2022 Voted Best Adult Subscription Box - The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

Our adult subscription boxes never fail to disappoint, and 2022 was no different. Our monthly themed box subscription has been an overwhelming success this year, and our readers have voted to decide their favorite. We are thrilled to announce that the winner of the 2022 Best Adult Subscription Box is The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James.

This captivating story had readers entranced with its suspenseful plot twists and expertly crafted characters. Every month was filled with surprises, and this book proved to be the most popular of all! Congratulations to Simone St. James for her amazing achievement and a big thank you to our readers for their support and enthusiasm.

It was the star of our April’s Unsolved Mysteries box, and our readers were hooked from the very first page. They also loved the surprise gifts that brought the book to life in our unique Once Upon a Book Club way! Our gifts are always a highlight, and this box contains some of our favorites. That all-important wine tool set with an air pump bottle opener, bottle top aerator, wine foil cutter, and bottle stopper, and let’s not forget the custom printed ring dish with its gold detail and the beautiful shawl.

Who Is Simone St. James?

Simone St. James is a New York Times bestseller and award-winning author, and when it comes to writing thrillers, Simone is right up at the top of the list. Her ability to portray convincing characters and scary situations that remain in your thoughts long after the lights are turned out keeps us coming back for more.

Simone has always been passionate about writing and wrote her first ghost story when she was in high school. But the road to success has not been an easy one for Simone, and she spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television industry before making the break to write full-time.

She initially wrote three novels that were never published, but she never gave up, despite being rejected for six years before she was signed by an agent. For Simone, her proudest moment was when she went to her favorite bookstore and saw her first book on the shelf. It was a dream come true.

Simone now has an impressive list of books to her name, including The Haunting of Maddy Claire, for which she won two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada. 

Her other must-read novels are Silence for the Dead, The Other Side of Midnight, The Broken Girls, and The Sun Down Motel, and she was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery & Thriller.

She now lives just outside Toronto with her husband and, as she says, a spoiled rescue cat. Besides her passion for writing, Simone says she is addicted to sushi, rainy days, coffee, and My Favorite Murder.

The Book of Cold Cases – don’t turn out the lights!

The Book of Cold Cases is a great combination of horror, mystery, and thriller and will have you biting your nails and sitting on the edge of your seat. This riveting book explores true crime and our perception of serial killers from the perspective of women. For those of you who are utterly obsessed with true crime, this one's for you.

The accolades have poured in, with the likes of Wendy Webb (The Keepers of Metsan Valo) saying, “This modern Gothic triumph is a cross between your most binge-worthy true crime podcast and The Haunting of Hill House. It’s compulsively readable … but don’t read it at night. The hauntings in this story scared me, and I write this stuff for a living.” 

At the same time, Jennifer McMahon (The Drowning Kind) says, “Simone St. James knows how to haunt you. The Book of Cold Cases is St. James at the top of her game, expertly weaving the past and the present to reveal a chilling tapestry of real-world mystery and supernatural suspense that will have you turning pages well past your bedtime and jumping at every little sound.”

Would any true crime blogger turn down that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview a woman acquitted of being a serial killer? Be careful what you wish for, as nothing is what it seems as the lines blur between reality and the supernatural.

Shea Collins may be a receptionist during the day, but at night, she comes alive writing for her true crime blog, The Book of Cold Cases. Shea’s interest in true crime and finding those all-important answers is due to an attempted abduction she experienced as a child, which has left her a shy and anxious adult.

Shea’s latest case is all about Beth Greer and the murders she was accused of thirty years ago. Aged 23 at the time, Beth was arrested for the brutal murder of two men who appeared to be randomly chosen and shot with the same gun. 

Strange notes were left at the scene, and everything pointed to Beth. The media referred to them as the Lady Killer murders, and despite a witness claiming he had seen her fleeing from the scene, Beth was acquitted. 

Beth has stayed out of the limelight, living a life of a recluse in her mansion away from the public eye until a chance meeting with Shea. Shea can’t resist taking the opportunity to ask for an interview, and Beth agrees, but the meetings must occur at her mansion. 

Beth turns out to be far more charming than Shea expected, yet she never feels quite comfortable at the mansion. Something isn’t right. Things move around when she isn’t looking, and the house seems to be alive, and then there was the girl outside the window. 

As she gets drawn in further by Beth and her desire to find the truth, she needs to find out if she is being manipulated by a brutal murderer or is there something far more sinister lurking in the shadows?

Explore more adult book box genres here, or read about what makes a great mystery book over here!