True Crime Addict: A (Spoiler Free) Book Review

This is the story of James Renner (and yes, it does seem to be more about him than about the girl he’s trying to locate) and his quest (read: obsession) to find Maura Murray, who disappeared after crashing her car into a snow bank in New Hampshire. While the story of her disappearance was interesting to read, along with the conspiracy theories of what could have “really” happened to her, I honestly feel like this didn’t need to be a book. There was not a lot of concrete evidence to report on, and most of his sources had contradicting stories, which made it hard to form any kind of solid conclusion as to what happened. But that doesn’t stop Renner from trying. 

Throughout the book, he throws his opinions and feelings in, which would be fine if it didn’t seem like he was stating these feelings as facts. He truly believes his theory is the right one, and he leaves very little room for dispute. I read a review that said Renner felt that he was “above the law,” and I honestly agree. Renner is a former journalist who got fired for publishing a controversial story about a candidate in the election for governor, and even that story was almost solely based on an anonymous tip. Journalists typically have a code of ethics they must follow in order to keep a job and report a story properly, but Renner throws that out the window. He fights for a woman’s suicide note even though his possession of it can affect the case surrounding her death, and he won’t take no for an answer when it comes to getting interviews. He is even seen assaulting a cop in court, and he seemed shocked when that got him ten days in jail. 

What also made me a little uncomfortable was the blog Renner created dedicated to this case. This blog was filled with information about the case, and any new information Renner found would immediately be posted so that his “Irregulars” could help him find answers. However, I’m sure a lot of the people Renner posted about came to him in confidence. They wanted to help him, but they didn’t want the attention of the public. Renner had no boundaries when it came to this case, and that made me more mad than intrigued at his findings.

I love true crime, so hearing Maura’s story was really interesting to me. However, there was not enough solid evidence to make a book a necessity, especially with this author as the narrator.