February Mystery Cat - Cold Crimes

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/MysteryKIT_2022

For February we're reading a mystery, true or not, about a cold crime.

What Is A Cold Crime
The National Institute of Justice defines a cold crime as any case whose probative investigative leads have been exhausted. In essence, this means a case that is only a few months old may be defined as being "cold."

The FBI Uniform Crime Report estimates that the U.S. currently has 250,000 unsolved violent crimes, which eventually become known as "cold cases". The estimate is that unsolved murders increase about 6,000 year after year. However, advances in DNA technology are allowing officials to take a fresh look at cold cases and many are being solved that wouldn't have been previously.

Experts agree cold cases constitute a crisis situation, for all unsolved homicides potentially have offenders who have never been apprehended history and research show that a violent offender will likely repeat.

There are many, many fiction novels that are based on cold crimes, below are a few titles and authors:

Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
Agatha Christie - Elephants Can Remember, Five Little Pigs.
Michael Connelly - See Harry Bosch Series
Val McDermid - Place of Execution, Out of Bounds
Colin Dexter - The Remorseful Day
Robert Galbraith - Troubled Blood
John Grisham - The Judge's List
Jane Harper - The Dry
Donna Tartt - The Little Friend

And a few true crime titles and authors from the many:
Mark Bowden - The Last Stone
Andrew J. Clark - True Crime Cold Cases
Piu Eatwell - Black Dahlia, Red Rose
Douglas Preston - The Monster of Florence
Kate Summerscale - The Suspicions of Mr. Wincher

Grab a blanket and enjoy some chilling reading!

If you have some recommendations, please post them.

I might read The Cadaver Game, the next up in Kate Ellis's Wesley Peterson series. This series usually has policeman Wesley Peterson's archaeologist friend Neil Watson exploring a historical mystery that has parallels with Wesley's case.

Perfect! I have The Remorseful Day on the shelf.

edited to add touchstone.

I highly recommend The Dry - very evocative of place and the characters are spot on. (I live near where this is set).

I am planning on reading In Bitter Chill by Sara Ward. The story links a cold case from 1978 to a couple of murders that just happened.

I think I'll read The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen about a case for Dept Q.

I finished The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny yesterday.

OOPS - Just noticed this was the February thread instead of January one.

I have a couple on my tbr that came up with a tag search for "cold cases", but I don't know if these really fit?

One is nonfiction - was the "Golden State Killer" a cold case before it was solved? Does anyone know?

The other one that came up for me is fiction - a thriller. Has anyone read Penance by Kanae Minato? Was that a cold case?

Thanks!

>5 JayneCM: I've had The Dry for sometimes. This also will count towards my Australian CAT.

>10 Tess_W: Hope you enjoy it! If nothing else, it gives a great sense of Australian rural life (minus the murdering each other!) Particularly in the discussion of mental health in small rural communities, where it is very much "she'll be right, mate; you've just got to stop whinging and get on with it."

>11 JayneCM: Oh goody! The theme for February's Reading Through Time group is "Country Life."

>9 LibraryCin: Yes the Golden State Killer was a cold case before it was solved. My husband is a true crime fanatic, so I asked him.

I will read The Distant Echo by Val McDermid, and maybe the second in that series as well.

And I would like to recommend In The Woods by Tana French which includes a cold case as well. I'm sure most of us have read this, but for those who haven't, I read it last year and was blown away by French's writing.

>14 MissBrangwen: I'm probably the last person who hasn't read In the Woods yet. Maybe I will finally give that a try next month.

>15 staci426: I was very late to the party, too (as with most books), but it was so worth it!

I'm having a hard time committing to this BUT I'm going to plan on Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith the most recent of the Cormoran Strike series. 927 pages!

Historical cold crimes also fit this theme. Josephine Tey The Daughter of Time.

Jeanne Dams has a few that fit here A Dark and Stormy Night and also the Murder She Wrote series such as Murder in Season. Think “skeleton unearthed in the garden” or in the walls of a home.

>9 LibraryCin: As >13 lowelibrary: said. DeAngelo wasn't caught until 2018. Are you thinking about I'll Be Gone In The Dark? It's fantastic.

>13 lowelibrary: Thank you so much!

Then... I am more likely to read:
I'll be Gone in the Dark / Michelle McNamara

>19 mstrust: Ha! Yes. Typed my reply to >13 lowelibrary: before I saw your reply. :-)

Yes, that is what I'm planning on. Looks like my library has the audio, so hopefully it will be as good as actually reading it in print or ebook.

Although it's a bit early, I will mention that I have just finished reading Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves, which involves the re-investigation of a case when evidence comes to light that the person convicted of the murder 10 years previously was in fact innocent.

>22 Robertgreaves: I had been thinking the topic of cases that had been supposed solved but not would come up. Certainly, it's a twist to the issue of cold case and I think very valid for this topic.

I’ll be reading The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid. She’s a new author for me so I’m really looking forward to reading this.

I might have several to choose from in this category. I have two Agatha Christie novels that will work, but I also found a book in one of the series I read that is about the unsolved disappearance of an Amish boy, with mysterious text messages now resurfacing years later that suggest his whereabouts.

I'll be reading Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs. It was available. Some of the others had wait lists so long that I doubted I would get them until March.

>26 thornton37814: ditto! I picked up a used copy for a few dollars. I have a large collection of Agatha Christie novels, but that was not among them, alas.

>24 marell: Oh, great! I'll read the first one from that series.

>26 thornton37814: >27 LadyoftheLodge: Five Little Pigs is one of my favorites!

I requested The Dry by Jane Harper from the library for this read and got it in 2 days instead of 2 weeks; hence, it's early! This book was recommended to me by Jane. This was a multi-layered story. Here is the quick version: drought in the outback, times are tough, Aaron Falk (Federal Agent) returns for a friends funeral, townspeople remember an unsolved crime 20 years ago (about the time he left), there is a triple murder which Falk solves while there and he uncovers more on the murder of 20 years ago. A good solid mystery/crime read! I understand this is book one in a series. 336 pages 4 stars CATS: February Mystery-Cold Case, February-Reading Through Time--the country, My Cats: Australia, Prize-Winners (Barry Award for Best First Novel (2018), Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction (2017), Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Unpublished Manuscript (2015), Davitt Award for Best Adult Novel (2017), Australian Independent Booksellers Indie Book Award for Book of the Year & Debut Fiction (2017) )

>29 Tess_W: I liked that one but I abandoned the next one of hers I tried to read. So disappointing!

>29 Tess_W: >30 thornton37814: Glad you liked this one, Tess. But I do agree that I have yet to read another book of hers that has been as good as her debut novel. Force of Nature was ok and The Survivors a bit less than ok.
The movie of The Dry is very good, if you get the chance to see it.
I just picked up Scrublands at a charity shop as it is compared to The Dry so I thought I'd give it a go.

>29 Tess_W: >30 thornton37814: >31 JayneCM: I am also among the fans of The Dry. I have read Force of Nature and The Lost Man which stands as my favorite of this author so far. I have not read The Survivors yet. Sounds like it doesn't stand up? I wonder if her early success messed with her writing mojo and got her off course?

I've started Murder at Teal's Pond, about the murder of Hazel Drew. Some say it's been solved, after more than a hundred years as a mystery.

I'm going to pass this month as I'm concentrating on my shelves and I don't have anything that fits. Sorry.

>34 fuzzi: That's okay, I think most of us have that problem from time to time!

I confess that I finished my selection for this challenge and it is not yet February. But there are a couple more that would count which I have not yet read.

I hope everyone enjoys the book they've chosen, I look forward to seeing everyone's comments!

I just started reading In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead for this challenge.

>34 fuzzi: I’m going to skip this month too. It’s a short month and I think I’ve already bitten off more than I can chew without adding more to my plate!

>39 Tanya-dogearedcopy: good, now I don't feel guilty...

I have In Bitter Chill for this one.

I'm planning to read The Shadows by Alex North for my QEII challenge that will also fit here.

I'm reading When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (book 3 of her Jackson Brodie series) - this is a reread for me.

I read The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri. This is the second book in the Inspector Montalbano series that takes place in Sicily, Italy. The setting and atmosphere is the best part of the book. I was not a big fan of Inspector Montalbano, he is a bit crude and sexist for my tastes. The mystery was OK and I enjoyed the second half of the book much more than the first, it picked up once he really began investigating the cold case mystery. Overall it was just OK. I am not sure if I want to keep going in the series.

I read The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen for this

I am reading You'll Never Know, Dear by Hallie Ephron for this.

I have completed my read of In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward, the cold case was a 1978 kidnapping of two school girls where only one child was found again.

I finished The Distant Echo by Val McDermid, a superb novel!
If you are interested in reading it, don't scroll through the LT reviews, or at least not too far into the past ones. There is one that reveals the killer in the very first sentence. I am so happy that I did not read the reviews before I started the book (which I sometimes do), because I would have been so angry.

Finished Cold Case by Linda Barnes today.

I finished Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie.

I have now finished the second book in the Karen Pirie series by Val McDermid, A Darker Domain. Another very good novel and totally suited to this month's prompt, as Karen is the head of a cold case unit.

I've read Murder at Teal's Pond. It's the story of Hazel Drew's murder in 1908 in Troy, New York, and was the inspiration for Twin Peaks. The authors give the facts of the case, including the investigation and inquest, which yielded no arrest, and then provide their own theories as to how this local, young servant had so many romances and acquaintances that she kept secret from her family and friends. Drew led a double life that may have included socializing with local bigwigs.

>1 clue: Would Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood fit here?

I read The Shadows by Alex North. If this was meant to scare me, it didn't. On the other hand, this was no surprise because the last time I was pleasantly scared by a book, I was about seven years old. However, the creepiness was presented in a way that made me feel I should be shivering in fear instead of rolling my eyes. This second book from North did not measure up to his first, The Whisper Man. It appears the horror genre is just not for me. As a cold case, it fitted well.

I finished The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid. I thought this was a standalone novel but it is actually the third book in the Karen Pirie series, so I was a bit disappointed because I do like to read series books from the beginning. I may explore more of this author’s books in future.

The discovery of a skeleton on the roof of an Edinburgh building is determined to be five to ten years old, so enter Cold Crimes Unit DCI Karen Pirie and partner Detective Constable Jason Murray to solve the case. The horrors of the 1990s Balkan Wars are at the heart of the matter, and the work of two Hague attorneys also comes into play.

>53 Robertgreaves: I think so.

>55 marell: I read the first two of the series this month, so The Skeleton Road is up next for me!

March thread is up:https://www.librarything.com/topic/339566

I'll Be Gone in the Dark / Michelle McNamara
3.5 stars

The Golden State Killer, murdered and raped over the course of about ten years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The author of this book was obsessed with finding out who he was… or really, just bringing him to justice. The book is part-memoir, in addition to true crime. The name “Golden State Killer” was even coined by this author; unfortunately, she died before she finished the book.

The man she called the Golden State Killer started off known as the East Area Rapist (the EAR). Later on, someone else (they hadn’t linked the two at the time) was known as the “Original Night Stalker” (I think there was another Night Stalker, as well.)

I listened to the audio, so that may not have helped keep things straight, but between following the rapist/murderer and his (many many) activities, and the author’s sections that were memoir, it didn’t help that nothing was in chronological order. And there were so many murders and rapes, it was hard to follow what was happening. Maybe it would have been easier to read (I suspect so) rather than listen to. So, I was a bit confused for a while, trying to figure out who everyone was and where they fit in.

COMPLETED Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, a fictional re-creation of the case of Grace Marks, convicted with her fellow servant of killing her employer and his mistress in the 1840s, but believed by many to have been innocent or acting under duress.

Penance / Kanae Minato
3.5 stars

10-year old friends Sae, Maki, Akiko, Yuka, and Emily are playing in the schoolyard when Emily is lured away by a man. It’s a bit later when the other girls find Emily’s dead body. In Japan, there is (or was) a statute of limitations of 15 years. When, after a few years, the murderer is still not caught, Emily’s mother tells the four girls they will pay if the murderer is not found. Fifteen years later, the four girls are adults now, but they have been drastically affected by their friend’s murder and her mother’s curse.

I liked this. Each chapter was from a different character’s point of view as an adult and looking back on what happened when Emily was killed. There was also a chapter (after the four girls’ chapters) narrated by Emily’s mother. The chapters (and book as a whole) was fairly short, so trying to remember who was who was a bit tricky, but it usually only took a small reminder for me to remember each story as I continued through the book.

I've finished The Purity of Vengeance by Jusii Adler-Olsen - #4 in the Norwegian series about Dept Q which solves cold cases.

I did end up reading In the Woods by Tana French this month. I thought it was good, but found it a little slow-going at times.

It's not often a cozy sleuth tackles a "cold case," but Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait tackles a 45-year-old case that was swept under the rug by the police at the time. A needlepoint series stitched by the victim's mother becomes an important part of the cozy investigation.

I don't think I'll finish Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith by end of day tomorrow. I still have 300 of the 934 pages to go but will post when it's finished.

Thanks to everyone for participating, it has been fun to see what everyone has read. Now on to small towns and big secrets.

Don't close up shop just yet :-). I'm hoping to finish today (Monday), Sundowner Ubuntu by Anthony Bidulka, in which a PI from Saskatchewan is trying to find someone who disappeared 20 years ago.

>66 Robertgreaves: Ooooh, I grew up in Saskatchewan. I'm going to take a look at this one. Is the author from Sask, do you know?

ETA: Now that I've looked closer, I see I have the first in the series already on my tbr.

>67 LibraryCin: They are best read in order. Lots of spoilers for earlier books in the later ones

COMPLETED Sundowner Ubuntu by Anthony Bidulka. A woman hires PI Russell Quant to find her son who disappeared 20 years ago after being sent to a reformatory as a juvenile delinquent.

>68 Robertgreaves: Good to know. Thank you!