The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James - 3 stars

[Flo]

Out of the other books I've read by this author, I think this one is probably my least favorite. It wasn't bad, but it just felt like things were disjointed, and I didn't love any of the characters. I was actually super frustrated by all the main characters. I never super got into Shea's POV, and while I liked Beth and thought she was badass, I was also annoyed by all the bad choices she made and her guilt over things that had nothing to do with her (which led to more bad choices).

This author is really good at creating a ~scary atmosphere, and that was still true here. However, I didn't think the paranormal stuff was necessary for this book to work. It felt sort of disjointed and not really connected to the actual mystery - like it was tacked on because that's what she's known for rather than serving the story itself. I saw some of the reviews saying that they didn't like that the mystery was essentially solved midway in the story and the rest was just filler. I didn't feel that way (like I thought the rest of the story was fine and not extraneous), but definitely could have been a lot shorter without all the paranormal stuff.

I also found myself feeling kind of...sad at the end of the book. I'm not sure why, but I think I just felt bad for Beth at the end (even though she also annoyed me lol). And as far as Shea and the rest of the situation, things felt like they wrapped up too neatly. (view spoiler)["Then she became happy and followed her passions and now is in this happy heterosexual relationship THE END." (hide spoiler)] The author seems to follow this formula in most of her books and sometimes I'm just like /shrugs. Just let people stay single!