Murder Road by Simone St James is an excellent page-turner. I was drawn into the story very quickly, and I was finished the last page in no time at all.

My quickest read in about 12 months, I started Murder Road and literally couldn't put it down. I love Simone St. James's books, and this is, in my opinion, her best yet. Loved it.

Thank you to netgalley for this advanced copy!

I wasn’t sure at first but as the story continued, I was gripped. It’s a supernatural thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I enjoyed the characters and the author developed them so that you understood their backgrounds and how they ended up in the small town.

I would like to see more of the Snell sisters (perhaps as a second book?) as I thought that they were enjoyable!

This book is so haunting, it will keep you up all night!

Murder Road just became my favourite book of the year. I'm always looking for a ghost story that is genuinely scary and this was it for me. My heart was pounding at some moments.

Murder Road has it all. Eerie atmosphere, creepy scenes, mysterious plot and fascinating characters. It's scary without being gory, which I love.

There were lots of excellent characters. I loved Eddie and April's relationships and uncovering their secrets. The Snell sisters were super cool. B&B owner Rose turned out to be my favourite though!

If you haven't read any of Simone St James books yet then I definitely recommend this one. It's not out until the 28th March so if you can't wait til then I also recommend The Sundown Motel which is brilliant! Simone St James is a total autobuy author for me now and I can't wait to read some of her older books!

4.5 stars

“There are more things in heaven and earth [Horatio]
Than are dreamt in your philosophy”. This quote from Hamlet perfectly sums up the book.

July 1995. Wow. That’s how you start a novel, foot on the gas, 0-100 mph immediately. Eddie and April Carter are on their way to their honeymoon motel when he takes the wrong exit from the interstate. It’s dark, so dark, but then the headlights pick out a walker at the side of the road, they slow down and soon realise that something is very wrong. This is Rhonda Jean, she’s badly hurt, they persuade her to get into their car and set off for Coldlake Falls, Michigan, perilously pursued by a truck. When Rhonda dies, the couple are cast as a suspects and furthermore, it transpires that the road they pick her up on is Atticus Line, and Rhoda isn’t the first murder on that road, not by a long chalk. This is the Murder Road. What follows is certainly not the honeymoon that April hopes for as she narrates the mysterious and atmospheric tale.

Oh my days. To say there is tension in the air from the start is an understatement. From the get go, I have so many questions in my head and I love books like that. First of all, there’s an air of mystery attached to April. Who is she? Where is she from? She becomes increasingly disconnected and uncertain about why they ended up on THAT road. Why did Eddie take that particular turning ? There seems no rational explanation. What does he have to say about it?? What’s his story too? The characterisation of the couple is excellent and then there are the strange characters in Coldlake Falls in particular, Detectives Quentin and Beam. They appear on the spot very rapidly and that seems odd. They then seem to be playing an unpredictable game of cat and mouse with the couple and you feel their confusion. Then we have to consider their strange landlady, Rose, at the B and B the detectives insist they stay at. After an unpromising start, Rose thaws and begins to help them especially about the Murder Road and the ghostly legends of the Lost Girl. “If you see her you’ll be next “. This part of the storytelling is fantastic and riveting.

This well written novel is chock full of moments of fear, of mounting dread, its sinister, eerie, spooky and downright creepy at times with some fantastic imagery so you can picture scenes vividly. There are moments when there is tangible menace, your nerves jangle and chills go up and down the spine. Some scenes are so suspenseful with tension that is so taut I realise I’ve held my breath. When the truth comes, well now, that’s a stranger thing though perhaps the ending could have packed more of a punch since what precedes it sure does.

Overall, it’s chilling and gripping and at times a horrifying supernatural tale and a definite page turner. The 90’s timescale perfectly fits and the context is excellent. At times it put me in mind of “Don’t look now” … and that still creeps me out all these years later!! This is a novel that will stick in the mind.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Newlyweds April & Eddie are lost, driving down a dark country road. They see someone walking beside the road. They stop to help. It’s a young woman who’s been stabbed. They must rush her to the nearest hospital.
They are picked up by the police at the hospital, prime suspects for a crime they didn’t commit.
It’s a ghost story. It’s not in the slightest bit scary.
Thank you for an advanced copy.

I love a horror read so this book was made for me, it also made me not want to stop for anyone for the fear of ending up on murder road!

I am a huge fan of Simone St James, in particular The Sundown Motel, so imagine my excitement when my ARC request of Murder Road was approved.

This story follows newly weds Eddie and April as they are heading to their honeymoon. They find themselves taking a wrong turn and lost which leads them down a dark and dangerous path. While lost they find a young girl who has been stabbed on the side of the road. When they find themselves suspects they decide to take the investigation into their own hands.

I loved the narrative of this book. Simone St James always makes her books descriptive and this is not different - it was so much more than just reading a book, it feels like you're there. Her stories all seem to be more than your typical thriller/mystery, I love how there is an element of the supernatural in too.

I preferred The Sundown Motel, but I still thought this was an excellent read and I gave it 5 stars.

Thanks to #netgalley and #berkleypublishing for the opportunity to read this ARC copy of Murder Road - I loved it!

No good dead goes unpunished right? For Eddie and April, their good dead of picking up a stricken women leads them into a nightmare worth of any horror film. The narrative in this is superb, the tale is twisted, dark and really creepy!! I am off to look up the author’s other work now!

I was so excited to receive an advanced copy of Murder Road by Simone St James . I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Sun Down Motel ' and this author's new novel was one of my most highly anticipated reads of this year.

Due to be published in March the novel follows the unsettling story of April and Eddie whom have taken a wrong turn on the journey to the small resort town where they are due to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

Whilst I don't want to give away any spoilers from this moment April and Eddie are thrown into a unsettling mysterious plot which kept me guessing throughout. There were lots of twists and turns which kept me completely immersed and invested in how the story would unfold. The novel was a page turner from start to finish and I wouldn't expect anything else from this great author .
The author has a great way of emphasising the eeriness of the deserted highway and the whole story was an atmospheric blend of thriller / horror / paranormal with an extra throw in of the traditional urban legend .
Although the ending was slightly underwhelming it was an overall enjoyable read and I can't wait to look at the rest of this author's back catalogue. Thankyou #NetGalley #MurderRoad
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Wow this book took me on a wild ride from start to finish! Eddie and April Carter both with history found each other and was on their way to a resort to celebrate their honeymoon. But those plans changed when they picked up a hitchhiker. From there their lives spiraled! Thank you to the publisher for a copy.

Murder Road follows April & Eddie Carter, a newlywed couple on a road trip to begin their honeymoon. After a wrong turn, they find themselves on a deserted road where they come across a lone, injured hitchhiker. Unable to leave her, they offer to take her to the nearest hospital when suddenly they realise they are being pursued by her attacker. When the girl eventually succumbs to her injuries, the couple become the main suspects in an ongoing murder investigation. This is not the first person to die along that road.

In a desperate attempt to clear their names, they dig into the strange town’s history - however, some things just can’t be explained.

I’ve read and loved some of Simone’s previous books so this was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024! Murder Road is packed with suspense and had me hooked from the first page. I loved the cast of characters (Rose and the Snell sisters were great!) but I did find the second half a bit slow, and the ending was quite underwhelming. Definitely one to check out if you enjoy supernatural thrillers. 3.5 stars

This is my first read by this author, and now I need to read her back catalogue.

I really enjoyed this mixture of ghost story/urban legend with a cold case/current murder mystery. I guessed the twist quite early, but that didn't distract me from watching it all play out.

It was very enjoyable and entertaining and gave me goosebumps thinking about what happened on that road.

3.5 ⭐

Lots going on here.
I liked that both Eddie and April had a lot of baggage that slowly got revealed through the story.
I liked we had good cop/bad cop going on.
There are some genuinely creepy moments in this book, that made me not want to ever drive along a lonely stretch of road at night.
Part mystery, part ghost story, its going to appeal to a lot of people.

I certainly enjoyed it.

This novel is part murder, part ghost story but I really enjoyed it. From the beginning the plot captivated me and it unfolded at pace. Well written, this novel creates a sense of atmosphere so tense you can almost feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. It’s so easy to visualise the scene as the murders take place. Supernatural is not usually my go to genre but I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Joseph Penguin Random House and the author for the chance to review.

I've always loved thrillers or horror stories that centre on deserted highways or long car drives, especially if they're set in the United States and/or during snowy or foggy weather, and especially if they channel some of that 90s teen slasher energy. Riley Sager's Survive the Night springs to mind, for example. Simone St. James's Murder Road, therefore, sounded RIGHT up my street, especially as I'd previously loved her atmospheric The Sun Down Motel. On paper, the only box it didn't tick was that it's set in summer, but everything else was perfect: it's 1995, and a young couple driving off on honeymoon take a wrong turn down a deserted road, where they pick up a dying female hitchhiker. After they report this to the police, they discover that there have long been rumours about a ghost who haunts this stretch of highway: if you see her, you'll be the next to die.

Murder Road is not a bad novel, but I felt it could have done a lot more with its premise. Most obviously, the book lacks the atmosphere that The Sun Down Motel was absolutely steeped in. There is barely any description: the writing is very functional, switching between the narrator's internal monologue as she tries to figure things out and dialogue with other characters. This means that we also lose the sense of the 90s setting, which is only evoked by a few clunky find-and-replace references like 'Tonya Harding on TV' or arguing over mix-tapes. I also felt that the brilliant pitch was over-complicated in the novel itself. I loved the central reveal about why the hitchhikers are dying, but it ultimately has nothing to do with the idea that 'if you see her, you will die'. For example, our central couple, April and Eddie, encounter both the dying hitchhiker and a separate ghostly apparition in the first couple chapters, and I felt it would have been better if they'd just met the hitchhiker at this point, allowing a clearer through-line.. Murder Road is more effective as thriller than horror: I liked the way April and Eddie's relationship, and their backstories, were handled. It was hard, though, not to see this as simply a less compelling version of The Sun Down Motel. 3.5 stars.