Book of Cold Cases, The

Product Information

This modern Gothic triumph is a cross between your most bingeworthy true crime podcast and The Haunting of Hill House. It’s compulsively readable…but don’t read it at night. The hauntings in this story scared me, and I write this stuff for a living.” The Inside Flap – 2020 - Ep. 98 How To Spy On People With Simone St. James by Dave Medicus, Andrew Dowd, and Laura Medicus – 1:36:48 - begins about 30:00 – to 58:00

Do yourself a favor and light some fall candles (I recommend ”Leaves” from Bath & Body Works), pour a glass (or bottle) of wine, wrap yourself in a cozy blanket, and settle in for a quaint night of reading. If you hear a strange noise or feel like someone is watching you, hopefully it’s just your animal/spouse/child. If you live alone, get the hell out of there! Enjoy! 🕯🍷📖 👻 The true-crime aspect was an appealing element of this storyline, however it didn’t carry the weight I had expected and wasn’t something that pulled the story forward. It held potential that never quite amounted to anything for me. No one writes a ghost story like Simone St. James, whose uniquely spooky thrillers are as chilling as they are captivating, and The Book of Cold Cases is St. James at her best.Steeped in atmosphere and spine-tingling chills, this gripping mystery will haunt you from the very beginning.”Shea is trying to solve the mystery behind the murder that happened decades ago. To make things more interesting, the mansion in which Beth lives has some paranormal incidents connected to it. Will Shea solve the mystery behind the murders? Was Beth a real murderer? What is the reason behind Shea's supernatural experiences in the mansion? Simone St. James will answer all these questions through this novel. years later, Shea Collins is a receptionist by day, and a true crime blogger by night. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To her surprise, Beth says yes. The narrative alternates between Shea and Beth, with Shea’s chapters taking place in 2017, whereas the majority of Beth’s chapters take place in the 1970s. Shea is a solid, likable narrator. I was intrigued by Beth, but she is cold and distant, with good reason, unlike Shea, who is warm and relatable. This book had an other-world, spooky tone to it right up to the end. I don’t do horror and I wouldn’t classify this one as part of that genre. Let’s just say a paranormal vibe.👻 Inside the mansion, Shea realizes her and Beth are not alone. She sees items move and sightings of a young girl. After interviewing old detectives and people familiar with the case, she is in over her head and unsure of Beth's allure, her cold heart and her deceptive premise. So many details are revealed throughout this story that it will leave you in awe and shivering with fear.

Is guilt a good or bad emotion? It depends on the individual's character on how we respond to guilt. We can positively consider guilt by saying that it can motivate us to improve ourselves for a better chance and future. Guilt can also break you down. In 1977, the people of Claire Lake, Oregon, feared for their safety when 2 family men were murdered by the same gun and notes were left on them steering towards a lady killer. The wealthy Beth, 23 years old at the time, was tried and acquitted and remains at her mansion isolating herself from the community. That truth doesn’t necessarily absolve Beth, but it sheds light on a woman whose public persona has been twisted by the media. Shea’s project—as well as the chapters written from Beth’s perspective—reveals how much the press can shape a high-profile case like the Lady Killer murders. And St. James does an excellent job exploring the role sexism can play in such scenarios, whether they’re taking place in 2017 or 1977.One year later, Shea sees a news report that Beth Greer died, probably from the aneurysm. Someone bought the haunted Greer house. Simone St.James presents her story in two contrasting time frames. The first is set in 1977 in Claire Lake, Oregon and the tension is set high after the Lady Killer Murders in this small lakeside community. Two men had been intentionally killed by a woman identified by a witness. Long haired and wearing a trench coat, she stepped forward and fired point blank on two separate occasions. But when they meet up at Beth’s stately mansion, something doesn’t sit well with Shea. Whose footsteps does she hear? Who turned on the sink faucets right in front of her? Did she really see a young girl standing just outside the front door? Shea has help from an old detective that had worked the case and from her friend Michael. The question that keeps coming up is “Why?” . . . .Why was Beth telling me this after all these years? Why me??”

Michael was a catfish. I think that would have been a good twist, but not for poor Shea. I was fine with him being her only friend! The story itself is rather bland. It's supposed to be a ghost story, yet I don't feel any chills or creepy vibes. In fact, I fell asleep twice reading it so far, which is my bar for moving on. So, what’s a girl to do, when the infamous Beth Greer, walks into the Dr’s office where Shea works? She tries to get answers of course.

About the Author

In 2017, Shea Collins runs a blog called The Book of Cold Cases. True Crime is her passion. Something happened to her when she was a child and now as an adult, this is what she does at night to keep her sanity. During the day, Shea is a receptionist at a doctor's office, and here is where she sees and recognizes Beth Greer. St. James is a fantastic writer, that's not up for debate. Her world building is incredibly realistic and atmospheric and I can always place myself within the setting of the book. I enjoyed that the main character Shea is a true crime blogger, and that she has some hidden issues of her own that need to come to light. Receptionist by day, true crime blogger by night, Shea Collins is on a mission to find the truth behind the Lady Killer Murders, a cold case that took place in her coastal hometown of Claire Lake, Oregon in 1977. Surprisingly, Beth agrees to be interviewed but only if Shea comes to her mansion-because the house is going to help tell the story. Nothing has been changed since Beth’s parents resided there-not the furnishings-not the bills on her father’s desk, or the clothes hanging in her mother’s closet. And, a PRESENCE seems to be making itself known, helping to whisper the secrets which have been kept behind closed doors.