4 out of 4 stars
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Who knew a shared last name could help bring out someone’s memory. Mary Forschner had led Brian Forschner to write the true crime novel, Cold Serial: The Jack The Strangler Murders. He had found out this woman was his great and to his surprised was never mentioned by his family. Curiosity, took him on a search to find out more about her and he found out the reason why she may not have been mentioned which was that she met a tragic fate along with four other women from her time.
Each women were met by a culprit who strangled and raped them back in the early 1900’s. These women had gone forgotten and their memories faded with the families they had left behind decades ago. The author tells each one of these women’s story to the world. He goes into great detail how each met their demise and how they were not brought justice.
During the era of the crimes the newspapers and community had both negative and positive influences on the investigations. Both brought evidence, suspects, and leads for investigators. At the same time, it came to influence poor investigation, victim blaming, and rushed reports. These were all factors that exposed how gossip and politics took over the judgement of the investigations. The investigators had the pressure of needing to protect the women of Dayton, Ohio and needed to find answers for the people. They also faced the exposure of how the working conditions were for the women at the time. There were many factors that came to question and trouble the investigations and stumped them from finding the culprit(s). But with thorough research Forschner may have discovered a key factor that could have answered it all.
I would rate this novel 4 out of 4 stars. The book is written so well that each event flow so well together. It keeps the reader on the edge of their seat with suspense. It did not deserve anything less because it keeps the reader interested and is a thought provoking masterpiece.
Forschner goes into great detail and makes the reader feel as if they were present at each murder. He also gives you the image of the victims to give the sense of what they looked liked and definitely tells women’s stories. The only downfall for me is that these stories come to life so vividly but the victims were never given the justice they deserved. Perfect book for readers interested in true crime novels.
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Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders
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