True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray

by James Renner

Overview

As seen on the Oxygen mini-series The Disappearance of Maura Murray

When an eleven year old James Renner fell in love with Amy Mihaljevic, the missing girl seen on posters all over his neighborhood, it was the beginning of a lifelong obsession with true crime. That obsession leads James to a successful career as an investigative journalist. It also gave him PTSD. In 2011, James began researching the strange disappearance of Maura Murray, a UMass student who went missing after wrecking her car in rural New Hampshire in 2004. Over the course of his investigation, he uncovers numerous important and shocking new clues about what may have happened to Maura, but also finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations with little regard for his own well-being. As his quest to find Maura deepens, the case starts taking a toll on his personal life, which begins to spiral out of control. The result is an absorbing dual investigation of the complicated story of the All-American girl who went missing and James's own equally complicated true crime addiction.

James Renner's True Crime Addict is the story of his spellbinding investigation of the missing person's case of Maura Murray, which has taken on a life of its own for armchair sleuths across the web. In the spirit of David Fincher's Zodiac, it is a fascinating look at a case that has eluded authorities and one man's obsessive quest for the answers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250089014
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/24/2016
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,026,392
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

JAMES RENNER is the author of the novels The Man from Primrose Lane and The Great Forgetting, as well as several works of nonfiction, including The Serial Killer's Apprentice. His true crime stories have appeared in The Best American Crime Writing anthology, Cleveland Scene, and Cracked.com. His method of using social media to solve cold cases was the subject of a CNN profile, in 2015. He lives in Akron with his wife and children.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS


Prologue 1
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 3
2. Paramour 8
3. Full Disclosure 12
4. All-American Girl 16
5. Past Is Prologue 20
6. The Gatekeeper 23
7. Forget the Past 27
8. Last Shift at Melville 31
9. The Zoo 34
10. Hacking the Universe 38
11. Never Take Rides from Strangers 44
12. The Runner50
13. Private Eyes 52
14. What Really Happened at West Point 57
15. Cracks in the Façade60
16. The Clique 67
17. Molly, Holly, and Bri 71
18. Murray v. State of New Hampshire 75
19. My Baker Street Irregulars 82
20. The Chief ’s Demons 86
21. What the TV Guy Told Me 89
22. Aunt Janis 94
23. Baby Brother 98
24. How an Abduction Happens 103
25. A Lucky Break 108
26. Maura’s Lovers 114
27. BFF 117
28. Consider the Red Herring 120
29. The Londonderry Ping 124
30. The Man with the Knife 128
31. 22 Walker130
32. Between the Lines 132
33. Petrit Vasi 134
34. The Shadow of Death Returns 139
35. Motive143
36. 112dirtbag 149
37. Mr. 1974 154
38. Family158
39. Bad Rabbit 162
40. An Overdue Visit 167
41. Outliers175
42. More Trou ble in St. Albans 178
43. Th e Zaps 181
44. Silver Linings184
45. Confrontations 188
46. “Drunk and Naked” 193
47. Graves 197
48. Borderland 200
49. I Saw Your Think 204
50. Eucatastrophe 207
51. Contempt 211
52. Hard Time 217
53. Beagle Strikes Back 222
54. The Fool 226
55. Every body Lies 231
56. Billy, Don’t Lose My Number 237
57. Closure Is for Doors 240
58. Failed Tests 246
59. How to Disappear 251
60. Oh, Canada! 255
61. Poker Face 262
62. The Bitter and the Sweet 266

Epilogue 271
Acknowledgments 279

Editorial Reviews

Renner…is just plain fun to read.

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

Takes the imagination to a dark and chilling place. This, Renner's second book, shows off his talents in the [crime reporting] genre: an investigator's persistence, a strong sense of mystery-suspense storytelling and a direct and restrained style that can both pull back to describe a crime scene and turn sympathetic to illuminate victims' vibrant but lost lives [...] Renner's writing is gripping, well researched and hard to put down.

CLEVELAND MAGAZINE on THE SERIAL KILLER'S APPRENT Erick Trickey

Meticulously-crafted and engaging.

COOLCLEVELAND.COM on AMY: MY SEARCH FOR HER KI Kelly Ferjutz

Reads like a who-done-it, with lively and fast-paced narrative.

MORNING JOURNAL on AMY: MY SEARCH FOR HER KILL Laura Kennelly

It is compelling, riveting and hard to set down.

CUYAHOGA FALLS NEWS PRESS on AMY: MY SEARCH FO Michael K. Dakota

Poignant and wonderfully well-written.

author of SILENT WITNESS on AMY: MY SEARCH FOR Richard North Patterson

Renner's walk on the dark side makes for a highly compelling read.

bestselling author of Deliver Us on True Crime Add Kathryn Casey

★ 03/01/2016
Former investigative journalist Renner (The Great Forgetting) takes the reader on his dark journey unraveling the disappearance of University of Massachusetts Amherst student Maura Murray, who went missing in 2004. Having to sift through over a decade's worth of stories and evidence, Renner keeps digging until the toll of his obsession creeps into his personal life. The author first heard of Murray's story on a 20/20 episode and, having experience with similar cases, dives right in. Renner shares snippets of his own life while collecting bits of Murray's, almost balancing out the scales of information. The mystery of Murray's whereabouts is baffling. From descriptions of her father who doesn't want to talk about the case to potential ties to Dennis Rader, the BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) serial killer, Renner keeps searching for the truth before the case consumes him. His chipping away at the facts of a ten-year-old case makes the reader hope that, in the end, the answers will be uncovered. VERDICT An entrancing, brilliant next step for fans of the podcast Serial, Netflix's Making a Murderer, and other true crime cases.—Ryan Claringbole, Dept. of Public Instruction, Madison, WI

Library Journal

"[Renner] is just plain fun to read."—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

"You have not read a book like this before and, I’d wager, you’ll not engage with its like again. . . . Renner is a tantalizing and almost gleeful tour guide to and through the impulses of the armchair detective."—Minneapolis Star Tribune

"As the title suggests, [True Crime Addict] is an addictive read."—Bustle

"The mystery of Murray’s whereabouts is baffling. . . . [Renner’s] chipping away at the facts of a ten-year-old case makes the reader hope that, in the end, the answers will be uncovered. An entrancing, brilliant next step for fans of the podcast Serial, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and other true crime cases."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Brutally honest, no-holds-barred storytelling . . . Renner brilliantly covers all the bases here."—M. William Phelps, New York Times bestselling author

"Renner’s walk on the dark side makes for a highly compelling read."—Kathryn Casey, bestselling author of Deliver Us

"Renner’s personal involvement in the case—and his self-destructive, relentless dedication to confronting the darkness at the heart of it [...is] noteworthy."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher