Never See Them Again by M William Phelps

It's a typical summer day in Houston, Texas, only her friend Tiffany is not answering her phone.  Brittney and her boyfriend decide to drive over and see what's going on.  What Brittany finds is four people dead in the house.  This is a true crime novel, and the horror of it all is very real.

Kensington Books sent me a copy of the ARC of this book for review (thank you).  It was published in March and you can find a copy of it at your local bookstore.

What makes this book a bit different from other true crime is that the investigators had a lot of evidence and documentation for this case so the author had plenty to work with.  He had to weed out what to use and what not to use.  I imagine that made writing this story a bit more difficult than having just a sketch of a crime where you flesh it out.  This was a whale of a crime that he had to get down the bones.

The victims were young men and women that had been involved with drugs, so that connection was immediately suspect.  One girl had recently moved out of her parent's house in with Tiffany and the familial relationships were scrutinized.  All the families were cross-examined.  All their friends were questioned.

While the investigation went on, one investigator retired.  Time marched on and they were getting no closer to the killer.  Until out of the blue they get a break.  No one ever would have thought the killer was who it was...

If you'd like my copy of this ARC, leave a comment here on my blog and send me an email at info at bookfaerie.com with your name, address, and why you'd like to read this book.  I will give it away in about a week.

Happy reading.

Midnight in Peking by Paul French

The Subtitle of this book is: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China.  This is a nonfiction story about a nineteen year old woman murdered in Peking.  The murder was never really resolved.  The various politics and bribes kept the case from going forward.  No one cared about her then, and I'm sure she'd be surprised to find that someone has written a book about her now.

Penguin and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this ebook for review (thank you).  The book will be published April 24th, so add it to your TBR list now.

Mr. French has analyzed the time period (1937), the various countries involved, how much pressure was brought upon the detectives, and how ineffectual the police really were.  What started as a horrific murder looked like it would be easy to solve as soon as they found the source of the blood, but that was never located.  There were missing witnesses, orders not to talk to certain individuals, pay-offs and other bad behavior by the police themselves, and the case was closed as unsolvable.

What really stood out to me was that her adoptive father, who was 70 at her death, continued on in his quest to find her killer.  He had lived in China for years and could speak their language, he had some money, and he paid for information.  That allowed him to go further than the police.

This was a time of terrific turmoil in the city.  They had Russian immigrants, poor Chinese farmers being run into the city to get away from the war on their land, Japanese moving in, British influence and more than one faction of China warlords trying to grab Peking.  It was not a good time to try to resolve the crime and it was very easy for the British detective to offend someone because he did not understand their culture.

It's a very detailed story that drew me in and kept me reading.  I was astonished at what her father was able to discover.  I was also sorry that Pamela died so young (19).  She was no angel but she died because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Just a few more days and she wouldn't have been in Peking any longer.  Unfortunately, she didn't make it.  She's going to be in my thoughts for a while.  She's not a ghost but Mr. French's words are going to haunt me.

Why not get a copy for you and watch how this story unfolds.  You'll need to keep reminding yourself this is non-fiction; it just doesn't feel like it.

Happy reading.