Publisher’s Synopsis:

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: March 5, 2024
Source: Review copy from NetGalley
Rating: 5 Stars

My Thoughts:

Eerie ghost story meets 90s nostalgia in MURDER ROAD, the latest gripping paranormal thriller from Simone St. James. I loved everything about it, and if you’re new to her spooky books, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend starting with this one.

It’s summer 1995, and a young honeymooning couple gets entangled in a paranormal murder mystery when they pick up a doomed hitchhiker along a deserted Michigan road. While police keep them in town for questioning, April and Eddie discover that road is known for a string of unsolved murders going back to the 1970s, and also the local legend of the Lost Girl. With some time to kill and a desire to clear their own names, they investigate the history of this haunted road on their own.

I enjoyed the complex mystery in this one, and the supernatural elements blended in perfectly for many chilling moments. The characters are what I loved most about this book. April was flawed from the emotional baggage of her past, yet so brave and clever in their current precarious situation. And then there’s Eddie — be still my heart. Even the secondary cast was well-rounded and compelling.

I’ve read MURDER ROAD twice because it is addictive, and I wanted to experience the creepy goodness again. The ominous atmosphere, the dark supernatural, the genuine characters, and the 90s make this an unputdownable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC. Opinions are my own.