“Missing: Murder Suspected”: True Crime Stories Brought to Life
Posted: January 10, 2020 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Crime, Nonfiction | Tags: Austin Stone, Book Review, Ed Stone, Nonfiction, True Crime, Writing to be Read 3 Comments
Missing: Murder Suspected is a true crime trilogy written by Austin Stone, compiled and edited by his son, Edmund J.A. Stone after his father’s death. In his investigative style of writing, similar to that of Truman Capote, Austin Stone has managed to bring the characters of each story to life in the reader’s mind in grisly detail.
A chicken farmer who buries a love struck woman beneath one of his chicken coops. A surgeon prone to fits of rage kills his wife and nanny, dismembering their bodies and concocting elaborate stories to account for their absence from his home. A firefighter kills his abusive wife in the heat of a moment, disposing of her body in a shroud of burlap sacks. These are murders which took place in the early 1900’s, and Stone offers a glimpse into the lives and motivations of the people involved through his telling.
If you like cold case type of stories, you will find these stories intriguing. There was too much telling and not enough showing for my own tastes, but giving the journalistic style, I don’t see how this could have been avoided. I give Missing: Murder Suspected three quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Writing to be Read 
I do like true crime stories, Kaye. Thanks for sharing this review.
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Thank you Kaye for your excellent review of my late father Austin Stone’s book. He would have been most appreciative of your comments and might even have found a quill to add to your 3! When I did the transcribing/editing, there were times when I thought dad had used an old quill! I don’t know how you are able to cover so many books in a year, but keep up the good work Sincerely Ed
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It was a pleasure to read you and your dad’s book, Ed. Thanks for your kind words.
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