Who Dun Its

Our next book for Humboldt Reads! book discussion group is available now. We are going to read Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. It’s a story about the sins of the father, loyalty, loss and love. A family story, it is set in northern Ontario on a family farm. Our discussion will be held on February 24, so you have plenty of time to get it read. We will meet at 5:30pm at Miller’s Landing.
For the past couple of weeks, every box of new books arriving at the library has contained at least one book about a true-life crime. Soon the new gardening books will crop up like crocus, but right now, in the dead of winter, man’s inhumanity to man (and woman) is in season.
The first to arrive was Ann Rule’s newest. Rule has a way of writing a true story that makes it read like the best detective novel. Even if the crime she writes about has been carried out in public and we all know who dun it, she’ll keep you up at night turning pages. In the Still of the Night is the story of the mysterious death of Washington State Trooper Ronda Reynolds. Over the years following her 1998 demise, the coroner flip-flopped back and forth over the cause of her death, but her mother never gave up hope that the case would be solved.
Another one is Our Little Secret: The True Story of a Teenage Killer and the Silence of a Small New England Town by Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie. It took twenty years to convict a man who as a popular, clean cut New Hampshire high school student shot and killed someone he’d never even met. The reason for the shooting and the reason that no one exposed the killing should make for a very good story.
Dead But Not Forgotten: The True Story of a Cheating Husband, His Stunning Mistress and a Murder Case Gone Cold by Amber Hunt is another one that took awhile to solve. A jury finally found that cheating husband guilty after 18 years, but a judge overturned the case. He is now awaiting a second trial.
Several books are ripped right from the front pages of current newspapers. Cold As Ice: One Wife Dead, Another Missing and a Husband on Trial for Murder by Carlton Smith is the tale of the unlucky wives of Chicago area policeman Drew Peterson. Poor guy. He just can’t catch a break.
Murder in Italy: The Shocking Slaying of a British Student, the Accused American Girl, and an International Scandal by Candace Dempsey. The story of Amanda Knox who was convicted in Italy of murdering her roommate, was she guilty, framed or a victim herself? This will put you in a front-row seat at her trial. Decide for yourself.
A Date with Death: The Secret Life of the Accused “Craigslist Killer.” Author Michele McPhee gives us an inside look at the handsome young med student accused of a murder. I wonder if the author interviewed his attractive blonde fiancée. I’d like to hear her side of the story.
In addition to all these newly written crime stories, there are plenty of oldies, but goodies on the library shelves. Two of the very best books written in this genre are In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and Helter Skelter: The True Story of The Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi.
If you take your crime vicariously, stop by the library and look over what we have to offer!