Dark Tide : Growing with Ted Bundy

Title: Dark Tide: Growing Up with Ted Bundy
Author: Edna Cowell Martin, Megan Atkinson

Publisher: Permuted Press
Release Date: July 23, 2024
Page Count: 311
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Although the Ted Bundy murders began in Washington State 50 years ago, the horror lives in the memories of so many people. And now we finally have a close family account of Ted Bundy - from his younger cousin. It's so sad, terrifying and I'm glad Edna has finally told her story. 

Edna does a great job of sharing her life in the Seattle area in the 1960s and 1970s. Of the close community she found on Puget Sound at Far-A-Way where she met her future husband, horse-back riding and digging for clams on the beach, her happy family life, and her beloved cousin Ted who was more like a brother. How he visited her small college apartment usually bringing food and wine and good conversation. That time he asked Edna's brother and boyfriend to show him the bars near the campus where students congregated. And the night he got stoned and danced "spasmodic and agitated" on the coffee table. Yet, these were just small things that were minor blips on a lifetime of friendship and love. 

The growing horror as Edna and her family learn about Ted is heartbreaking and palpable. "How does a mind process something like this, reassigning an adored cousin to one of the most well-known serial killers of the twentieth century?" Edna - or anyone placed in the same horrible situation - wants to believe that yes, the signs were there, they were just missed. But Edna shares another truth:

"Because the other answer is, I suspect, the one people are begging me to refute when they ask the question. It's the possibility no one wants, including myself. No. There were no signs. Nothing out of the ordinary. If that's true, it means Ted could be anyone. even those we'd never suspect. That means it's possible to have everyone fooled. No one wants that."

I strongly recommend Dark Tide. 5 stars and a Recommended Read. 

I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

She's Gone: Five Mysterious Twentieth-Century Cold Cases

Title: She's Gone : Five Mysterious Twentieth-Century Cold Cases
Author: Kathleen Brunelle
Publisher: Prometheus
Release Date: May 21, 2004
Page Count: Unknown
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

In this compilation of true crime cases, the author delves into five unsolved murders, ranging from 1910 to 1977. I had heard of some of the cases (Dorothy Arnold and Jean Spangler) but the other cases were unfamiliar to me. 

In each case, the author does an excellent job in creating a narrative that gives us the facts of the case, a good understanding of the time and setting, and insight into how the murders affected their families and loved ones. The bibliography shows the extensive job done in researching the cases and interviewing family members.

Dorothy Arnold was an attractive young woman from a wealthy family, who disappeared in New York City mid-December 1910. 

Anna Locascio was married at 15, had four children, and a husband who disapproved of her working outside the home. Anna disappeared in 1918, and after a very casual investigation by the police, her husband was tried, resulting in a hung jury. Anna's body was never found. 

Agnes Tofverson was an amazing woman - a well-respected corporate lawyer with a substantial amount of money earned by her hard work. At age 42, she falls madly in love and marries a man who claims to be a millionaire, who wants to take her to India for a honeymoon, then to live in England. Agnes is never seen again after December 20, 1933. 

Jean Spangler was a Hollywood bit actress and dancer slowly working her way into movie roles. A devoted mother of five-year old Christine, Jean leaves Christine with her sister-in-law before heading out supposedly to a meeting and then work. Jean's disappearance on October 7, 1949 has never been solved. 

The final brief case involves Simone Ridinger, a 17-year-old just on the cusp of her adult life, who disappears while hitchhiking to Martha's Vineyard in 1977. 

In each of these tragic cases, the women were never found. There was no body and no closure for the family. Kathleen Brunelle tells their stories no matter their status or celebrity and her narrative is so well done and insightful, although I thought the chapter on Agnes Tofverson was a bit too long and unnecessarily detailed. I think anyone interested in true crime would find the stories particularly interesting and moving. 4 stars.

I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The Murders of Annie Hearn : The Poisonings that Inspired Agatha Christie

Title: The Murders of Annie Hearn : The Poisonings that Inspired Agatha Christie
Author: Jonathan Oates
Publisher: Pen & Sword True Crime
Release Date: April 30, 2024
Page Count: 304
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

After a day spent in the coastal town of Bude on the north coast of Cornwall, followed by tea and sandwiches, Mrs. Alice Thomas fell seriously ill and later died on November 4, 1930. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were accompanied by their neighbor Annie Hearn, who prepared the sandwiches, and after it was determined that Mrs. Thomas had perhaps died of arsenic poisoning, an investigation was begun. 

What followed was an inquest, a disappearance, a trial, and questions still remain over 90 years later. Agatha Christie used the poison sandwiches as a plot device in her 1940 novel Sad Cypress but the case in general has been lightly covered in true crime movies, videos or books. 

In a nutshell, Annie Hearn claimed she was married and quickly widowed, but it appeared none of this was true. Annie was a caregiver for her family, several of whom may have died due to arsenic poisoning. After Mrs. Thomas died, Annie disappeared, leaving the impression that she is going to commit suicide. She was found, was tried for Mrs. Thomas' murder .... and was found not guilty. 

The author has done extensive primary research, uncovering newspaper articles, inquest and trial transcripts in order to piece together the events and the bibliography is very extensive. 

But I sorely missed a cohesive narrative throughout this book. At times, the lawyer's cross examinations of witness are basically reprinted, without any commentary or insight. An in-depth examination of Annie Hearn's personality and psyche is needed, as we get details about what she did and said, but not why . There is a list of arsenic poisoning symptoms, but no discussion of what arsenic does to the human body, how it kills, why some symptoms are not always understood or correctly perceived by doctors, etc. The account of the horrific death of Annie's sister is heartbreaking, especially since the doctor who examined her didn't have a clue about what was causing her symptoms, and didn't suspect poisoning. 

 3.5 stars for The Murders of Annie Hearn. The mere facts of this case are compelling and disturbing, and while the author's research is admirable, a strong narrative would have greatly improved this true crime re-telling. 

I received an ARC from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

A Murder on the Hill

Title: A Murder on the Hill: The Secret Life and Mysterious Death of Ruth Munson
Author: Roger Barr
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Release Date: April 2, 2024
Page Count: 320
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

In December of 1937, the body of Ruth Munson was discovered in the derelict Aberdeen Hotel, a once-grand luxury apartment hotel, felled by the stock market crash and the Depression. This was the St. Paul of John Dillinger and Babyface Nelson, where bootlegging and prostitution flourished, and in 1935 the City finally started cracking down on rampant police corruption within the St. Paul Police Department. 

There was every reason to hope that the murderer would be brought to justice, yet the Munson murder remains unsolved. I found the book very frustrating in that the police hopped from one theory of the case to another without uncovering much of anything. It was a boyfriend or former lover, it was someone who left three small metal shear pins at the site, it was the black porter at the Union Depot, it was someone from Munson's "secret life" involved two mysterious women who were often seen at local bars with Ruth, it was a vagrant, maybe Ruth was involved in selling drugs, etc. And once the police determined that Ruth's death may have come "at the hands of someone from the black community," that racism probably prevented the case from being solved. 

The author carefully details countess reports and unfortunately, the sheer abundance of similar reports is overwhelming. I'm not sure that every detail is necessary and perhaps a concise summary would have been more compelling than an exhaustive point-by-point accounting. There is a very brief chapter at about 80% of the book called "Missed Opportunities" which very briefly summarizing possible legitimate suspects, but at this point it is a little bit too later. 

The exhaustive research is impressive but perhaps more interpretation and less listing of details would have resulted in a more cohesive gripping story. 3.5 stars. 

I received an ARC from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Blood on Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty

Title: Blood on Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty
Author: Mandy Matney and Carolyn Murnick
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: November 14, 2023
Page Count: 272
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Prior to reading Blood on Their Hands, I had no idea who Mandy Matney was, had never heard or listened to her popular podcast. However, I had read several books about the Murdaughs and knew a lot of the basics of the case(s). 

My first impression was that the author spent a lot of time establishing her credentials, then continuing to expound on them, to the point where I despaired that she would begin focusing on the Murdaughs. However, as I continued to read, I saw how her skill set and her on-the-ground network was able to provide information that the media was not picking up at the time, or was unwilling to report. 

But, if you are expecting a "true crime" book, adjust your expectations. There is little discussion of the background of the Murdaughs and their dubious heritage of influencing the entire Low Country court system. There is no framework in which to place the deeds and actions of the Murdaughs. And, frankly, I grew very tired of the author's constant commentary about how her former bosses held her back, how she wasn't appreciated, etc. At the end of day, this book seemed to me to be more an accounting of those perceived wrongs. 3 stars. 

I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.