A review by leahthebooklover
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

dark emotional mysterious tense

4.0

"On the bus, I pulled out my phone, put my earbuds in my ears, and played the audiobook I was in the middle of listening to. A thriller: a woman in danger, most of the characters possibly lying, everything not quite as it seemed. A twist somewhere near the end that would either shock me or it wouldn't. There were dozens of books just like it, hundreds maybe, and they were the soundtrack of my life. The woman's voice in my earbuds told me about death, murder, deep family secrets, people who shouldn't be trusted, lies that cost lives. But a novel always ends, the lies come to the surface, and the deaths are explained. Maybe one of the bad characters gets away with something --that's fashionable right now --but you are still left with a sense that things are balanced, that dark things come to light, and that the bad person will, at least, most likely be miserable." p.7
  These are the words of Shea Collins; doctor's office receptionist, part-time true crime blogger, and child abduction survivor. She is the main character in "The Book of Cold Cases" and when I read this in the opening pages of the book, I wondered if I had just had the main points of the plot summed up for me. It's not too far from the way the book played out, but even with that neat little outline to follow, this was one gripping story. Thriller? Check. Murder mystery? Check. Amateur sleuthing? Check. Creepy haunted house? Check. Family secrets? Check. Morally ambiguous/possibly mentally unstable characters? Check. Throw in multiple POV's and timelines, a dash of romance, and enough twists that what might have been formulaic felt original and utterly readable. This was my February "Blind Date With a Book" selection from my local library, and it was a hit. Because of the supernatural/ghostly aspects of the book, I probably wouldn't have picked this book out for myself, but because I really did enjoy reading this, I will undoubtedly look for this author again. 
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