Simone St. James has a particular jam: a mash-up of murder mystery and ghostly intervention. I will be careful about not revealing too much, so you can enjoy the reveals as they happen. Again, as I said in my last St. James review (https://www.margueritereads.com/home/the-book-of-cold-cases-by-simone-st-james?rq=book%20of%20cold%20cases), this genre is not for me. Some of you may find the combo a fun read, a light diversion, from what I usually discuss. I guess I feel the same way, so here we go.

Eddie and April Carter are working class newlyweds, just trying to grab a couple of days for a honeymoon, when they drive off course, get lost, then spot a girl behaving strangely on a deserted road late at night. They cannot just leave her, so they offer her a ride. Turns out, she has been stabbed, and is bleeding out in their back seat. Rushing her to the hospital, where she cannot be saved, they are met by state detectives, and quickly become suspects. The Carters’ honeymoon turns into an investigation into a series of murders over the past twenty years on that same lonely, haunted stretch known as Atticus Line.

St. James includes a quirky cast of characters to help April and Eddie, like Rose who runs the B&B where they are staying, and Bernice and Grace Snell, teenage sisters obsessed with the local murders (as well as UFOs and the Kennedy assassination.) We also learn that April has a very shady past, while not her fault, does cast a serious helping of suspicion her way. Eddie, a recent Army veteran from Iraq, suffering from untreated PTSD symptoms, attracts some attention as well. More concerning is his history: a child, orphaned at age 8, fostered then adopted by his wonderful parents, nonetheless wonders about his birth mother and why she left him.

St. James scatters ample red herrings, all the while tying the loose threads tighter until the young couple solve the case for the police, almost at great personal cost. We always knew they would come through, so not a big reveal there. Detective characters may get bruised or injured, but rarely lose their lives. St. James offers a nice light serial murder mystery, in between my usual serious reading. Oh, that life had situations that end so tidy and satisfying. A good diversion, if you would like one.