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Book Review of The Book of Cold Cases

The Book of Cold Cases
perryfran avatar reviewed on + 1223 more book reviews


Another good thriller from St. James. This is the fourth book I have read by her and I have enjoyed all of them. The protagonist in this one is Shea Collins, a receptionist at a doctor's office by day and an unsolved murder blogger by night. Her blog, "The Book of Cold Cases", delved into unsolved murders both near and far. She lives in Claire Lake, Oregon, and one of the infamous unsolved murders occurred here back in 1977. Dubbed the "Lady Killer" murdersâtwo random men were murdered with the same gun. A witness to the second murder identified a local young woman named Beth Greer leaving the scene. But Beth was acquitted of the crimes. Then Shea happens to run into Beth at the doctor's office and Beth agrees to be interviewed. Turns out she is still living in the house where her father was also murdered back in the 70s. Her mother had been killed in a car crash soon after and so Beth had been living all alone in the house since her acquittal. So did Beth commit the crimes? If not, who did? The police are adamant that the killer was a woman based on some notes left at the crime scene. But the handwriting does not match Beth's. As Shea interviews Beth at the house, she feels other presences there and is convinced the house contains some kind of supernatural entities. If so, why does Beth stay there?

This was actually a pretty straight forward supernatural mystery with not too many surprises. But it did keep my interest throughout. I enjoyed this one but didn't feel it was as good as THE BROKEN GIRLS or THE SUNDOWN MOTEL. However, I will be looking forward to reading St. James next novel.