The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars rounded up**
In 1977, in the small town of Claire Lake, Oregon, two men were brutally murdered. The events seemed to be random attacks. The men chosen simply because of convenience.
Both murders took place roadside, like the men had stopped to help a driver in distress and received the surprise of their lives. At both crime scenes, a taunting note was left behind, similar to the Son of Sam, or the Zodiac Killer.
Local heiress, Beth Greer, is reportedly spotted fleeing one of the scenes. She’s subsequently brought in for questioning and charged.
The feisty and eccentric 23-year old is ultimately acquitted and returns to the seclusion of her mansion.
In 2017, Shea is a doctor’s office receptionist by day, but at night she spends her time running a popular true crime website, Book of Cold Cases.
Shea, the survivor of childhood abduction, knows first hand the absolute horror of violent crime. It’s now her passion. It’s the monkey on her back. Her childhood trauma has shaped who she is as an adult. She’s built up a lot of walls. Honestly, it affects her day-to-day.
When Beth shows up at the doctor’s office for an appointment, Shea can hardly believe her eyes. The infamous Beth Greer, in the flesh.
It doesn’t take a true crime aficionado to recognize Beth. Everyone in the area is familiar with the Lady Killer case that shook Claire Lake in 1977.
This is Shea’s chance. She can possibly be the one to get the answers everyone wants. Was Beth rightfully acquitted, or did a heartless killer go free?
Shea is shocked when Beth agrees to an interview. She hasn’t spoken to anyone on the issue for years, why Shea? Why now?
Over the course of multiple interviews, Shea unlocks doors to dark family secrets, long-buried memories and the truth behind the Lady Killer crimes.
Y’all, I had so much fun with The Book Of Cold Cases. It’s told with St. James’s deeply engrossing style, alternating between past and present timelines in order to build out the larger picture.
I really enjoyed learning about both Shea and Beth. The women were similar in a lot of ways, both having survived traumatic childhoods that ultimately shaped their lifestyles as adults.
I also enjoyed the Greer family mansion as the backdrop to a lot of the story. If these walls could talk, am I right!?
From the second Shea sets foot into Beth’s home, it’s like stepping back in time. Beth has essentially kept it as a time capsule from the 1970s, but why would such a wealthy woman choose to live that way?
Additionally, extremely mysterious and disturbing things occur there. Is this place legit haunted?
For me, the highlight was the relationship between Beth and Shea. In a way, it was like through their, I won’t call it friendship, but acquaintance, Beth was able to free Shea.
This might not make sense until you read it, but for me, that was the heart of this story. It was actually quite beautiful, even though their respective traumas were so dark.
St. James is such a compelling writer. She has an absolute gift for setting a scene and keeping you intrigued. I was captivated throughout my entire read.
The one, very minor, issue I had was that I wish it would have been more suspenseful for longer into the story. I don’t want to give anything away, so it is a little hard to describe exactly what I mean by this, but I’ll give it a shot.
I feel like certain aspects were revealed a little early, which sucked a bit of the mystery out. It does make sense that St. James chose to tell it that way though, as she is able to build other aspects of the Greer family lore/history only after the reveal is made.
Overall, I loved this. It’s intriguing start to finish, nuanced, with beautifully fleshed out main characters. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed any of St. James’ previous works.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 and it definitely met my expectations!!
