The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James - May 2022

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

One of our winning group reads for May 2022 is The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James. Please discuss here and remember to use spoiler tags as needed, as everyone may start at different times and reads at different speeds.



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?

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.

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I have this one from the library! I'm looking forward to it. :)

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I'm not loving this one quite as much as I had hoped. I love St. James's writing style and find it really engaging, but there are some aspects of the story I don't love. St. James always adds paranormal aspects to her mystery/thrillers, but this one just didn't blend as well. Some of the things the MC has done and some of the reasons why characters did things in the past don't complete make sense for me either. So, good story and I'm still enjoying it, but not my favorite by her.

[Ingrid]

Have read the two books. I cried, smiled, learn a lot. Really enjoyed…

[Mary]

I got my book today!! excited to start it once I finish my current read!

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I will be finishing this one tomorrow. I'm enjoying it, but it's not my favorite by this author. I will wait until I see how it ends though.

[Leena]

Im starting it today.

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I'm curious to see what you think of it, Leena. Spoiler is from late in the book, near the end.

I was just frustrated with (view spoiler)[ why Shea went into that house alone when she believed the ghost to be dangerous. Did she think she was going. to get answers from her, like an interview? It made no sense. Beth could have just as easily told her what she had done. It seems like she wanted Shea to know anyway so she could 'end it'.

Also, Beth's reasons for not telling the police what really happened all those years ago didn't seem compelling enough. (hide spoiler)]

Otherwise, I'm enjoying the story and the writing.

[Brenda]

I love Simone St. James. Her books are really good. Mystery, a bit of paranormal. I enjoyed Broken Girls, Sundown Motel. So far, The Book of Cold Cases is just as good.

[Carrie]

I really have enjoyed the other books I’ve read by this author. Started The Book of Cold Cases today. I’m about 100 pages in and am really enjoying it so far!

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I still have the same issues as my previous comment, but I really enjoyed the book overall. I think I would give it 3.5 stars because of those, but I'll round up to 4 stars for overall enjoyment.

I also read The Broken Girls, which I loved (5★), and The Sun Down Motel (4★).

[Mary]

this will be my first by this author. still haven't started yet. I hope it's as good as the synopsis seems!

[Leena]

Kristie- I've started it and its highly promising. extremely riveting writing.and frankly I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and hope it just keeps the pace and the suspense. I also hope there's no sudden improbable twists that seem to be very in.

[Leena]

I love her moonlighting website - how cool is that.

[Angela]

I've started reading and so far I am liking it. I am curious to see where this goes....Beth seems a bit mysterious or has some type of mental health illness that doesn't necessarily mean she is the Lady Killer. Back to reading now! 😁

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

Leena wrote: "Kristie- I've started it and its highly promising. extremely riveting writing.and frankly I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and hope it just keeps the pace and the suspense. I also hope there's n..."

I think the pace kept up well throughout the story. There were just a couple of parts that didn't make sense to me. She sort of explained them after the fact, but not well. The writing is definitely engaging though. I hope you love it!

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I'm not suggesting there have been any spoilers posted, but just wanted to post a reminder to use spoiler tags when needed and if you aren't sure if you need one, then err on the side of caution and use them. Better to hide something you didn't need to than to post something that should be hidden. We definitely don't want to give anything away!

[Leena]

I am feeling so old now... Sidney Sheldo, Leon Uris - vintage authors🤦‍♀️😡

[Gunit Kaur]

I finished this one in the last week and I really didn't like it. I had more expectations from the book. But it was far too predictable. There were hardly any twists.

After reading The Sun Down Motel, I expected more from this one.

[Leena]

Ghosts are such a touchy topic -so personal and yet so public. You dont want to believe it , science disapproves of it and yet everytime a ghost is mentioned it sends shivers down your spine.

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

Leena - I'm putting your other comment in a spoiler. Some people might not want to know anything that happens in the book, especially towards the end.

Leena wrote:
I finished it too and I really loved it. The plots as old as the hills but i loved her writng. Its Shea that really holds the book up - the virtual Atlas- shes intelligent ,analytical and a quick thinker.
(view spoiler)[ I thought she was really brave to enter Greer house alone even though she was pretty sure she will find her " Lady Killer"; but i felt she pretty much had no choice in the matter. Beth had played her hand brilliantly. What J didnt like is their persistent presence even after the house is sold off - didn't they need a break? (hide spoiler)]
Overall a 4.5🌟 rating for me.

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I am right in between the two of you. Now that a couple of people have finished it, what are your thoughts on:

(view spoiler)[
I thought it was so dumb for Shea to go back to that house alone when she knew that Lily could be a violent spirit. It was ridiculously dangerous.

I think that's the part that I had difficulty with - Beth said she was telling her story now because she wanted to end it, but that made no sense to me. She didn't tell the story; she made Shea get it from Lily.

Plus, it didn't end anything. The ghosts were still in the house. Beth went her whole life tortured like that only to give up her secrets at the end for nothing?

I was just frustrated by that part. Plus, I didn't think Beth had a good enough reason for keeping Lily's secret. She risked going to jail for those murders and lived her whole life under that suspicion because she felt guilty and thought Lily would get away with it? Seems to me she should have tried the legal route first.

(hide spoiler)]

[Gunit Kaur]

Kristie wrote: "I am right in between the two of you. Now that a couple of people have finished it, what are your thoughts on:

[spoilers removed]


(view spoiler)[I agree that it was dumb for Shea to go into the house knowing how dangerous it was.

I also agree that that Beth didn't actually give her story to Shea, but compelled her to come get it by herself. She didn't even stop her from entering the house after she found out that she was right outside. Instead she encouraged her to go on.

And yes, Beth didn't have a good enough reason to hide Lily's crimes. She said that she was doing it because she felt guilty and because she thought Lily would get away with it and then kill Black and she wanted to save Black's life. I think that's bulls*** tbh.

But you know what else bothers me? Beth sent a picture of Lily and herself to Shea at one point. At the time, Shea noticed how Lily's face held no expression. She was totally blank. This wasn't true for Beth, who was only a child at the time and was far more innocent. However, Shea also made an observation, that now, after all these years, Beth's face was just as expressionless as Lily's had been back then. She concluded that circumstances might have molded Beth into what she was today. At that time, I was expecting a twist. I thought maybe the character we know as Beth, is in fact, Lily. Maybe Lily was the one who killed Beth and then took her identity and her mansion and that the mansion was in fact, haunted by Beth.

But unfortunately, what happened was that there was no twist and the plot went down on a predictable path. Towards the end, I was asking myself why I was reading the book. I already knew where it was going. I would have DNFed it if I wasn't reading it for a challenge. :(
(hide spoiler)]

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

Oh! That would have been quite the twist, Gunit! It would have been a completely different book if you had written it.

[Leena]

Kristie wrote: "Leena - I'm putting your other comment in a spoiler. Some people might not want to know anything that happens in the book, especially towards the end.

Leena wrote:
I finished it too and I reall..."

Sorry, didnt thjnk

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

Leena wrote: "Kristie wrote: "Leena - I'm putting your other comment in a spoiler. Some people might not want to know anything that happens in the book, especially towards the end.

Sorry, didnt thjnk."

That's ok. Just wanted to prevent potential spoilers and didn't want you to think it had been deleted. Glad you're discussing. :)

[Angela]

I am in the process of reading this and the pace is good. I am getting more curious about this Greer lady.....something is definitely fishy with her. The jury is still out on this book. Stay tuned.

[Tham]

I’m just starting on this book and she’s a new author for me. If it’s not too off topic, what’s your favorite book by Simone St. James? I tend to read by author.

[Leena]

I'm such an erratic reader - I always plan on reading more by same author, but I'm always getting waylaid. :>

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

Tham wrote: "I’m just starting on this book and she’s a new author for me. If it’s not too off topic, what’s your favorite book by Simone St. James? I tend to read by author."

Hmm... I've read three books by this author. I think The Broken Girls was my favorite. It was my first by St. James and I didn't know what to expect yet. Next would be The Sun Down Motel, which was also excellent. This one, The Book of Cold Cases, is probably my least favorite. I think that might be partly because I knew what to expect of the author by now and may be a little more critical of things that don't quite feel right to me. I still think it was a really good book, just notify favorite of the three.

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

Leena wrote: "I'm such an erratic reader - I always plan on reading more by same author, but I'm always getting waylaid. :>"

I do this too. All the time.

[Leena]

I've been thinking as to why I liked this book more than the others who bring in the surprise element eg. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. Here, she's already established that this is going to be improbable and impossible to prove, unlike RW where the end left me flummoxed - it was so unbelievably improbable- that the ambience she created through the book just fell flat. this has happened in 13 by Steve Cavanagh. That one truly takes the cake. He actually points to A the entire book through to end up with a z as the final.culrprit. I'm all for the twists but it needs to add up.
The above 2 bks are my personal dartboards- :> I was so taken aback

[Gunit Kaur]

Leena wrote: "I've been thinking as to why I liked this book more than the others who bring in the surprise element eg. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. Here, she's already established that this is going to be ..."

I think it's the opposite for me. The Turn of the Key was one of my favorites. The predictability of this story was a turn off. I couldn't see the point of carrying on.

[Ash_undercover]

Started the book yesterday. I’m intrigued. Interested to see how this story ends.

[Leena]

Enjoy Ashley

[Leena]

Gunit Kaur wrote: "Leena wrote: "I've been thinking as to why I liked this book more than the others who bring in the surprise element eg. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. Here, she's already established that this i..."

It was more improbable than unpredictable. But, to each their own.

@Gunit, If you like such endings the 13 by Steve Cavanagh is something you would enjoy its a legal thriller.

[Devin]

This was the first novel I've read by Simone St. James but I enjoyed it a lot. It was a 4 star read for me. I really liked the paranormal aspects being interwoven with the murder mystery. Would definitely check out more by this author!

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

Devin, I think the paranormal aspect is typical of her writing. At least she included that in the other two books I read by her as well. You should check them out - The Broken Girls and The Sun Down Motel. They were both really good.

[Leena]

Both on my tbr, way down the pile 😕

[Gunit Kaur]

Leena wrote: "Gunit Kaur wrote: "Leena wrote: "I've been thinking as to why I liked this book more than the others who bring in the surprise element eg. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. Here, she's already esta..."

Thanks... It does look interesting...
I would have to read the first 3 books before I get to this one... But I think I might do that...

[Devin]

Kristie, That's good to know!! I'll have to add her other books to my TBR list! Thank you!

[Dorothy]

Devin wrote: "This was the first novel I've read by Simone St. James but I enjoyed it a lot. It was a 4 star read for me. I really liked the paranormal aspects being interwoven with the murder mystery. Would def..."

I have not read anything from this author but have now ordered one from the library. It is 'Lost among the Living'

[Annie]

This was the first book Ive read by this author, and I did enjoy her writing style and I was entertained enough, pretty easy read. That being said I thought the story line was pretty predictable, I kept expecting something unexpected to happen and it just didn’t! And imo some of the story just fell flat! I’ve read others reviews and it seems that she has other books that are better so I will be giving them a read!

[Kristie, Moderator (Retired)]

I agree, Annie. I hope you enjoy her other books more.

[Carol]

Just finished. I enjoyed this book more than The Broken Girls; for me, if there is a paranormal element, I want it to be a bit scary and get my heart pounding and this book did that. I found the book to be enjoyable and while some parts were a bit predictable, I enjoyed how it played out and the reveals. It fell short for me in the last 10-15% which felt rushed to the end, and I couldn’t connect with why Shea took the actions she did with all she knew about Beth and what really happened - didn’t seem like the best carriage of justice.

[Gunit Kaur]

Annie wrote: "This was the first book Ive read by this author, and I did enjoy her writing style and I was entertained enough, pretty easy read. That being said I thought the story line was pretty predictable, I..."

The predictability of the plot was a sore point for me too. Made it an absolutely disappointing read.