The Sun Down Motel takes place in Fell NY, a small upstate town that has had more than its share of murders: Betty Graham, Cathy Caldwell and Victoria Lee to be specific. All murdered between 1978 and 1981 and all unsolved.
And then in 1982 Vivian Delaney age 20 arrives in Fell and takes a job working as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. It's an eerie place with very few customers and it's haunted. Viv wants to quit soon after she arrives but her family situation back home is not good and she needs the money.
And what also keeps Viv in Fell is learning about the murders of Betty, Cathy and Victoria. Viv is bothered by the fact that these women have been forgotten and that their killer has not been caught. Viv decides to do some investigating of her own. And then Viv goes missing.
Fast forward to 2017 and 20 year old Carly Kirk is working as a night clerk at the Sun Down. Carly has come to Fell with a goal in mind, finding out what happened to her Aunt Viv thirty five years ago. No one in her family ever talked about Viv's disappearance and as Carly tells us:
"It was only after Mom died that I got mad. Not at Mom, really—she was a teenager when Viv disappeared, and there wasn’t much she could have done. But what about everyone else? The cops? The locals? Viv’s parents? Why hadn’t there been a statewide search? Why had Viv been allowed to vanish into nothingness with barely a ripple?"
The chapters in the Sun Down Motel alternate between Viv's point of view in 1982 and Carly's in 2017. I liked both women and their determination to solve these murders. The novel has a larger theme which deals with missing women and how people should care more. Viv and Carly do care and they are not willing to be bystanders, particularly Viv!
In addition to Viv and Carly The Sun Down Motel has a number of interesting and well drawn characters: the police officer Alma Trent, a local photographer Marnie Mahoney and Nick Harkness a young man who is staying at the Sun Down in 2017. Nick agrees to help Carly find out what happened to her Aunt Viv and there is good chemistry between them that I think readers will enjoy.
So what did happen to Viv? Who killed the missing women? Is Carly in danger for trying to dig this up thirty-five years later? All I can say is that the last 80 pages of the book tied it all together in a scary believable and page turning way. I did not see the ending coming and it was well done.
Thank you Lark for recommending The Sun Down Motel.
I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I love Simone St. James, especially her atmospheric and ghostly novels. :D
ReplyDeleteI really did enjoy it and thank you for letting us know about Simone St James. I mean she is a best selling author but I would probably not have gotten around to reading any of her books without your review. And I am interested in her latest novel The Book of Cold Cases
DeleteSimone St. James is new to me, but this one sounds like a good intro to her work. I'm going to put in on my TBR list and hope that it eventually works its way to the top. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Sam, I haven't read her other books but this one is a great place to start. And in addition to the really fine writing how about that book cover!. It's so atmospheric and haunting. Lark's review and then the cover sold me on the Sun Down Motel and I was not disappointed.
DeleteThat cover is fantastic, a real eye-catcher. At first I wondered why sundown is split into two words on the sign, but then figured that it was part of the intended atmosphere and setting. Made the cover even more interesting to me.
DeleteAgree the cover is great and it's a shame that nowadays publishing companies put out books with very little thought to the cover. Nowadays if they want people to buy physical copies of the books the covers matter!
ReplyDeleteYou know I like mysteries but this sounds awfully scary. I do love the cover. I had heard of this author and probably should try this or another one of her books.
ReplyDeleteParticularly because she is a Canadian author and one of my goals is to try lots of Canadian authors.
Hi Tracy, I would recommend The Sun Down Motel but she also has a new novel out The Book of Cold Cases which I believe has a true crime podcaster as the central character trying to solve the crime and its gotten great reviews. What so impressed me about The Sun Down Motel is the writing. And with Louise Penny and now Simone St James I too want to explore more Canadian authors.
ReplyDeleteThis author is new to me...thanks for introducing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting and I think you will like Simone St James. It was my first time reading her and I was very impressed with the writing and the story.
DeleteSeems like a great setting for a crime novel. Spooky. I don't think I want to be the night clerk there. I have not read this author but her books sound like enjoyable page-turners. The dual timelines between the two women would be quite interesting. Hmm. thx for the review.
ReplyDeleteAgree, being the night clerk at the Sun Down is not a good idea in either timeline. The motel in addition to being empty is haunted. I recommend the book because its very well written and I particularly recommend the Audible version. Kirsten Potter and Britanny Pressley do a great job.
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