Cloudy with a Chance of Murder

I've been wanting to read Elizabeth Kendall's The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy  for years, so when it was re-released a few months ago, I had to buy it. The book was originally published in 1981, and the updated and expanded 2020 edition includes a new introduction and afterward by Kendall as well as a contribution from her daughter, Molly, who was three years old when her mother began a relationship with Ted. Kendall met Bundy at Seattle's Sandpiper Tavern in October 1969 and embarked on a six-year relationship with him. During their relationship, she became suspicious of him and worried that he might be the man police were looking for in connection with murders in Washington and Utah. She went to the police with her suspicions but felt conflicted and guilty about it, and though the police assured her that Bundy wasn't the man they were looking for, it wasn't enough to quell her fears. The Phantom Prince is a fascinating story about what happens when ...

As someone who's interested in both true crime and music, I was pretty sure I'd enjoy Jake Brennan's Disgraceland: Musicians Getting Away with Murder and Behaving Very Badly , and it did not disappoint! In this book, Brennan tells some fascinating stories about Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Axl Rose, Chuck Berry, and more, and his writing style really pulled me into the story and made me feel like I was there, witnessing the events in person. I enjoyed the whole book, but the most interesting chapter was the one about Jerry Lee Lewis. Of course I knew about Jerry Lee marrying his 13-year-old cousin, but I had no idea that he possibly murdered one of his other wives and got away with it or that he rammed his car into the gates of Graceland one night, threatening to assassinate Elvis. The Sid Vicious chapter was also really interesting...before I read Disgraceland , all I knew about him was that he was in the Sex Pistols and killed his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. I didn...

I started listening to My Favorite Murder  a few months ago and immediately became obsessed with it, so of course I had to buy Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered , which is a dual memoir by the podcast's amazing hosts. Karen and Georgia talk about their successes, therapists, true crime obsessions, and things they've learned from their mistakes, and they give great advice about how to "fuck politeness," avoid joining a cult, be a latchkey kid, and more. If you love My Favorite Murder  as much as I do, you've got to read this book...you'll learn a lot about Karen and Georgia and learn some valuable life lessons in the process. My rating: 8.5/10 Visit  myfavoritemurder.com  to listen to the podcast, join the Fan Cult (the only kind of cult you should join), or buy merchandise that will make you the envy of your fellow Murderinos. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.) 

I was inspired to start this blog after I read Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer , and since investigative journalist Billy Jensen helped finish that masterpiece after Michelle passed away, of course I was excited to read his book. Chase Darkness with Me follows Jensen's journey as he becomes someone who solves murders instead of just writing about them, and it's a fascinating read. It was really interesting to read about all the cases Jensen took on, and I could tell that he truly cared about the victims and their loved ones. The book is really inspiring too...I decided a long time ago to devote my life to writing/making people laugh, but after reading  Chase Darkness with Me , I have a really strong desire to try to solve a murder. Chase Darkness with Me gave me quite a dilemma...I tore through it, but I also didn't want it to end (a dilemma I never mind having). It's one of the best ...

The Killer Book of Cold Cases  is a 2012 book by Tom Philbin that features more than two dozen cases that have never been solved or were considered cold cases for a long time until the crime was finally solved. Here are a few of the interesting cases Philbin covers in this book: -On July 21, 1957 in Hawthorne, California, a man robbed two teenage couples at gunpoint and raped one of the girls. After he left, he ran a red light and was pulled over by policemen Richard Phillips, 28, and Milton Curtis, 25. He shot each police officer three times, killing both of them and was finally arrested in 2003, thanks to the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Gerald Mason, 69, was arrested in Columbia, South Carolina, and blamed his heinous acts on alcohol. -New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater disappeared in August 1930 while on vacation in Maine; he received a phone call, told his wife he was going to "straighten those fellows out" ...

The Murder of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed  is a 2014 book by Jay Margolis and Richard Buskin. Like Margolis' Marilyn Monroe: A Case for Murder , which I read a few years ago, this book examines the suspicious circumstances of Marilyn Monroe's   death. Marilyn died on August 4, 1962, at her house on Fifth Helena Drive, and though her death was ruled a probable suicide, many people believe that she was murdered and that Bobby Kennedy was involved. Author C. David Heymann claimed that when he was interviewing Peter Lawford, Kennedy's brother-in-law, for his Jackie Kennedy biography in 1983, Lawford confessed that he worked with Bobby Kennedy and Ralph Greenson (Marilyn's psychiatrist) to murder Marilyn. The day of her death, Marilyn had threatened to hold a press conference and tell the world about her relationships with both John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, so Bobby convinced Ralph Greenson that Marilyn was also going to tell about her affair with the psychiatrist and t...

The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer  is a 2004 book by Robert D. Keppel, Ph.D., with William J. Birnes. Everyone knows that Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, but many people don't know that Bundy offered his assistance in the search for the Green River Killer. Bundy was already on Death Row in Florida at the time, and since he considered himself an expert on serial killers, he allowed Robert Keppel and Dave Reichert, the lead investigators of the Green River Killer task force, to interview him several times so they could gain insight into the mind of a serial killer. Keppel had previously been part of a Seattle task force trying to catch Bundy. The first victim of the Green River Killer was discovered in the summer of 1982, spotted by two boys riding their bikes on the Peck Bridge in Kent, Washington. The victim was a 16-year-old prostitute named Wendy Lee Coffield, and she was found nude with a pair of jeans tied tightl...

Since Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer  is what inspired me to start a true crime blog, I thought it would be fitting for this book to be the first one I feature on Cloudy with a Chance of Murder . I'd been looking forward to reading this book ever since I first heard about it, and it was well worth the wait. Sadly, Michelle passed away before she could finish writing the book, but her husband, Patton Oswalt, lead researcher, Paul Haynes, and investigative journalist Billy Jensen took over the task of completing the book and making sure this masterpiece saw the light of day. I'm pretty obsessed with true crime and horror, so I don't get scared easily, but I'll Be Gone in the Dark  had me triple-checking the locks and looking in the closets and behind the shower curtain before I went to bed every night. The Golden State Killer is believed to have committed 10 murders and 50 rapes, so the ...