The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James – a Review

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Description:
The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn’t right at the Sun Down, and before long she’s determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

Review:

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James is another wonderful mystery thriller.  Having read her previous thriller, The Broken Girls, I couldn’t wait to read this book.  This was quite different then the previous book written by St. James.  It seemed more of a ghost story, and a bit creepy at that.  The Sun Down Motel was an old run-down motel that was plagued with mysteries and ghosts; with POV’s of the past 1982 and the present time of 2017, switching back and forth each chapter.

We meet our heroine, Viv Delany, who in 1982, arrives in this small sleepy town (Fell, NY) and decides to work as a night clerk for the motel to help pay for her to continue her trip to New York. In a short time, Viv begins to realize that not all is well in the motel, as she hears and sees ghosts many times each and every night.  Viv begins to suspect that these ghosts were either murdered, haunting the motel until the   dark secrets are revealed.  Viv takes it upon herself to try and find who is killing these people, though a photographer friend and the local night cop tell her to stop.  We see Viv go on dangerous tasks to follow some motel visitors, putting herself in grave danger; and eventually Viv herself will go missing.

In the present time of 2017, we meet Carly, our present-day heroine, who since her mother recently died, decides to try and find out what happened to the aunt she never knew. Carly takes the same job as Viv had, being a night clerk at the Sun Down Motel, which is much more run-down than years ago.  Carly too will begin to hear voices, doors opening, and even seeing dead people.  She begins to do her own investigation, and meets someone staying the motel, who also sees the ghosts.  There is another person who she meets in the library, who loves reading about those old creepy days.  I really did like Helen, a new friend for Carly, who also wants to help investigate.  Alma the cop, and the photographer were excellent characters back in Viv’s days, that will play a part in present day.

What follows is an exciting, dark, suspenseful and creepy mystery in both time periods, which kept me hooked to find out what happen, of course I made sure to keep the lights on.  To tell too much more would be spoilers.  The Sun Down Motel was an intriguing story that was also a gothic thriller.  If you enjoy suspenseful thrillers with a ghostly background, I suggest you read this book.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher