The Book of Cold Cases

Simone St. James is the master of pairing the paranormal with reality and making it both intriguing and believable. In her newest novel, St. James writes about a true crime blogger, Shea, who is looking into The Lady Killer Murders.

One of the most infamous crimes in her small town of Claire Lake, the murders were sensational and drew in the public because of their stunning and unlikely murder suspect.

Beth Greer, accused of the crime, is beautiful, rich, and completely cold. It is easy to see how she was convicted in the court of public opinion, but Shea thinks there is more to the story than meets the eye. When she meets Beth by chance, she can’t pass up the opportunity to try to set the record straight. When Beth invites Shea to her mansion, Shea can’t help but be curious about what she will find.

The mansion is anything but normal. Things move around when Shea isn’t looking, she hears strange voices, and she sees the wisp of a girl outside the window. The mansion is kept exactly the same as it was in 1978, right down to Beth’s mothers face cream on the nightstand. Even though she is terrified, Shea can’t help but want to hunt down what is lurking in the darkness.

The Book of Cold Cases is expertly written and completely immersive. St. James knows how to keep a reader’s attention, and I was hooked from the very first page. The contrast of mysterious and alluring Beth against awkward and terrified Shea is fun to read about and easy to picture. The characters in this book are unique and dynamic, making you want to learn more about them. With her haunting prose, St. James writes an atmospheric and disturbing book that kept me guessing until the end. If you liked her previous books, I recommend picking this book up as soon as possible.