on the bodies and that started the rumor of the Lady Killer, one of the biggest mysteries of Claire Lake.

“Am I bitter or am I sweet? Ladies can be either.”

Shea is fascinated and unexpectedly, will get an interview with Beth when so far she had refused all interviews.

Switching between past (Beth’s POV) and present (Shea’s POV) we slowly unravel the mystery.

What follows is a gripping story where the truth is deeply rooted in family secrets, dead people are maybe not so dead and mansions feel like an ominous character.

Simone St James makes her moves with intelligence, stringing us alongside Shea before pulling a white rabbit from her sleeve! Something we didn’t see coming.

I was totally engrossed by that story and couldn’t stop listening! It also helps that both narrators, Brittany Pressley and Kristen Potter  both already narrators of the excellent “The Sun Down Motel” did a remarkable job bringing that story to life.

I can’t wait for Simone St James ‘s next book!

Thanks for reading!

Sophie