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A review by mandy_smithburrows
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
4.0
Setting: 3/5 stars
The Book of Cold Cases begins with a small chapter where Claire Lake is described as a small lake town where crime rarely happens apart from the odd robbery. Greer mansion where much of the book takes place is also described. St. James intended for this book to be creepy and atmospheric, and it was meant to be a primary focus as she chose to begin the story like this. Unfortunately, it fell short as none of the characters visited much of Claire Lake apart from what was already described in chapter one. St. James appeared to fall away from the setting and focus on other aspects.
Plot: 3.5/5 Stars
The Plot was fast-paced and exciting for the first half of the book. Shea was finding things out at a steady enough pace to keep me interested and excited. Unfortunately, after the main reveal in the middle of the book; it started to get repetitive as a big chunk of the second half was flashbacks on events we already knew. The last reveal was also something we (as readers) had figured out and were just waiting for the main character to catch up.
I absolutely loved the addition of the paranormal in this book, which is why I pick up Simone’s books. The ghosts just add a creepy factor to a mystery and is something I can fall back on if the mystery is losing me. Chapter seven, where the paranormal is introduced in this book is my favourite part and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t feel creeped out again like I did from that chapter.
Characters: 4/5 stars
The character development we see in Shea, especially as she overcomes her fears from her getting abducted as a child is one of my favourite parts of this book. Her anxieties, paranoia and how she acts because of that trauma was well-done in my opinion. There was a lot of showing of how it affected Shea rather than telling us and I appreciated how this contributed to the outcome of events in the book. Due to the flashbacks though; there was less Shea in the second half and I’m a bit disappointed by that.
However, Beth Greer’s development was a bit hard to follow. As a child she appeared to be warm and loving despite her circumstances; yet, as an adult she was cold and emotionless. I feel that St. James failed to show this change and I still found myself confused at the end of the novel as to how she became that person even though we were told why (might be a little of telling rather than showing here).
I was also uncomfortable by how Beth was described during the 1970s timeline as “sexy” and focused a lot on her figure. Shea even described Beth in this tone in the present day when looking at old photographs of her. I understand that St. James was making a point of how women in the media were portrayed in the seventies, especially if they were on trial for murder but she pushed the point too hard especially when she didn’t need to.
Writing Style (3/5 stars)
St. James used a mixture of first person (for present day) and third person (for flashbacks) which I really enjoyed. However, I did notice a lot of repetition where she would favor the same words (such as using the term sexy for Beth) or similar descriptions. This usually doesn’t bother me too much; however, it was prevalent enough where I did notice it.
I was also disappointed by how St. James went from chapters that were mostly in present day to chunks of flashbacks in the latter of the book. This was where the book really began to lose me, and I had to force myself to get through those flashbacks. This also messed with the pacing of the book, as I felt like St. James had mostly run out of storyline in present day, so she had to fill up the book with events we already knew about.
Overview: 3.5/5 stars
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book; especially with the speculative aspects and a great main character that I related to, and I loved seeing her evolve throughout the book. I also enjoyed the romance between Shea and Michael although this was a small portion of the book as Michael was there as a support for Shea rather than the romance being added as St. James felt it needed to be present in the story (though this could’ve been the case too!).
However, there were some glaring issues with the book, including pacing and repeating certain phrases and descriptions. I understand that this can be hard to avoid but it was enough to be noticeable with a reader who isn’t usually bothered by prose. The main thing that ruined this book for me was how the use of dual timelines (especially in the second half) were used to cover up the idea that perhaps St. James didn’t have enough material to hold up either timeline on its own and this was shown when flashbacks were telling us something that Shea had already uncovered in the present timeline.
I recommend this book for:
- Readers who are just getting into thrillers and haven’t read too many of them. If you read a lot of thrillers, I suggest you pass this one by.
- And those who love that extra speculative element as St. James doesn’t shy away from the paranormal as part of her stories. She is not one of those authors who entices us with a haunted house only to find out at the end that there was a logical explanation for everything!
- I do however recommend everyone to read Broken Girls by Simone St. James as this book is the reason I’m reading everything Simone has ever written
The Book of Cold Cases begins with a small chapter where Claire Lake is described as a small lake town where crime rarely happens apart from the odd robbery. Greer mansion where much of the book takes place is also described. St. James intended for this book to be creepy and atmospheric, and it was meant to be a primary focus as she chose to begin the story like this. Unfortunately, it fell short as none of the characters visited much of Claire Lake apart from what was already described in chapter one. St. James appeared to fall away from the setting and focus on other aspects.
Plot: 3.5/5 Stars
The Plot was fast-paced and exciting for the first half of the book. Shea was finding things out at a steady enough pace to keep me interested and excited. Unfortunately, after the main reveal in the middle of the book; it started to get repetitive as a big chunk of the second half was flashbacks on events we already knew. The last reveal was also something we (as readers) had figured out and were just waiting for the main character to catch up.
I absolutely loved the addition of the paranormal in this book, which is why I pick up Simone’s books. The ghosts just add a creepy factor to a mystery and is something I can fall back on if the mystery is losing me. Chapter seven, where the paranormal is introduced in this book is my favourite part and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t feel creeped out again like I did from that chapter.
Characters: 4/5 stars
The character development we see in Shea, especially as she overcomes her fears from her getting abducted as a child is one of my favourite parts of this book. Her anxieties, paranoia and how she acts because of that trauma was well-done in my opinion. There was a lot of showing of how it affected Shea rather than telling us and I appreciated how this contributed to the outcome of events in the book. Due to the flashbacks though; there was less Shea in the second half and I’m a bit disappointed by that.
However, Beth Greer’s development was a bit hard to follow. As a child she appeared to be warm and loving despite her circumstances; yet, as an adult she was cold and emotionless. I feel that St. James failed to show this change and I still found myself confused at the end of the novel as to how she became that person even though we were told why (might be a little of telling rather than showing here).
I was also uncomfortable by how Beth was described during the 1970s timeline as “sexy” and focused a lot on her figure. Shea even described Beth in this tone in the present day when looking at old photographs of her. I understand that St. James was making a point of how women in the media were portrayed in the seventies, especially if they were on trial for murder but she pushed the point too hard especially when she didn’t need to.
Writing Style (3/5 stars)
St. James used a mixture of first person (for present day) and third person (for flashbacks) which I really enjoyed. However, I did notice a lot of repetition where she would favor the same words (such as using the term sexy for Beth) or similar descriptions. This usually doesn’t bother me too much; however, it was prevalent enough where I did notice it.
I was also disappointed by how St. James went from chapters that were mostly in present day to chunks of flashbacks in the latter of the book. This was where the book really began to lose me, and I had to force myself to get through those flashbacks. This also messed with the pacing of the book, as I felt like St. James had mostly run out of storyline in present day, so she had to fill up the book with events we already knew about.
Overview: 3.5/5 stars
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book; especially with the speculative aspects and a great main character that I related to, and I loved seeing her evolve throughout the book. I also enjoyed the romance between Shea and Michael although this was a small portion of the book as Michael was there as a support for Shea rather than the romance being added as St. James felt it needed to be present in the story (though this could’ve been the case too!).
However, there were some glaring issues with the book, including pacing and repeating certain phrases and descriptions. I understand that this can be hard to avoid but it was enough to be noticeable with a reader who isn’t usually bothered by prose. The main thing that ruined this book for me was how the use of dual timelines (especially in the second half) were used to cover up the idea that perhaps St. James didn’t have enough material to hold up either timeline on its own and this was shown when flashbacks were telling us something that Shea had already uncovered in the present timeline.
I recommend this book for:
- Readers who are just getting into thrillers and haven’t read too many of them. If you read a lot of thrillers, I suggest you pass this one by.
- And those who love that extra speculative element as St. James doesn’t shy away from the paranormal as part of her stories. She is not one of those authors who entices us with a haunted house only to find out at the end that there was a logical explanation for everything!
- I do however recommend everyone to read Broken Girls by Simone St. James as this book is the reason I’m reading everything Simone has ever written