True Crime Story by Joseph Knox

Review:⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would.  For being a story that doesn't have a clear ending, it was executed pretty well.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now, I have my gripes – which I'll get into later – but I want to talk about what I think they did right.  

I think it was really good commentary on the crime genre of entertainment.  The victim of the murder was a flawed teen who lied to all of her friends and family, and unknowingly pit them against each other, while portraying herself as an angelic, kind person.  It spoiled the idea of a "perfect victim".  

The "perfect victim" Theory describes how crime victims in media gain sympathy and support due to characteristics like looking weak and vulnerable.  However, Zoe Nolan wasn't a perfect victim.  She was friendly but she was also impulsive and manipulative.  She wasn't overly evil and she wasn't overly kind.  She was just an average teenager hiding her secrets from her family.

I also liked how all of her friends were flawed people too.  They weren't bound to tropes like "The Sidekick" or "The Jock".  They were made to be like real people.  They each spoke with a different voice and personality.  I really recommend reading this with the audiobook.  It might slow you down a few minutes, but it's worth it.  It really immerses you into the world of J.Knox, and makes you feel like you're the investigator.

The book also commented on the endings in crime media.  Usually, in horror/crime movies like Scream and American Psycho, or even True Crime media, a clear answer is revealed at the end.  The true timeline, the killer, the aftermath.  They're all definitive answers.  True Crime Story defies it.  In the last chapter, the book reveals the killer, but comments that they might have caught the wrong guy; there was plenty of evidence pointing to him but there were other pieces of evidence that would've proven his innocence.  There is doubt in the arrest.  Unlike crime media, the true timeline of events is never revealed.  It was definitely not a satisfying ending, but I thought it was an interesting way to end the book.

I watch a lot of whodunnit movies where the characters' goal is to find the killer/villain, and I listen to true crime podcasts.  They both reveal the villain in the end and I can leave the immersive world feeling satisfied that the heroes caught the villain.  Yet, I think I keep forgetting that nearly 47% of all murders remain unsolved.  Not all crime stories end on a good note with the killer admitting to their crimes and giving a clear answer.  True Crime Story reminded me of the 47% of murders.  Not everyone's crime story gets to end with the true killer being caught.  Sometimes, the wrong people are caught, and sometimes, no one is caught.

That doesn't mean there wasn't anything bad though.  There was one thing that I didn't enjoy and made me take a star off.  The ending was extremely sudden and felt rushed.  It was definitely a plot twist, but not because it made me doubt the character's actions, but because it made no sense and wasn't foreshadowed at all.

But other than that point, highly recommend and I would 100% read it again.

Summary

In 2011, Zoe Nolan, a popular university student, left her dorm in Manchester University and was never seen or head from ever again.
Now, it's 2018.  7 years since Zoe's case went cold.  Struggling crime writer/investigator Evelyn Mitchell finds herself drawn to the case.  She and her good writer friend, Jospeh Knox, collaborate on writing a book dedicated to solving Zoe Nolan's case.  Evelyn begins to interview her friends and family, slowly uncovering dark truths about her past.  As she gets closer and closer to the truth, Evelyn's life starts to be put in danger.  She is stalked, assaulted, and her car gets vandalized, until she is killed by a masked man.
Left alone and mourning, Joseph Knox chooses to continue pursuing the truth about Zoe to pay tribute to his friend.  He continues to interview her friends and family, which takes him on a journey through a murder in Europe and a tax scandal that her father caused.
Finally, after years of pursuing the truth and being taken on a wild trip around the world and different families, the book ends on a peculiar note.
Zoe's best friend killed her.  But there isn't enough evidence to convict him.  But there isn't nearly enough evidence to convict anyone else either.  Zoe's father was abusive and a con man.  Zoe's sister was jealous of her success.  Zoe's boyfriend cheated on her with her twin sister.  Now, the question is, who do you believe is guilty?