“April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn.

They’re on a long dark road, late at night, and they see a woman up ahead, clearly in trouble.

They stop and pick her up. It’s only once she’s in the car that they see the blood.

And then they see the headlights, and at last, the woman speaks, her voice faint. “I’m sorry, he’s coming.”

While April and Eddie are able to escape – this time – their terrifying adventure is only just beginning.

The hitchhiker’s injuries prove fatal, and the couple are trapped in the small town of Coldlake Falls, prime suspects in the eyes of local police.

It turns out that this isn’t the first victim to die on this stretch of road, and it isn’t the first time that survivors have seen something that can’t be explained.

But to get out of town, April and Eddie are going to have to drive down that haunted stretch of road one more time…

Ingeniously plotted and heartstoppingly terrifying, are you ready to uncover the secret of Murder Road?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Murder Road by Simone St James. Murder Road will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph tomorrow (on Thursday 28th March 2024) and will be available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free eARC of Murder Road but that has in no way influenced my review.

It’s July 1995 and newlyweds Eddie and April are driving to their honeymoon at Five Pines Resort when Eddie takes a wrong turn. April, who has been asleep in the passenger seat, senses they’re lost the moment she wakes up. Trying to correct Eddie’s mistake, they spot a young woman by the side of the road. Unable to leave the woman on her own on such a dark, lonely road the Carters offer her a lift. Reluctantly the woman agrees but it soon becomes clear that they need to get to a hospital ASAP. Because the woman is bleeding from a horrific stomach wound all over the back seat of their car. When the hitchhiker utters the words ‘I’m sorry, he’s coming’ both Eddie and April know they’ve somehow ended up in a nightmare, and this is only the beginning…

Murder Road is a highly addictive, thoroughly gripping supernatural thriller which I devoured over the course of a day. Chilling, engrossing and nigh-on impossible to put down, I was drawn into April and Eddie’s story as they became prime suspects for the murder of Rhonda Jean, the hitchhiker they picked up on Atticus Line. With little to no evidence, Detective Quentin and his bumbling, less-effective partner, Detective Beam, do everything in their power to make the evidence stick. Because Rhonda Jean isn’t the first hitchhiker to be killed on that particular stretch of road. Sure there is more to the story, April decides to dig further into the horrific deaths that have been happening since the 1970s on Atticus Line. But the truth is more terrifying than April ever imagined it could be.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I loved Murder Road with its atmospheric, creepy setting and small-town vibes. I fell completely in love with April and Eddie who both have their own secrets which they are yet to tell their new spouse. The other characters are all so wonderfully written. Detective Quentin is deliciously frustrating and highly antagonising. He’s like a dog with a bone and just won’t quit. He’ll do whatever it takes to make the few facts he has stick to April and Eddie. He makes some highly inappropriate moves to ensure there is tension between April and Eddie. Violence is never the answer but I was ready to thump him one! Detective Beam is the more crumpled, older detective. Waiting it out until the day he can claim his pension but he’s more than happy to offer up his opinion on April. Both Detectives take an instant dislike to April. But have they got the true measure of her? I have to mention Rose who is the owner of the B&B the couple stay at. She’s highly disagreeable with a gruff exterior. But when it comes to Eddie, her frosty shell does melt a little. In a town where Eddie and April are very much alone, Rose is the only person on their side. The characters are all so beautifully written. It was a joy (if a somewhat unnerving joy!) to spend time in their company. The plot moves at a steady, intriguing pace with twists and turns along the way keeping the reader immersed in the story. Personally, I was hooked throughout. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! It’s been a while since I last felt so completely absorbed by a book. All in all, I loved Murder Road. I’ve been wanting to read a Simone St. James book for a while now having heard so many positive things about the author’s writing and I’m so pleased I started with this one (I have a couple on the TBR but I haven’t had a chance to read them yet). It’s a creepy, unsettling tale with an overarching, cleverly crafted sense of impending doom and I loved every moment of it. Absolutely excellent in every respect. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Murder Road. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Murder Road by Simone St. James was published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph on 28th March 2024 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Simone St. James is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases, The Sun Down Motel, The Broken Girls and The Haunting of Maddy Clare, which won two RITA awards from Romance Writers of America and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada. She wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school, and spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time. She lives outside Toronto, Canada with her husband and a spoiled cat.