4⭐️ A murder mystery with a supernatural element a new to me author. I love a good supernatural element. April and Eddie were on route to their honeymoon destination when they took a wrong turn. This turned out to be the catalyst of disaster. They met a woman on a dark isolated road, they offered her a lift to soon find that she was badly injured so rushed her to the nearest hospital. As she didn’t survive her injuries the couple soon find themselves in the crosshairs of the police. April and Eddie start investigating only to find that this is only one in a string of murders. I really liked April and Eddie, even knowing they were holding on to secrets. Despite both of them having darkness in their lives the tone of the book is quite light and easy going. They team up with Beatrice a tenacious 16 year old, I loved her plucky inquisitive/obsessive attitude. I found the switch to some of the past memories felt a little awkward. I enjoyed this, and would like to read more by this Author

Murder Road by Simone St James I give this book 4.25 stars. “If you see her you’ll be next” ……..The honeymoon from hell is about to begin! I was drawn in from the start by the atmospheric narrative, the intriguing murder mystery of Atticus Line hitch hikers and the local legend of the haunting lost girl.l loved the 1995 creepy small town setting and the paranormal twist mixed between reality.Told from Aprils pov they find themselves caught up in trying to prove their innocence and strangely unable to leave Cold Lake Falls. Add into the mix quirky Rose who owns the b&b they stay in, the Snell sisters crime busting duo and Detective Quentin from the local police department. Are the past unsolved murders related, are April and Eddie keeping secrets,what does the lost girl want? You need to read it if you want to find out!

My first Simone St. James, and definitely not my last! This book is truly gripping! From the first page, I was hooked, and while I managed to guess the big reveal earlier on in the book (I obviously read too much), I was still so invested in this story! I'd definitely class this book as more thriller than horror, but there is a truly convincing supernatural/paranormal element that I enjoyed. It didn't give me the creeps like I was hoping for, but it was tense, and that's good enough for me to want to read more. The characters were so flawed and real, I both hated and loved April, and Eddie sounds like a PTSD suffering ex army recruit to want to care for and mollycoddle. I really loved them together and hope the rest of their marriage isn't as dramatic as their honeymoon. Full of fun 90s nostalgia and ominous car journeys that will have you grabbing your seat and screaming at the page, definitely a must read for any previous lovers of the authors books, or as an introduction like myself.

An amazing story by Simone St. James. It’s based around a young couple who encounter a young woman in the middle of the road. This story has you hanging off the edge of your seat with its tense, unpredictable writing. What you know at the beginning will change by the end. Having not read anything by Simone St. James before, I didn’t know what to expect going into this book. However it’s safe to say that this is an author I will find myself coming back to in the future. Highly recommend for those who want a good, fast paced thriller!

What a cleverly intricate, layered plot. The more you discover, the more there is to wonder and find out. This book keeps taking the reader down darker and more twisted paths than you could imagine. The main characters, April and Eddie, both have pasts they’d like to leave behind and I was engrossed working out what they could be. There are a lot of characters in Coldlake Falls, but they are each developed with clarity and individuality, some I placed clearly in the ‘don’t like’ camp with others gradually becoming more appealing by their surprisingly thoughtful actions. The storyline took me to the edges of my believability, wrapping me into the events carefully, adding in some very tense, suspenseful moments, I particularly enjoyed the ending, returning to Coldlake Falls, so that any remaining queries could be placed into context and understood. A story with surprises around every corner!