Review: Reel, Perrusquia & Sullivan, The Blood of Innocents

[truepenny]

Blood of Innocents: The True Story of Multiple Murder in West Memphis, Arkansas by Guy Reel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Like Devil's Knot, this is a book about the West Memphis murders. It was written before Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley were offered an Alford plea, and it is much less certain about their innocence. I would call it agnostic, really. Reel, Perrusquia, and Sullivan don't have a theory; they are just telling the story of the case. (Which is itself a loaded undertaking, but I don't think they have an axe to grind.) Although Leveritt includes a lot of information in Devil's Knot that Reel, Perrusquia, and Sullivan don't have, they present some details she leaves out, including unfortunate details that point towards Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley's possible guilt. There are things she paints as ridiculous about the police investigation that they provide real explanations of--explanations that have to have been available to Leveritt as well.

But there's a lot they agree on. Reel, Perrusquia, and Sullivan do emphasize that the police investigation was a mess and that the prosecutors didn't present evidence beyond a reasonable doubt in court. They may not be sure about guilt or innocence, but they make it clear that Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley did not get fair trials. I got less angry reading this book than I did Leveritt--who is trumpeting MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE on almost every page about the trials--but the calmer assessment comes down to the same thing.

This was a better book than I was expecting (based on its paperback original publication and its lurid and badly designed cover, which I know isn't fair). Four stars.



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