Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Spoilers Welcome to the end of The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James. What did you think of the book?

No specific spoilers:
I galloped through the book this weekend and stayed up to finish it last night. Very enjoyable and a bit more overt in the supernatural elements than in previous book, The Sundown Motel, where the “woo woo” seemed more compartmentalized. (My memory could be faulty in how compartmentalized)

I really liked the main character Shea

Finished so Spoilers to end:

I liked Beth. I can see how her loneliness and useless mother made her a target for Lily with no real defenses.

I wouldn't mind another book with Shea and her True Murder blog (although one reason I liked more than loved (3 stars) this book was the lack of any real interaction with her blog followers. It seemed more a solitary hobby, which made me wonder what the point was having a blog. True she answered/responded to comments and e-mails but it seemed to be on varied cases, not at the same time as ones she was focused on.

I'm not sure the ghost aspect added anything to this novel. I actually like woo-woo stuff/magical realism etc. but think this one might have been better as straight thriller/crime (with the ghost stuff being hinted at but not really there.)

Spoilers to the end.

Bonnie, I agree with you on the ghost aspect. I *don't* care for ghost elements generally, but the rest of the plot engaged me so much I kept going, ignoring the ghost pieces.
I thought the story of Beth, Lily, Mariana, Julian, Joshua Black, Ransom Wells and of course Shea and Michael, were all really interesting characters bringing something to the plot.
Lest you think I have a remarkable memory, I was struggling with names and googled a wonderful spoiler discussion with a list of characters!
https://www.jenryland.com/spoiler-dis...
The author did a really nice job of unfolding the pieces of the puzzle slowly throughout the novel. We didn't meet Lilly until well in and her entry blew the story wide open.
I wondered if Detective Black were secretly in love with Beth. I didn't think they should have been together, I don't think Beth was capable of loving anyone, but my mind definitely went there at one point while reading the book.
I'm not sure I liked Beth. She had a cruel/cold streak that didn't allow me to warm up to her. I would have liked her and Shea to become friends, and I supposed they were as much friends as Beth could allow.
I didn't understand why Beth would remain in that house for 40 years where she had to lock doors to keep the ghosts from entering. Was the ghost rattling the doors Lily? Mariana? She (Beth) didn't even like the house. She was a very strong woman in some respects, I didn't buy that she felt compelled to stay.

More spoilers to the end

Interesting point, Bonnie, about Shea's lack of interaction with her readers. That hadn't occurred to me but I think that would have a) been an interesting plot element and b) been more realistic.

I liked that Shea pushed out of her shell enough to reach out to Michael and to pull out the whole story from Beth. She did lose me when she went to Greer House on her own when Beth was in Seattle or wherever. She was asking for trouble there and she sure did get it! Stereotypical mistake by the heroine/hero in every horror story, lol.

Yes, Shea was not really consistent with her fears/phobias when he went to the house alone- and she had been exposed to ghost stuff already.

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Carol: you mentioned not understanding Beth staying in the house for forty years. I concur, hard to understand that at all, but my thoughts on that situation evolved as I read.
/First I simply couldn’t understand it at all, why stay?
/Then I realized something supernatural was replacing any of the furnishings, clothes or bric-a-brac Beth tried to throw away, so something was going on. The master bedroom was creepy.
/Then Beth mentioned packing and finding her luggage back in the house when she was ready to drive away (and can’t remember if the car was haunted)
/Lastly when Lily’s final moments of life were revealed to have been in the house, I decided guilt contributed to Beth’s never leaving.

Spoilers
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Bonnie: yes, that inconsistency perplexed me too. While Shea was thawing a tiny bit in her phobias, to willing go to the house in person, alone, and after prior disturbing exposure to whatever was there, her going again was quite odd.
I tried to decide if going alone when her investigation partner was willing to go too was an avoidance of him or if she intrepidly thought her results would go better alone. His name had escaped me, Michael! I must thank Carol for listing the names and your link which I will now explore.
This feeds back into your comment Carol, about the solitary nature of Shea's passion project blog, I suppose we are so used to the nature of True Crime podcast hosts and their interactive gregariousness, her hermit-like habits seemed shut off.

Bonnie wrote: "Yes, Shea was not really consistent with her fears/phobias when he went to the house alone- and she had been exposed to ghost stuff already."

Ann wrote: "Spoilers
To
The
End
///:///:///:///:///:///:///:///
/First I simply couldn’t understand it at all, why stay?
/Then I realized something supernatural was replacing any of the furnishings, clothes or bric-a-brac Beth tried to throw away, so something was going on. The master bedroom was creepy.
/Then Beth mentioned packing and finding her luggage back in the house when she was ready to drive away (and can’t remember if the car was haunted)
/Lastly when Lily’s final moments of life were revealed to have been in the house, I decided guilt contributed to Beth’s never leaving..."

Yes, I forgot all the supernatural forces that made it harder (physically) for her to leave. I just know how I feel when in the middle of the night I have an (irrational) terror after hearing a noise or reliving a terrifying moment from a book or movie. I eventually work my way past it but it takes a minute. I can't imagine myself voluntarily enduring that type of fear night after night, knowing it is not going to end. The first night I heard something rattling doorknobs down the hall, slowly making its way to my closed door, I'd be making plans to leave, luggage or no! I'd rather live with the guilt.

***** SPOILER ALERT*********************

I must say I was captivated by the plot. I couldn't put it down. It did get get carried away with the paranormal activity but not enough to make me dislike it entirely. I feel that it gave it that spooky edge but it honestly wasn't needed at all. I thought it would have been better if Beth came out and told her everything. Was I the only one who thought Beth was really Lily? I started assuming that when they found a body, I thought Lily had finally put Beth out of her misery and killed her and assumed her identity...the only problem with my assumption was that she would have probably killed more men. I'm glad that Shea got out of her comfort zone but I still wouldn't have went to the house without Beth being there.

I related with Shea a bit more than I cared to and at times it brought painful memories of when I was a child. The same thing happened to me when I was about 9 (which was spooky), my mom always told me that if I ever was in that situation to jump out the car and even if I died trying to get away, it was better than the alternative. I don't know whatever happened to my abductor, I just pray he was caught where he could not ever hurt a child again. Still have the scar on my knee from hitting the pavement that day.

Jess:
comments on your spoiler alert post -
**** spoiler alert ***
How scary that you had the experience of an attempted abduction when you were a child and had to jump out of the car to get away. So glad you were able to. That must have added to your understanding of why Shea was so cautious.
I also found it hard to put down (but then I would have to when some of the supernatural stuff flared up. LOL
At some point in the book, yes - I was suspicious about Lily and Beth.
Jess wrote: "Was I the only one who thought Beth was really Lily? I started assuming that when they found a body, I thought Lily had finally put Beth out of her misery and killed her and assumed her identity...the only problem with my assumption was that she would have probably killed more men."

Jess wrote: "***** SPOILER ALERT*********************

I must say I was captivated by the plot. I couldn't put it down. It did get get carried away with the paranormal activity but not enough to make me dislike..."

Jess, how horrifying to hear about your would-be abductor. Good for your mom for training you how to handle but i would imagine it still haunts you every now and then.

Glad you enjoyed the book and that your reaction was sympathy for Shea even as it reactivated frightening memories.

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Jess wrote: "***** SPOILER ALERT*********************

I must say I was captivated by the plot. I couldn't put it down. It did get get carried away with the paranormal activity but not enough to ma..."

Thanks Carol & Ann. I was scared of everything at first. It made me more cautious & observant of my surroundings but I've come a long way. That's why I think I wanted to pursue a career with the FBI but God had other plans for me in teaching. Yes, I saw a lot of myself in Shea. I loved the reading.