Friday, March 9, 2018

Murder beyond the grave by James Patterson

Murder beyond the grave is one of a series of books written to tie-in with the Murder is forever television series.  Each book in the series includes two stories based on actual events that have been slightly fictionalised, but that doesn't take away from the stories covered.

Stephen Small has everything he wants in life - a loving wife, three sons, and enough money to live comfortably.  For one man Stephen is a source of resentment and jealously, a man who has everything he could want and more - more than enough to cover a ransom demand.  Danny Edwards has lost it all, he squandered his chances growing up, and then lost it all when he was busted for drug dealing and had to earn an honest living.  Chafing at the new restrictions on his life Danny hatches a plan to get the money he needs to live the life he thinks he deserves, and Stephen Small is the key to his plan.  Things don't go as planned however, and he destroys the lives of everyone involved in the case.

Bonnie Hood is the proud new owner of Camp Nelson Lodge, a property she visited as a young girl and that she hopes to bring back to its former glory.  Her husband Jim is also an owner, but her dedication to the project means he only gets to see her in the weekends when he visits with the children.  The redevelopment takes time, and as she makes changes Bonnie ruffles the feathers of the locals, who have come to see the Camp tavern as theirs.  As she continues the development Bonnie receives death threats - and then the unthinkable happens and she is gunned down in the night.  The crime may not be as simple as it seems, but the Police are determined to catch the killer.

These two compelling stories are intriguing and disturbing in turn - what drives a person to commit crimes like these?  While I am not usually a fan of fictionalised real life stories, Patterson has done an excellent job of remaining sensitive to the victims.  In many ways these stories are scarier than anything he could have dreamed up in one of his own stories because these are real murders with real motivations, and people that you can realise despise for what they have done.  This has been an engaging series to read (not to mention somewhat disturbing) and it will be interesting to see if there are more books in the series.

If you are interested in reading more real life reads and true crime stories then try some of the these books:

Reviewed by Brilla

No comments:

Post a Comment