The Book of Cold Cases

A Most Anticipated Novel by PopSugar * Crime Reads * Goodreads *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? Review Lovers of true crime will get a kick out of this thriller that oozes atmosphere.--Silvia Moreno-GarciaNew York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the NightSimone St. James knows how to haunt you. The Book of Cold Cases is St. James at the top of her gameexpertly weaving the past and the present to reveal a chilling tapestry of real world mystery and supernatural suspense that will have you turning pages well past your bedtime and jumping at every little sound. --Jennifer McMahon New York Times bestselling author of The Drowning Kind   No one writes a ghost story like Simone St. James whose uniquely spooky thrillers are as chilling as they are captivatingand 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. --Laura McHugh award-winning author of Whats Done in Darkness   “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.” --Wendy Webb author of The Keepers of Metsan ValoPrepare to lose some sleep when you dive intoThe Book of Cold Cases...[A] creepy thriller.--Pop Sugar   You will sink into this novel faster than you would a peat bog.--Crime Reads   [A] chilling paranormal thriller...St. James keeps the suspense high.--Publishers Weekly About the Author Simone St. James is the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel and The Broken Girls. She spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter One Claire Lake Oregon The Greer mansion sat high on a hill overlooking the town and the ocean. To get to it from downtown you had to leave the pretty shops and the creaking seaside piers and drive a road that wound upward toward the cliffs. You passed the heart of Claire Lake the part of town where the locals lived and the tourists didnt usually go. You passed a grid of shops and low apartment blocks local diners and hair salons. On the outskirts of town you passed newer developments built between the foot of the cliffs and the flat land on the edge of the inland lake that gave the town its name. The land was too wet and rocky to keep building so the newer developments tapered off into woods and two-lane roads. A