Murder Road

Murder Road is Simone St. James’s ninth novel, published in 2024 by Berkley. Set in 1995, Murder Road combines elements of the mystery, horror, and paranormal thriller genres as April Carter and her husband, Eddie, work to solve a series of murders on a lonely stretch of road in Michigan. As April and Eddie work to solve the crimes, they also reveal secrets about their histories that test their new marriage. St. James is known for exploring the psychology of her characters, and in this novel, she delves into themes of Overcoming Past Trauma, Finding Connection in Common Experience, and The Difference Between Appearance and Reality.

This study guide refers to the 2024 Berkley Kindle edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss domestic violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological manipulation, alcohol and substance use disorder, suicide, and murder.

Plot Summary

Murder Road tells the story of April and Eddie Carter’s honeymoon, which goes drastically awry near the town of Coldlake Falls. Eddie and April are on their way to a small lake resort several hours from their hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan when they find themselves on a lonely road off the interstate. When they notice a girl hitchhiking, they pull over and offer her a ride. Rhonda Jean accepts their ride reluctantly, and soon April discovers that the girl is badly injured, with a spreading patch of blood on her shirt.

Rhonda Jean apologizes, telling them that a man is coming, and soon they hear a truck roaring up behind them. Eddie sees a sign for a nearby town, Coldlake Falls, and takes the turn, leaving the truck behind. April and Eddie take Rhonda to the hospital, where she dies of her injuries.

Local police detectives Quentin and Beam question April and Eddie, making it clear that they are suspects in Rhonda Jean’s murder. April and Eddie spend the night in Coldlake Falls at a local bed-and-breakfast owned by Rose Jones. The next morning, Quentin takes them out to Atticus Line, the road on which they picked up Rhonda Jean. While he questions Eddie, April wanders away. Near the edge of the road, she feels a chill and becomes suddenly dizzy. She crouches down, and when her vision clears, she finds a memorial to another girl who died on Atticus Line.

April and Eddie realize that Rhonda Jean’s murder was not the first on Atticus Line, a fact confirmed by Rose. She also offers to lend them her car, telling them they should investigate the crime on their own. She gives them directions to Hunter Beach, a nearby place where kids often camp, in the hopes that Rhonda Jean stayed there.

April and Eddie drive to Hunter Beach and discover that Rhonda Jean did stay there and was seen getting into a pickup truck the night she left. At the nearby Dollar Mart, the checker recognizes Rhonda Jean’s photo, but before they can question her, the doorbell rings and April looks over to see the truck that chased them on Atticus Line idling in the parking lot. As April and Eddie watch, the ghostly image of a girl sits up in the bed of the pickup and looks at them. They follow the truck to a nearby farm and find a backpack in the pickup’s bed.

April calls the police, who investigate the truck and its owner, Max Shandler. Shandler doesn’t remember the night Rhonda Jean died, but the backpack and his truck both contain her blood. With this new suspect, Quentin releases April and Eddie and tells them they can go home. However, as they are leaving Coldlake Falls, they again find themselves on Atticus Line. A vicious storm descends, and a bright light appears on the road. They drive through the light, and a girl appears ahead of them, running down the center line. Eddie swerves to avoid her, and the car spins around. The girl reaches into the car across April, grabs Eddie, and tries to pull him from the car. April slides into the driver’s seat and speeds away, leaving the girl behind. The storm recedes, but as they continue to drive, they realize that the car has been turned around and they are heading back to Coldlake Falls. The Lost Girl is preventing them from leaving until they solve the Atticus Line killings.

The next day, April and Eddie go to a diner to discuss how to solve the crimes. A girl comes to their table and introduces herself as Beatrice Snell. She and her sister, Gracie, have compiled information on six other killings on Atticus Line, and they are willing to trade information and work with April and Eddie. In the files, Eddie notices that a letter jacket from a nearby town, Midland, was found near the first victim. The next day, they drive to Midland to investigate. At the library, Eddie finds an ad for a missing girl, Shannon Haller, and they contact Carla, the woman who placed the ad.

Carla tells them that Shannon had a child that she gave up as she struggled with substance use disorder. Before her death, Shannon had gotten sober and was trying to reconnect with the child. When they return home, April decides to confront the Lost Girl and goes out to Atticus Line alone. She hitchhikes on the road, and a woman picks her up. April sees the Lost Girl in the backseat and realizes that she is going to possess the woman and use her body to kill April. The possessed woman attacks April with a tire iron, and April barely escapes. When she gets back to Rose’s house, she tells Eddie what happened, and they realize that the police can’t catch the killer because it’s a different person every time, possessed by the spirit of the Lost Girl.

After receiving another clue from the Snell sisters, April and Eddie return to Midland and visit the home of John Haller, Shannon’s father. They break into the house—April finds a photo of Shannon with her son, and Eddie finds a roll of film. Beatrice and Gracie help them develop the photos, revealing two important pieces of information: first, that Eddie is Shannon’s son (he was adopted when he was six); and second, that the film contains images from Hunter Beach, meaning that the film came back to Haller’s house after Shannon’s death, placing him at the scene. John Haller finds them at Rose’s house. He fires a shotgun at them, and after Eddie takes it away, he pulls a handgun. He and Eddie face each other, guns drawn, and Haller fires.

Three months later, April and Eddie return to Coldlake Falls. Eddie’s arm was broken by Haller’s bullet, and he has been rehabilitating it. When they returned to Ann Arbor, they began building their life together and have both found careers that fulfill them. In Coldlake Falls, they visit Rose, Beatrice and Gracie, and even Detective Quentin. Quentin reveals that he was always aware of the paranormal component of the Atticus Line crimes, and by the end of their conversation, both April and Eddie realize that above all, Quentin is driven to identify all the victims and gain peace for them.