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soobooksalot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Book Of Cold Cases was one of my most-anticipated books of the year and I'm thrilled to say it lived up to expectations!
In 1977, Beth Greer was charged with the murder of two men and dubbed the Lady Killer. Though acquitted of the crimes, she was presumed guilty by the public and retreated to a reclusive life in the Greer family's Oregon mansion.
In 2017, Shea Collins is fascinated with all things true crime and runs a blog called The Book Of Cold Cases.
A chance encounter with Beth reignites Shea's interest in the Lady Killer case and she aims to solve that which has remained a mystery for 40 years.
It's one of those stories you feel like you want to Google for more background because it feels so real.
There's some excellent Gothic retro atmosphere here, mixed with a modern feel.
As with previous books by this author, there are varying timelines and gripping backstories. And a touch of paranormal creepy goodness to round out the traditional thriller.
Loved it.
Recommended!
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
bookishgoob's review against another edition
1.0
DNF’D AT 42% HALFWAY THROUGH CHAPTER 21.
There is so much i want to say about this book from the little i read but i’ll just leave it at this.
too much description on things that don’t matter, what feels like it should be adding ambiance actually feels like too much information about things i couldn’t care less about.
it’s really weird what the author chooses to elaborate on and describe. for instance in chapter 14 she elaborates on a phone call between shea and michael about a cat her neighbor dumped on her doorstep, and that’s the bulk of the conversation, but the conversation also implies they had a previous conversation about finding someone to interview and the name changes. to me that seems like a conversation that is more important to elaborate than one about if she should keep a cat or not. this “relationship” kind of reminds me of when reid had a girl friend that her only talked to on the phone in criminal minds. it feels like she’s trying to set up a relationship between these two characters but it is so unimportant, especially with how short the book is. why have a romance subplot?
in chapter twenty one, shea is having a drink with michael for the first time and he’s telling her about his job. he says “i’m mostly in insurance work. taking pictures of people who claim they’re in chronic pain while they lift furniture or go water skiing” I AM SO ANGRY???? that is absolutely disgusting to say. like chronic pain has intensities. I have chronic pain and i love with it every day, but some days i have more energy and less pain and i’m able to do bigger projects. chronic pain doesn’t mean no activity and it doesn’t mean not having fun. what a terrible and awful thing to read. i feel so disheartened and unheard as a person with chronic pain. how dare this author write something like that? this is one of many things it doesn’t seem like she understands. there has been so many things that i’ve said “not how that works but okay” to myself through the course of reading this. it feels like this author thinks up something and makes it true. i’m done with this book. it’s uninteresting, slow, boring, and full of misinformation. If you’re going to write a fiction book, not everything obviously has to be real, but there are somethings, especially if you’re placing your characters in the “real world” that you have to get right or it just sounds dumb. idk. i had been bored with this most of the way through and the chronic pain part really pissed me off. on top of that, she repeats things way too often in the same paragraphs and chapters and it’s like “wait didn’t you just say this?“ i’m finding it hard to understand how so many people rated this 5 stars. I am disappointed that I wasted my time with this book and i’m disheartened at the way this author talked about certain things. I have the sun down motel on my tbr and i’m debating on if it’s even worth it to read. I hate read many authors so it’s saying something that I cant even get through this book.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Infertility, Murder, Car accident, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, and Blood
zwe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Vomit and Rape
mondovertigo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Gun violence, Grief, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia
Minor: Pregnancy and Infertility
taelights's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The first half of the book started out so strong. The mystery of the lady killer case mixed in with the creepy paranormal elements had so much potential. But the mystery was solved at literally 50% which was way too easy. After I reached 63% I was like please just end the book because it was so boring after that point.
Honestly the book should have either been much shorter. Most of the second half was just boring and felt repetitive as if the author was trying to reach some type of word count/story length goal rather than actually tell the story.
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Murder
writtenbydnicole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
ohhthehorrors's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Rape, Terminal illness, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Murder