Publisher : Berkley (March 15, 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
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?
MY REVIEW:
Atmospheric
Haunting
Fast Paced
I absolutely enjoyed this book and read it in two sittings. Once I started I could not stop – this is the best gauge for me that this is certainly a five star read.
I love that this seemed to me two stories in one, both in Oregon, one set in 1977 and the other in 2017.
In 1977, a reclusive wealthy woman named Beth was suspected and then acquitted for the murders of two men using the same gun.
In 2017, Shea a true crime aficionado gets the chance of her life by getting to interview Beth Greer, The Lady Killer.
The writing is so well done with just the right amount of ghostly presence – yes it still scared me a lot but it had the right balance that was propelled by the incredible characters, the twists in the plot and the murder investigation that is being conducted by Shea as an amateur sleuth.
The story was told in alternate perspectives of Shea’s in the first person and Beth’s in the third person, with some chapters for Other in between. I love the cozy mystery vibe this story was told, with just the right amount of ghostly apparitions, and that gothic thriller element.
Overall, I really enjoyed this mystery and cannot wait for more books by Simone St. James.
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:
Simone St. James is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel, The Broken Girls and The Haunting of Maddy Clare, which won two RITA awards from Romance Writers of America and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada. She wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school, and spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time. She lives outside Toronto, Canada with her husband and a spoiled cat.
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