Beverly H. (GainesvilleGirl) - reviewed on 8/22/2010 + 215 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This is everything anyone could want in the true crime genre. I ordered it from my library and was the first one to get it. I haven't put it down since it arrived. The structure revolves around a group of retired crime fighters known as the Vidocq Society. The three who conceived of the idea of putting together 82 people, women and men, who were at the top of their field in the solving of crimes that had been deemed "unsolvable" by the police who had worked on them for at least two years, usually many more, are themselves geniuses in their own right. The Society takes on some of the most heinous murders ever known to police around the country. The case of "The Boy In the Box" is one that had gone unsolved since the child's body was found in a cardboard box in 1957. Another is the story of the psychopath John List, who had murdered his entire family, then just disappeared. After Frank Bender, the VSM's reknowned forensic sculpter's bust of List appeared on "America's Most Wanted" the calls started coming in. John List was found, 18 years after he had slipped from sight, living not 300 miles from his original home where the murders were committed.
Each case is handled in their own sometimes odd ways, and each time the mysteries are untangled by the amazing expertise, and at times eerie skills, of the members of the Vidocq Society. About the writing ... I would have preferred that the author hadn't rambled quite as much, and some of his references are repeated unnecessarily. On the other hand he does an amazing job of research and recording of all the facts in a very readable way. I intend to purchase this book because it's one I will want to refer back to frequently.

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