Murder Road by Simone St. James

Hello everyone.  I hope your day is going well.

I love riding around in the car with nowhere to go, exploring down some random road.  I don't, however, enjoy driving. I have my reasons. I grew up in the North, we have snow and ice in the winter.  There is a general lack of control on slippery roads.  That freaks me out.  You can "steer into a skid, pump your brakes, etc." all you want.  I'm sorry but spinning around so many times you are actually pulling G's is just not enjoyable.  Down here, there are other reasons.  Creepy reasons. So many towns have stretches of road labeled "suicide strip".  Nothing says "let's pile the kids in the car and take a Sunday afternoon drive to look at the leaves changing color" like a road that purports to have you literally taking your life in your hands.  What fun!  In addition, why are there so many roads that have the legend of a ghost that comes out at night to flag down those that dare drive in her domain.  Yes, I said her, it is always a girl, she is always in a white nightgown, wedding or prom dress.  Maybe it is just one girl and she goes from location to location to keep drivers off the roads and home, where they belong.

I recently read Murder Road by Simone St. James. I've read several books by this author, with my enjoyment being hit or miss.  I loved The Broken Girls and The Book of Cold Cases, but didn't like The Sun Down Motel. I was apprehensive about where this book would fall within my Simone St. James experiences.  I am happy to report my dislike of one of her books seems to have been a fluke. Hey, you can't please everyone all the time, and if you could that would be pretty boring. Murder Road is about a couple, Eddie and April, who have just been married. They are driving to their honeymoon location. April falls asleep and Eddie, accidently, wanders off the interstate and onto a secondary road.  It is dark and deserted.  While trying to figure out where they went wrong and how to get back on the interstate, they see a young person in the road. It ends up being a stunned young woman who has blood coming from underneath her jacket.  She seems in shock, saying very little except "He's coming".  Eddie and April race the hurt woman to the hospital where she dies.  The police twist and turn things, making it apparent they believe the newlyweds are responsible for this murder. As Eddie and April try to clear themselves and begin their new lives together, they find all isn't as it seems in this small town.  The road they were traveling on has a bad reputation.  It's haunted.  People are killed there every couple of years. If you see the female ghost, in white, then you are the next to die.

When I realized where this book was going, I almost groaned out loud.  The topic being such a widespread legend and seemingly cheesy to make into an entire book.  My apprehension was misplaced.  St. James steered this topic into an interesting, well explored story, with likeable characters and a solid ending.  This was very fun and would be a great book to read on vacation, just don't start it until you get to your resort.

By the way, fear not, hubby says haunted roads aren't possible anymore, there are just too many convenience and dollar something stores everywhere.