When James Renner reached out to me asking if I'd like an advanced copy of his new book, I jumped at the chance as in 2016, I had the pleasure of readWhen James Renner reached out to me asking if I'd like an advanced copy of his new book, I jumped at the chance as in 2016, I had the pleasure of reading another of James' books TRUE CRIME ADDICT, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In this new book, LITTLE, CRAZY CHILDREN, James looks at the brutal 1990 killing of Shaker Heights teen Lisa Pruett and the trial that followed.
Renner wastes no time getting right into the crime itself by detailing the location, the potential culprits and the circumstances surrounding Lisa's unfortunate demise. The narrative then moves at a breakneck pace from the moment the police arrive and the detective's work begins. Sourcing countless documents along with his dogged determination, Renner exposes the state's belief only one suspect could have possibly commited the crime - Kevin Young.
Renner builds a compelling case for other suspects and blames the prosecution's tunnel vision for ignoring other avenues. As the case moves along and doubt is seeded in the jurors relating to Kevin's potential for such an act, the danger arises that the wrong man may be facing a lifetime in prison.
LITTLE CRAZY CHILDREN had me reading in extended sessions with the book seemingly glued to my hands. As a fan of Raymond Burr's PERRY MASON, the book encompasses the best part of the decades old courtroom drama where arguments get heated and each of the masterful chess players do their best to upset the other.
While I haven't read a lot of true crime, it's safe to say this would be an easy recommendation for those who do. ...more
Following years of mistreatment and abuse, the people of the Osage tribe would find themselves amongst the richest people in the world after vast oil Following years of mistreatment and abuse, the people of the Osage tribe would find themselves amongst the richest people in the world after vast oil reserves were discovered within their land. Unfortunately, money doesn’t always buy happiness and despite their incredible wealth, they could not buy an ounce of respect.
But something much worse began happening – someone began killing the Osage off. As the tribe looked on helplessly as friends and family were being slaughtered, they reached out to the federal government for assistance in stopping the murders. J. Edgar Hoover and his yet to be named investigative division would send Tom White, an agent with a long history of success, to uncover the culprit.
This was an incredibly captivating read from start to finish. I have got to hand it to David Grann and his impressive investigative work in producing a style of narrative storytelling that had kept me riveted throughout. It certainly helped that I had no prior awareness of this horrific story; a lack of knowledge that kept me guessing right up until the conspiracy was unveiled.
Knowing what we know now about institutionalized racism in 2022, it should not shock me when I read about the mistreatment of minorities over one hundred years ago, but there were still parts where I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Burdening the wealthy Osage people with white guardians who would be responsible for overseeing in what manner money was granted and spent was a process rife with corruption (the only time you could escape guardianship is if you had “mixed-blood”, in that you had one white parent). Tom White being hesitant to take the killer to trial as he did not expect a jury or judge would convict someone for killing an Aboriginal person (“..the question for them to decide is whether a white man killing an Osage is murder – or merely cruelty to animals”).
This is one of those books that causes the reader to suffer from late nights and the “just one more chapter” syndrome. I blew through this in only a few days. I think this book belongs right up there with some of the best true crime works you can read. The highest possible recommendation....more
Also known as the Lambeth Poisoner, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream spent the better part of a year hunting and eliminating prostitutes in and around London inAlso known as the Lambeth Poisoner, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream spent the better part of a year hunting and eliminating prostitutes in and around London in the early 1890s. Once Scotland Yard narrowed in on who they believed to be their suspect, Inspector Frederick Smith Jarvis was sent to North America to dig into Cream’s past. What he would uncover would lead Scotland Yard to believe Cream was their man.
Through interviews with key figures in Cream’s past as well as good, honest, boots-on-the-ground investigative work, Jarvis was able to paint a clearer picture of the man Doctor Thomas Neill Cream had been before arriving in England. Uncovering blackmail schemes, multiple murder trials and a stint in an Illinois state prison, Inspector Jarvis had no doubt Cream was the man behind the recent poisonings in London.
Author Dean Jobb actually stumbled upon Thomas Cream during research for another project and decided to see where it would take him. As Cream’s murders happened shortly after Jack the Ripper’s killing spree, Cream appeared to be largely forgotten. While his victims died in a less sensationalistic way than those who fell under Jack, Cream’s murders were no less cruel. Targeting his victims through strychnine – a deadly poison that went hand-in-hand with an agonizing death – Cream took advantage of his standing as a medical professional, allowing his victims to trust him when prescribing medication.
Throughout the book, I never understood how Cream stayed on the lam for as long as he did. Even before being locked up in the 1880s, he had left several paper trails that could have easily led back to him, as he appears to have been completely disorganized at times. It certainly helped that the justice system in the Victorian Era was less than perfect, so it made it easy for someone to slip through the cracks. However, like all serial killers, Cream was arrogant, which led him to believe he likely wouldn’t be caught. It’s amazing that even after two murder trials (only one of which led to a conviction) in the United States, Cream was released and allowed to leave the country and start up again across the Pond. Jobb exposes the faults in the US criminal justice system that allowed this to happen through political pressure and alleged bribes after Cream had originally been sentenced to life behind bars.
As much as this book is about the crimes of Dr. Cream, it is also about an era in time in which someone like this could move around so freely. As the justice system evolved (at one point, Jobb discusses the practice of measuring body parts of criminals as a means of identifying repeat offenders), it was only a matter of time before Cream’s past would catch up with him as he continued along this path. Dean Jobb’s exhaustive research paints a portrait of a career criminal who wrote a prescription for his own downfall....more
In his book MISSING FROM THE VILLAGE, author Justin Ling explores the deaths in Toronto’s queer community of eight men by the hands of convicted seriaIn his book MISSING FROM THE VILLAGE, author Justin Ling explores the deaths in Toronto’s queer community of eight men by the hands of convicted serial killer Bruce McArthur. Ling had spent years researching several unexplained disappearances in the Village believing there to be a serial killer on the loose. Over time, he would occasionally butt heads with authorities as they would refuse (publicly) to acknowledge the theory of a mass-murderer.
And that’s the heart of the story, really. The murders and the actions of McArthur are horrific in and of themselves but it’s the apathy on the part of those sworn to protect the community that make this story truly tragic. It’s the long and painful relationship between both the police and those in the LGBTQ community that had allowed McArthur to operate freely within the Village for years. Ling explains the disconnect in spotlighting the raids, beatings and arrests throughout history that had left a neighborhood with a seemingly overwhelming level of distrust of the law.
How the failings of the Toronto Police Department to catch and convict McArthur sooner did not lead to some sort of system overhaul, I’ll never know. In fact, how Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders did not immediately resign following his statement in which he more or less blamed the LGBTQ community for the delay in catching McArthur (“We knew that people were missing and we knew we didn’t have the right answers. But nobody was coming to us with anything.”) is maddening. However, I only read about this – I cannot imagine how it felt for those who lived through the fear of a madman lurking in the shadows.
However, what this book should be championed for is the work that went into highlighting the lives of those who were brutally murdered by McArthur, rather than spending the entire book exploring the life and character of the killer. It’s easy to look at the tally and reduce each victim to just a number – but they were men who were sons, brothers, partners and people who left behind loved ones. There is a particularly moving moment late in the book where Ling transcribes a victim impact statement on the loss of Andrew Kinsman – a beacon of kindness and love within the community.
If Andrew were alive today, he would have baked 340 loaves of bread, perhaps 30 birthday cakes, 450 healthy dinners, and 30 or so contributions to potlucks for friends. He would have done 110 shifts as a volunteer at the food bank, and contributed to perhaps 500 hours of organizing skill to public health events. He would have exchanged 80,000 pithy, hilarious texts with friends.
This is someone who had been ripped from a community that both needed and cared for him.
MISSING FROM THE VILLAGE was an excellent read that both educated me on the terrible events of the past and angered me beyond words at the failings of the present. I hope that something can be taken from these events so that something like this does not happen again. We can only hope....more
"It's not about stealing lobster. It's about a problem that continues and doesn't stop. People said 'murder for lobster.' I said, Look, if that guy"It's not about stealing lobster. It's about a problem that continues and doesn't stop. People said 'murder for lobster.' I said, Look, if that guy had of come in my shed and took a screwdriver, okay, would you have said 'murder for screwdrivers'? Because it's not about the value of what he stole, it's about having someone that constantly is disrupting people's lives."
I had been browsing through CBC Books’ Fall Nonfiction Guide a few weeks ago when Silver Donald Cameron’s Blood in the Water jumped out at me. Does anyone remember the “murder for lobster” case that brought international eyes to the small island of Isle Madame? Well, it all happened in June of 2013 when three men - James Landry, Craig Landry and Dwayne Samson, aboard the Twin Maggie’s fishing ship, brutally killed Phillip Boudreau after Boudreau had been caught cutting and poaching their lobster traps.
While the “murder for lobster” tagline certainly helped attract widespread interest in the case, it’s unfair to distill what happened on that day down to simply someone dying over lobster. A life-long resident of Isle Madame, Cameron explores just who Phillip Boudreau was and why his complicated relationship with his fellow island inhabitants led to a boiling point that morning.
Much of the book is spent analyzing Boudreau’s adverse effect on the community. For years, he would steal from the community, cut lobster traps and generally cause chaos in the small town. There were even claims of violent sexual crimes made against him. One problem lay in the fact that the RCMP were often helpless to stop him as rarely could anyone prove that Phillip had committed some or any of these crimes. Even when they did get him into custody, it was only for extremely short stints in jail where he would come out having learned little. There’s a funny story where Boudreau was being transported to Sydney for a hearing and asked to stop on the side of the road to relieve himself. When he went into the ditch to urinate, he ran into the woods and escaped. Another problem, and the bigger one, being that Phillip would constantly threaten those who followed through with a complaint against him to the RCMP with arson or violence. People felt helpless against his reign of terror.
It seemed surreal to be reading a true crime book set in Cape Breton, the island where I grew up. Cameron printed direct, unedited anonymous quotes from Isle Madame’s inhabitants that contain slang and dialects I’m more than familiar with. Is it weird that it made me homesick? I don’t think that’s the goal of a true crime story. With Cameron being permitted to attend the trials of the men accused, he had firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of the courtroom and recounted each day blow-by-blow. Some people may find this dull, but I loved it. Maybe it stems from my enjoyment of the old Perry Mason series.
There did seem to be a bit of filler in here. I don’t believe a history of the Acadian people in the Maritimes really added anything to the book or was at all necessary. Cameron also included the Catholic Priest Scandal of the latter part of the last century, seemingly out of nowhere, with no connection to the main crime. There are a few moments like that that left me scratching my head. Unfortunately, Cameron had passed away in June of this year, shortly after delivering his manuscript, so it’s possible he wasn’t quite finished nor settled with the final product.
Tangents aside, Blood in the Water does a more than adequate job bringing to light the true factors that led to Phillip Boudreau’s death. While Maritimers can certainly hold a grudge, we have a fuse a mile long and are willing to put up with just about anything. Boudreau finally pushed someone too far on that day and ultimately, it led to tragedy....more
The Forest City Killer is the story and investigation of the disappearance and subsequent murder of Jackie English, a resident of London, Ontario in 1The Forest City Killer is the story and investigation of the disappearance and subsequent murder of Jackie English, a resident of London, Ontario in 1969.
Having read, reviewed and interviewed the author of Murder City, a book about both the murders in her hometown of London, Ontario between 1959 and 1984, bookseller and author Vanessa Brown’s curiosity about the unsolved murder of Jackie English inspired her to dig deep and write her own book focusing specifically on English’s mysterious death. Through interviews with those connected to Jackie and with access to Detective James Alsop’s files – the man obsessed with bringing to justice the person responsible for English’s grisly death – Vanessa reopens the case and furiously investigates with the hope of solving the decades old cold case.
There’s nothing special about Jackie’s disappearance in and of itself. She had been waiting for a bus following her shift when she was picked up on the side of the road by an unidentified man driving a Ford. Witnesses were sparse, but they all seemed to corroborate one another’s story. The sad fact is that Jackie’s disappearance was one of many during this time and what author Vanessa Brown hopes to accomplish is to lay out the evidence to support her theory that Jackie’s murder, and several others, were possibly committed by one or two men.
Brown examines the similarities among the murders of Jackie and those of several others during the latter half of the 1960s. There are several items that can connect them but at the time, investigators were quick to wash their hands of the potential of a serial killer living among them. Seeing as the case remains unsolved, a book of this nature could possibly fall into the trap of editorializing and manipulating evidence to support the author’s agenda but Brown is very quick to differentiate her theories from the hard facts and how they connect.
There are more than a few staggering revelations here – the biggest surrounding a section of the book devoted to the murder of Georgia Jackson. Brown believes this may be the earliest murder connected to the Forest City Killer. However, the surprise lies in the judge’s throwing out of the rape charge given that he didn’t believe he could classify as rape what the killer did after the victim had passed.. The book is filled with how those responsible for investigating and carrying out justice seemed to fumble their responsibilities.
The Forest City Killer continues the trend of amateur sleuths doing the heavy lifting for the overworked or possibly apathetic law enforcement as seen in books like Michelle MacNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and James Renner’s True Crime Addict. Given the crowded market place and the high expectations put forth by true crime aficionados, there isn’t any room for slackers. Brown is the furthest thing from lazy in putting forth the effort to compile an engaging narrative surrounding the mid-century killings and allows readers to digest the evidence and make up their own minds about who is responsible.
Side note: this book contains one of the most Canadian paragraphs I’ve read in a book:
An hour’s drive southeast of London, Aylmer is a small town. It serves as a hub for summer tourists at nearby cottages, where city dwellers vacation along the shores of Lake Erie. The population swells during hot weather. Crowding the sidewalks in their swimsuits and flip-flops, families check out little boutiques, get some beer at the LCBO for a campfire, buy some bug spray at Shoppers Drug Mart, and grab four litres of bagged milk from the Valu-mart....more
In 2011, the mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray caught the eye of freelance investigative journalist James Renner. But this wasn’t exactly new tIn 2011, the mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray caught the eye of freelance investigative journalist James Renner. But this wasn’t exactly new territory for Renner. Years before, he had dug into the disappearance of Amy Mihaljevic, a case that left Renner with PTSD. Why would he want to subject himself to this scenario again, you ask? As the title says, it’s an addiction. Renner has an undying thirst for the truth and True Crime Addict takes the reader inside the author’s quest to quench it.
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this was a hell of a great read. While it did start a little on the slow side, it didn’t take long for Renner to push the pedal to the metal. Extremely short chapters (we’re talking three-to-four pages in length) help to speed up the book making you feel like you’re flying through the story. This is likely why I gulped down huge chunks of it in single sittings (“only one more chapter, then I’ll go to bed. OK, that was pretty short, only one more.. etc”).
Along with his frustrations in trying to break open the Murray case, Renner weaves in bits of his own history (one particular part of his past is not the easiest read), detailing both his childhood, career and current struggles with his son’s violent and strange tendencies. I thought this was an excellent choice. Not that I see anything wrong with an entire book delving into the case itself, I just felt that adding in these pieces of information kept things fresh and interesting – especially when you consider where the story ultimately ends up.
With True Crime Addict as well as his previous book about the disappearance of Amy Mihaljevic (Amy: My Search for Her Killer), Renner has proven to be an accomplished non-fiction writer. I’ve been hearing great things about his fiction work and if those novels are as gripping as True Crime Addict, I have no doubt I’ll enjoy them....more
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