Author: Simone St. James
Publisher: Berkley
Published Date: March 15, 2022
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Rating: ★★⍣☆☆
REVIEW
I have previously read The Sun Down Motel by St. James, and I was surprised by how similar this this one was. Where the former was able to somewhat catch me off guard at the end, this one was very predictable and a bit confusing.
SYNOPSIS
"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?"
MY THOUGHTS
WARNING FOR SPOILERS! Was this book supposed to be a ghost story? Why was it not creepy at all? All the paranormal aspects have been done a million times over so nothing in that regard felt new or fresh at all. The ending also left me frustrated and confused because this compelling mystery just seemed to turn into a cheesy ghost story. There was no logical ending and we were just supposed to believe that a ghost has been living in this creepy mansion for decades.
Now, I don't mind paranormal aspects in books when they make sense. In this book, though, all the paranormal aspects were completely unnecessary. Instead of actually serving a purpose, the whole "ghost" aspect just mislead me and then the big reveal wasn't even near the end. I have seen a lot of people saying the same things about this book and I can 100% agree. The paranormal aspects made no difference. Take them out and the story would be exactly the same. There wasn't really any exploration of the ghost story and only came into play at the end in some bizarre fever dream.
It basically was that aspect that I disliked about this book. I really liked the mystery and the pacing/tone of the book as a whole. I really connected with Shea. I love true crime and her obsession makes a lot of sense given her age and location. So many people this age are obsessed with true crime and she really felt like a real person rather than a character on paper. I thought that the story itself was compelling, although as it went on I became more and more annoyed by both Shea and Beth. They both made their lives harder than they had to be.
And the actual ending was so predictable. As soon as Lily was introduced I was like, well she's definitely the murderer. With so many other podcast/blog style true crime books out there, I sort of feel like this jumped onto the hype bandwagon instead of trying to do something new.
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