Tag Archives: cold case

Feb6

Murder in the Family, by Cara Hunter, a Review

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This book was quite clever in its premise and execution. It’s set up like a documentary series about a cold case involving the murder of the stepfather of one of the filmmakers.

The story is set up as a series of production notes, articles about the murder, and interviews on camera with various people who have information about the case. The filmmaker is in the background for most of it, but appears a few times to set the scene for the people on the program.

The other characters are various professionals who have experience as either law enforcement, journalists, or other crime backgrounds.  We have a retired detective inspector, a criminal prosecutor, a journalist, forensic psychologist, crime scene investigator, a retired NYPD detective as well as the producer of the show and the filmmaker with his two sisters.

Newspaper articles, text messages, emails, true crime aficionados in message forums, and dialogue in the documentary make up the majority of the book. There are no chapters per se and this is a fun way for the reader to get the story and try to figure out the clues as well as who may have something to hide.

I loved this book and the way it was presented. It was unique and enjoyable. I did figure out who did it but I usually do. The ride to get to the solution is what I enjoy and this one was an intriguing one. While I did figure out whodunit, I was wrong on the why dun it.  LOL

The presentation of this story was ingenious and original. I really enjoyed it.

BLURB:

It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home.

Luke Ryder’s murder has never been solved. Guy Howard’s mother and two sisters were in the house at the time of the murder—but all swear they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged.

But some murder cases are simply too big to forget…

Now comes the sensational new streaming series Infamous, dedicated to investigating—and perhaps cracking—this famous cold case. Years later a group of experts re-examine the evidence – with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on?

True crime lovers and savvy readers, you can review the evidence and testimony at the same time as the experts. But can you solve the case before they do?

Feb4

Reykjavik: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jonasson and Katrin Jakobsdottir

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The story starts with a 14 year old missing girl in 1956 in Iceland.  She was working for a couple on a small, uninhabited island off the coast of Reykjavik. When she fails to check in with her weekly call to her parents, a police detective is called out to investigate what may have happened to her. Unfortunately, the case goes cold and many years pass.

Every ten years or so, articles are in the paper about the girl who disappeared. And questions asked about where she could be. Is she dead or did she run away?

The book then flashes forward to thirty years later to a young journalist who is determined to solve the mystery. His poking into the situation happens to coincide with the two-hundredth anniversary of the city of Reykjavik.

As the young man investigates, someone starts sending him messages that lead him to believe he might be able to solve the mystery once and for all. He hopes his career will be cemented as a serious journalist if he can do so.

Excitement ramps up for the reader as well as the journalist at this point.

I love these type mysteries—set in Scandinavian or Nordic places. I like to watch the ones on streaming services as well. It seems the way Nordic and Scandinavian writers craft their tales have an appeal that speaks to me. I’m always quick to grab these off the shelf in the bookstore. Their mysteries pull me in. And the descriptions of their harsh winter climates are very evocative and lend themselves to a greater sense of urgency and mystique. This one was no exception.

Well written with a great plot by a team that includes a bestselling Icelandic author and the prime minister of Iceland, I recommend this one for a cold winter’s day of reading and mystery.

BLURB:

What happened to Lára?

Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára’s case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára’s disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .