Murder Road by Simone St. James is a story that sneaks up on you like a Stephen King novel does. You are reading along, and becoming interested, then something happens that makes you think “can that really happen?” That is how you know it is well written, the strange stuff does not come out of left field, it makes sense in the story. You may not want to read it when you are alone, or in a dark room.

The characters in this book very much make the story. Newlyweds, April and Eddie, are on their honeymoon when they take a wrong turn late at night in the dark and wind up in a place they do not recognize to find a young woman who appears to be in a bad way. She is definitely impaired but they try to decide is she drunk or high? They pull up and discover that she is hurt, very hurt and very bloody. They get her in their car and take her to the emergency room where the police get the idea they may be the ones who harmed her. The honeymoon is driven off course and the couple must stay put to be cleared by the police. The town is small and kind of odd and makes for a great setting for this type of novel.

Read this book if you enjoy suspense and unexplainable happenings. Read this book if you enjoy interesting characters and mysteries. Actually, just read this book.

Hitchhikers have been getting killed on Atticus Line since the 70's. Rumors say the very first victim, The Lost Girl, still haunts the area. When Eddie and April take a wrong turn en route to their honeymoon destination, they get caught up in this decades-old mystery..

Simone St. James is the author that got me into paranormal thrillers. It's amazing how she can take a topic I don't believe in but write it so well that I get chills while reading. The main characters in the book were likeable and well-written, and the supporting characters were excellent, adding the right amount of fun and quirkiness. Some questionable choices are made, but I feel this is wrapped up in the end (also, remember, this book is set in 1995.) The setting of the book was eerie from start to finish, never really knowing who to trust with that small-town mystery vibe. Multiple scenes gave me a scare without going over the top. The storyline was easy to follow and so entertaining. While The Sun Down Motel is still my top read by this author, Murder Road takes a very close second. Even if you are not a fan of paranormal, I'd recommend giving this one a try, it just might change your mind!

Another good mystery from this author, not really a full on mystery but more of a ghost story like
her other books. Two lost souls have found each despite their secrets and are on their honeymoon when they stumble upon a girl who has attacked by the side of a deserted road. From there strange things start to happen and the secrets become revealed. This one is a real page turner:

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Wow! Simone St. James can truly do no wrong. I've loved every book of hers that I've read and Murder Road was no exception. I flew through this story because I HAD TO KNOW what the heck was going on here.

It centers around Eddie and April, a newly married couple on their way to a relaxing honeymoon when they end up on a strange road, not really sure how they got there or where they took a wrong turn. When they come upon a hitchhiker who has been stabbed, they unknowingly place themselves in the middle of a decades long investigation.

Full of small town prejudices and secrets, compelling characters, and a touch of the supernatural, Murder Road is a must-read! So, so good!

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but alas. I thought the main plot of this book was so interesting - vanishing and murdered hitchhikers, an urban legend about a ghost, the locals being inhospitable - but the execution fell short for me. There was way too much focus on the couple that felt force and fluffy - it felt indulgent and didn't add to the plot. And I found the stringing along of the main character's backstory to be tedious rather than intriguing.

Welcome to the honeymoon from Hell!

In 1995, newlyweds April and Eddie take a wrong turn while driving to their honeymoon destination and find themselves lost on Atticus Line. They pick up a hitchhiker, afraid that she might be in danger. However, they soon learn that the woman has recently been stabbed. The only words she speaks are, “I’m sorry. He’s coming.” Unfortunately, she won’t survive the night.

Now the couple are stuck in Coldlake Falls, Michigan, questioned by the police and suspected of her murder. They decide to investigate a string of murders that all took place on Atticus Line. Are they all connected? Could there be a serial killer on the loose? Or is it just urban legend?

“If you see her, you’ll be the next one found at the side of the road.”

They think they saw her…

Simone St. James is one of my favorite gothic authors. I can always count on her books to grip me from the first page, and Murder Road does just that. I read this one in two days and it did not disappoint! She explores themes of racism and PTSD, while delivering a spooky gothic mystery. I really enjoyed Rose Jones’s quirky character and the amateur detective duo of the Snell sisters.

This book was a five star read for me up until the reveal, as the motive just wasn’t believable. However, I did really enjoy the ride! Pun intended.

4/5 stars

Expected publication date: 3/5/24

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley publishing for the ARC of Murder Road in exchange for an honest review.

Murder Road (2024)
By Simone St. James
Berkley/Penguin Group, 352 pages.
★★★

Canadian writer Simone St. James is known for paranormal thrillers in a nouveau Gothic style. Her latest, Murder Road, takes us to the shores of Lake Michigan in 1995. Newlyweds Eddie Carter and April Delray are heading for a honeymoon on the cheap. He repairs cars and she works the snack bar at a bowling alley, so there’s not much cash to throw around.

Theirs is also a get-acquainted trip as they got married just six months after meeting. He’s an Iraq vet suffering from PTSD, though April seldom sees signs of it, and he doesn’t know that Delray is one of several surnames April has had in her life. Her mother is supposedly deceased, but there's much Eddie has yet to discover about his bride. They are each in their mid-20s and, Eddie’s military service notwithstanding, have some growing up to do. But their giddy blue-collar desire for one another could have been yanked from a Bruce Springsteen song.

It's dark and pouring rain as they aim for Five Pines Resort, get off the interstate at the wrong exit, and find themselves heading for Coldlake Falls via Atticus Road. Why did Eddie turn his Pontiac onto this road? He's not sure, but it felt like it was the right way to go. Wrong! They spot of a sopping wet figure by the road who seems distressed. They offer her a ride, learn her name is Rhonda Jean, but must rush her to a hospital as she’s bleeding all over the backseat. On the way, a black truck appears to be following them, but it speeds away when they turn toward the hospital. April has time only to see a young woman with long hair glaring at her from the bed of the pickup.

Eddie carries Rhonda Jean into emergency room. As they tell the intake nurse what they know, police arrive and advise that Rhonda Jean has died. They also behave as if Eddie and April are suspects and when Quentin, a state police detective arrives, he treats them as murderers. The Carters–April hasn’t had time to change her name but assumes Eddie’s family name–are flabbergasted when ordered not to leave town and lodge them with a 40ish woman named Rose, who seems hostile to the police and the Carters alike. Eddie and April are cozy enough, if one overlooks the Princess Diana* memorabilia, but this isn’t exactly a romantic getaway.

The command to stay in town is one of several MacGuffins–a device that exists solely to service the plot–in Murder Road. Police cannot detain you unless they charge you and, had they done so, even a public defender would have sprung the Carters in a flash. But this is a ghost story, not a courtroom drama. As such, there are many things in the plot that defy logic. St. James fleshes out some characters–especially Rose–and leaves others more hazy. We don’t learn until the very end why Quentin is acting as if he's auditioning for The Fugitive, why the high school Snell sisters are obsessed with an Atticus Lane ghost legend, or why the lakeside camping spot of Hunter Beach is presented as a kind of hippies-meet-bikers-and-hipsters haven. It’s 1995, after all, so hippies would be anachronistic unless the MacGuffin served the book’s central device of unsolved murders along Atticus Lane. No concrete motives are present, though the Snell sisters think they are all linked to a ghost with unfinished business.

To make such a thesis feasible, St. James adds more MacGuffins. The Carters find an unexpected ally in Rose and, instead of opening Pandora’s box, the Carters’ independent investigations unearth vital clues of close encounters of the creepy kind. The novel’s resolution rests upon linked contrivances that stretch credulity.

It was refreshing to read a novel whose protagonists are not spoiled rich toffs, trendy bourgeoisie, or clingy Millennials. I also credit St. James for a story that’s scary enough, but not particularly bloody. If you can get past the MacGuffins and logic holes, Murder Road is a decent whodunit thriller. Still, one must fault St. James for violating Alfred Hitchcock’s dictum that successful MacGuffins require artful ways of hiding them. You’d have to be as clueless as the Carters to miss them whilst reading Murder Road.

Rob Weir

* FYI: Rose was not enshrining Diana, who was alive in 1995.

this was the perfect spooky/halloween read. I really liked the ghost vibes and how the plot played out!

Another suspenseful and spooky read from Simone St. James! This was a gripping novel that kept you on the edge of your seat until the end. With likable characters and a great plot, I would definitely recommend Murder Road.

This was the 3rd book I have read by this author and it did not disappoint. The characters and the plot were spot on. This is one of my many 5 star reads of the year!

Supernatural thriller, Murder Road, is just what you would expect from Simone St. James, and edge of your seat ride that keeps readers guessing. En route to their honeymoon, newlyweds Eddie and April find themselves lost on an eery small town road, Atticus Line. They soon find themselves as murder suspects after coming across an injured hitchhiker. They become entwined with detectives from the small town police force, and several other unforgettable characters.

I thought I had this one figured out early on, but I was way off course.

For fans of Ruth Ware and Riley Sager.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berle for providing me with the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Once again Simone St James amazes me with a balance of thriller and supernatural elements in the story. The two main characters are fascinating and so beautifully human at the same time. There is a subtle haunting quality of what draws them together, but also makes them different in their new marriage. I wanted to know as much about them as the ghost story at the center of the book.

I continue to recommend this author to reads who want a little something extra to a murder mystery, and crave the possibility that not everything can be explained away!

St. James has a blockbuster with this novel and it would make a great movie!!! Along the lines of the Urban Legend of White Lady, this book is no urban legend and is not to be read at night - it's extremely scary and suspenseful from the first to last page and will keep the reader glued to each page. GREAT book to read just in time for Halloween!!! Thanks for the advanced copy!!!!

Truly, Simone St James is an auto-buy author for me. The Sundown Motel still gives me shivers when I think about it. And The Broken Girls? Suffice it to say that I will not be exploring abandoned schools ever again.
You can see why my hopes were so high for Murder Road. Maybe a little too high... Though this book offered one of the author's signature twists and plenty of spine-chilling supernatural action, it lacked the depth that I have come accustomed to with her novels. I really think Murder Road would have benefited from her typical use of the dual POV or timelines. Additionally, I found the female protagonist to be obnoxious rather than endearing.
Things I did enjoy: the inclusion of PTSD with Eddie was such a great choice. I think a lot readers do not understand the layers that trauma has on veterans. The side characters in this book were very well written. I kept wanting more of them on the page. The ending was satisfying (albeit a little rushed). Honestly, I really liked Rose but I wish there was more to her.
Overall this is a fine addition to a Simone St. James reader's collection, but it's not one I would start with if you are reading her for the first time.

First of all, mystery/thrillers with a nice, healthy coating of the supernatural are quickly becoming my favorite books to read.... and Simone St James is the leader of the pack. I couldn't put this one down. I loved the inclusion of two odd, but incredibly smart and efficient, teenagers, one of whom even had me considering a detective as a serial killer. That was a well placed red herring, if ever I've seen one! You can't help but root for the majority of the characters in this book, hoping they all get the life-and answers- they've always yearned for. I can't say enough good things about this book or author, so I'll quit while I'm ahead, before venturing into the rambling- but I'll leave you with this: Pick up this book. Read it, and enjoy it! (Perfect for the spooky season just around the corner!)

April and Eddie Carter are on their honeymoon, driving to a cabin on the beach in northern Michigan, when they see a girl walking on the side of the road. When they ask her if she needs help, she gets in their car, bleeding profusely. While speeding for help, a black truck starts following them. Bam, the first pages of Simone St. James' new thriller grab you and you can't let go. I love her books because you have no idea where they are going. This is one you need to add to your TBR list ASAP. I was sad when it ended. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone has a story, some are just more complicated than others. Delve into the mysteries that surround a young victim found on the road. Are the various murders connected or not? Why was the young couple drawn to the area?

YES! I have read & enjoyed several of author St. James' back list, but this new one, "Murder Road" may just be my favorite, displacing "The SunDown Motel". Loved the 90's setting, as we remember (along with honeymooner MC's Eddie & April) that you "DON"T PICK UP HITCHHIKERS!!!" Very quick & fast paced thrill ride & I loved the nostalgic 90's vibe too! Also liked the B&B owner character. My sincere thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the complimentary DRC, my pleasure to review it

A newlywed couple take a wrong turn on the way to their honeymoon. They end up embroiled in multiple unsolved murders. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way. Totally unexpected twists and turns throughout. Simone St James has created an eerily haunting tale that will stay with you long after you close the book!

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to read and advance copy of this book. April and Eddie are newlyweds, both with troubled pasts, traveling to their honeymoon destination. Along the way they take a wrong turnoff and end up on a quiet, dark road, until they come upon a girl walking along the road. They stop to pick her up and discover she's injured. The girl dies and Eddie and April are the #1 suspects. What ensues is the pursuit of the truth; about this murder and the others that have happened along this same stretch of road. I loved how the author portrayed each character; April who is strong, Eddie who is kind, even Rose who seems rough but there is a soft center inside that tough outer shell. I loved how well this book is written; it definitely deserves 5 stars.