This mystery was originally published in 1934, and other than a few cringe-worthy moments, it has stood the test of time pretty well. A man is found murdered in a hotel room, and all is not as it seems. This one had me guessing up until almost the end, although I was only about 60% committed to the solution, or story. A quick read.
For some reason, we seem to be drawn to the horror of crime, reading, watching or listening when stories are told of attacks, fraud or killings. John Wayne Gacy has received his share of press, and although this book tells the story of his heinous crimes, it uses a different vehicle in that it starts with the young men who were his victims. And there were a lot of them. Their stories are sensitively told, along with that of their families. It's a different perspective than one usually finds in this genre, and I appreciated it. However, there were so many victims that it was, frankly, hard to keep them all straight. Lots and lots of characters, many of whom were intertwined, made me finally just float over the narrative and not really worry about whether I knew exactly who they were or not. It didn't really matter. It's all just so sad.
Systemic classism and racism are alive and well in Mississippi. If you have any doubt about this, read this book. It tells the true and horrific tale of how the criminal justice system in that state collaborated with two self-serving medical professionals, a pathologist and a dentist, churned victim after victim into prison with their "expert" testimonies. Suffice it to say that they could not have achieved what they did without the complete support of a system that wanted to keep a specific type of person behind bars, truth be damned. Sheds a lot of light on the happenings of the day.
