Technical Difficulties

Echoes in the Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had to do a fast google just to be certain that this was true crime and not a novel, because holy tap-dancing cats. No summary can convey the convolutions of the plot to kill Susan Reinert and the extraordinary efforts made to bring her killer(s?) to justice. Wikipedia tells me that the second alleged killer's conviction was overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, which doesn't entirely surprise me, even though Wambaugh's unabashedly pro-cop and pro-prosecution narrative does its best to make Jay C. Smith's conviction look like the only logical conclusion. (I think Smith might have done it, but the evidence is so hinky that, no, not beyond a reasonable doubt.)

Wambaugh is a great writer if you like his breezy in-your-face style (noticeably absent from The Onion Field), which I admit I kind of do. Certainly, this was a fast and compelling read. If nothing else, it shows you what happens when you get two sociopaths in close proximity in the same very small community.



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