Like most of St. James’s novels, The Sun Down Motel invokes the supernatural. Strange events have been occurring at the Sun Down Motel since the eighties
Carly, who just lost her mother to cancer, decides to find answers to questions her family have been dodging for years–what really happened to her Aunt Viv.
The Sun Down Motel looks identical to photographs from the time Carly’s Aunt Viv worked the night shift there in the eighties.
The rumors prove true; Carly realizes the motel is haunted by several spirits. In the middle of the night, the lights go off and the locked doors open. While working at Sun Down she hears odd things and receives strange phone calls.
Fortunately, she has Callum and Nick, two locals who help her decipher Fell’s strange history. Less helpful are Alma Trent, a retired police officer, and Marnie, a freelance photographer. Both know what happened to Viv yet each refuses to disclose it.
In the novel’s alternate eighties timeline, Viv’s story unfolds. Like Carly, Viv has an intense drive and curiosity about murder. Viv solves the murder cases yet she naively puts herself in the murderer’s path.
What’s best about the novel is the way the two women (Viv and Carly) mirror each other. Both are courageous and fiercely determined to solve crimes. The surprising twist at the end will enthrall most readers. The closure Carly receives is well-deserved and earned.
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