When newlyweds April and Eddie pick up a mortally wounded hitchhiker on a deserted road, the last thing they expect is to be suspected of the crime. But to prove their innocence they will have to solve a decades-old mystery.
The book’s blurb leans a bit heavier on the mystery-thriller aspect than the horror-paranormal, so I’m glad that other readers’ reviews emphasized the latter, or else I might have been disappointed expecting a straightforward cold case mystery.
There’s an eerie feeling which hangs over the whole story, a sense of reading about an urban legend come to life. I enjoyed the dynamic of April and Eddie’s relationship – having embarked on their marriage on fairly short acquaintance, a tension persists due to the secrets they are keeping from each other. The string of murders along Atticus Line are completely creepy and compelling, and I was invested throughout to get to the bottom of the mystery. St. James also does an excellent job with the setting – the small town, the deserted road, the beach where the hippies hang out all felt like real places.
I don’t know if the final revelation about the young couple’s connection to the case was a bit too farfetched for my liking, but I can understand why the author chose to use it. While I enjoyed the supporting characters, I did wish that the Snell sisters entered the scene a bit earlier, as they otherwise don’t make as big an impact as they could have. The middle also sags just a little bit while the investigation is getting back on track.
