Carly left college for a "few" days so she could head to Fell, New York, to see if she could find anything out about how her Aunt Viv died or where she might be.

Viv disappeared from The Sun Down Motel where she worked in 1982 and was never found.

When Carly arrived and checked out The Sun Down Motel, she couldn't believe her aunt would even think of working there.

It was a creepy, out-of-the way place, but Carly surprised herself and took a job there on the same shift that her aunt worked.

Carly saw strange things and knew she should leave, but she stayed. She had to find out what happened at this motel and what happens now at THE SUN DOWN MOTEL.

We follow Carly as she investigates and as Viv’s story is told back in 1982.

Besides the creepy town and motel, we meet ghosts, creaky doors, weird guests, odd sounds, and no way to contact anyone not on the hotel grounds.

We learn about the hotel and the murders that took place in the town of Fell as well as the connection to The Sun Down Motel.

Each chapter got stranger and stranger as the motel seemed to come to life and have a life of its own.

If you enjoy tense, creepy, spooky story lines that include unsolved murders from years ago, THE SUN DOWN MOTEL will be your perfect read.

Be careful with the motel you choose, and especially do not stay at a motel that has anything remotely close to the name of this motel.

The entire book and the ending are twisty and brilliant. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story is promising. Actually, THE SUN DOWN MOTEL appears to be two stories at first, one Vivian's in 1982, the other Carly's in 2017.

In 1982, Vivian runs away from home and ends up in Fell, New York, with a job as night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. She disappears later that year and is presumed dead. In 2017, Carly, Vivian's niece, is curious about what happened to Vivian and why no one noticed she was missing for four days. So she goes to Fell to find out. Chapters of THE SUN DOWN MOTEL alternate between these two stories.

Turns out, this is really one story with a then and a now. Both are of the same locations, most of the same people, and even the same ghosts.

And about those ghosts: They spoil the story. Not many authors can successfully write a ghost story for adults. Stephen King can do it, and I wonder how he does it every time I read one of his books. But Simone St. James should stick with real life and forget about the supernatural or paranormal.

The story: In 1982 Vivian is bothered when she learns about the deaths of three (later four) women in Fell. She investigates and becomes convinced of one man's guilt, a frequent guest of the Sun Down Motel. She sees ghosts during her night shift there. She is frightened but not enough to quit. In 2017, after Carly gets to Fell, she takes the same job that Vivian had, night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. She conducts her own investigation of the murders of those same four women because Vivian, Carly thinks, was a fifth. She also sees some of the same ghosts.

I would have rated THE SUN DOWN MOTEL higher if not for those silly ghosts. But another thing also irritated me: St. James speaks of 1982 as if it were ancient times. Perhaps that was before she was born.