Michelle McNamara's brilliant book detailing her obsessive search for the psychopath she dubbed "The Golden State Killer" is part memoir, part painstakingly researched, precisely drawn investigative journalism at its finest. Her lead research, Paul Haynes, & acclaimed investigative journalist, Billy Jensen, who was also a friend note in the appendix "Her prose jumps off the page and sits down next to you ..." and "... her writing at once dogged and empathetic, works the specifics into a fluent narrative." Her work has rightfully been compared to that of Truman Capote, & it more than deserves to be held in that esteemed company. McNamara was masterful at balancing the horrific details with solicitous & compassionate treatment for the witnesses, victims, & their families, earning the respect, admiration, & trust of law enforcement officials & others who worked the case for 30 years. Her death is a loss on so many levels & it's heartbreaking that she didn't get to see the culmination of her investigative & journalistic prowess, that brought notoriety to this cold case, then didn't simply keep the story alive, but fanned the flames of interest spurring it further on. I hope she somehow knows the monster she sought for so long was indeed apprehended, & locked away. And that it did end for him just as she prophetically wrote in her Letter to an Old Man.

Well written, well investigated, well done. Loved the dark journey Michelle took me on around the neighborhoods I lived in. A deep dive into a decades long search for a monster she didn’t live long enough to see caught.