Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets & Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic [Hardcover]

James Renner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2006

"I fell in love with Amy Mihaljevic not long before her body was discovered lying facedown in an Ashland County wheat field. I fell for her the first time I saw that school photo TV stations flashed at the beginning of every newscast in the weeks following her kidnapping in the autumn of 1989--the photo with the side-saddle ponytail . . ."
So begins this strange and compelling memoir, which delves into the investigation of one of Northeast Ohio's most frustrating unsolved crimes.
On October 27, 1989, ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from the comfortable Cleveland suburb of Bay Village on her way home from school. Thousands of volunteers, police officers, and FBI agents searched for the girl. Her picture was everywhere--anyone who watched the local TV news remembers the girl with the sideways ponytail.
That image also became indelible in the mind of eleven-year-old James Renner. Even at that young age, he vowed to find this girl.
Tragically, Amy's body was discovered a few months later. Her killer was never found.
Fifteen years later, Renner, now a reporter for an alternative weekly magazine in Cleveland, picks up the leads himself and tries to solve the crime.
Filled with mysterious riddles, incredible coincidences, and a cast of unusual but very real characters, his investigation quickly becomes a riveting journey in search of the truth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Reads more like a screenplay than your typical tell all crime story. It is compelling, riveting and hard to set down. The characters are flushed out and frighteningly honest . . . This is a well written, passionate narrative that has a place on your shelf, but more importantly a place in your thoughts. Sadly, it is necessary to remind ourselves bad people live around us, watch our children and are dangerous. Renner brings that to light all too well. --Cuyahoga Falls News Press

Reads like a who-done-it, with lively and fast-paced narrative as Renner talks to people with an interest in the story. --Morning Journal

Poignant and wonderfully well-written. --Richard North Patterson, Silent Witness

Reads like a who-done-it, with lively and fast-paced narrative as Renner talks to people with an interest in the story. --Morning Journal

Poignant and wonderfully well-written. --Richard North Patterson, Silent Witness

From the Inside Flap

"I fell in love with Amy Mihaljevic not long before her body was discovered lying facedown in an Ashland County wheat field. I fell for her the first time I saw that school photo TV stations flashed at the beginning of every newscast in the weeks following her kidnapping in the autumn of 1989--the photo with the side-saddle ponytail . . ." So begins this strange and compelling memoir, which delves into the investigation of one of Northeast Ohio's most frustrating unsolved crimes. On October 27, 1989, ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from the comfortable Cleveland suburb of Bay Village on her way home from school. Thousands of volunteers, police officers, and FBI agents searched for the girl. Her picture was everywhere--anyone who watched the local TV news remembers the girl with the sideways ponytail. That image also became indelible in the mind of eleven-year-old James Renner. Even at that young age, he vowed to find this girl. Tragically, Amy's body was discovered a few months later. Her killer was never found. Fifteen years later, Renner, now a reporter for an alternative weekly magazine in Cleveland, picks up the leads himself and tries to solve the crime. Filled with mysterious riddles, incredible coincidences, and a cast of unusual but very real characters, his investigation quickly becomes a riveting journey in search of the truth.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Gray & Co., Publishers (October 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598510193
• ISBN-13: 978-1598510195
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #760,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Renner spends his spare time hunting serial killers and writing about his misadventures. His true crime stories have been published in the Best American Crime Reporting and Best Creative Nonfiction anthologies.

Sometimes he pretends to smoke cigarettes because he wants to feel relaxed but is too afraid of the harmful effects to actually smoke.

His debut novel, The Man from Primrose Lane, will be published by Sarah Crichton Books in March, 2012.

He lives in Akron, Ohio with his wife, Julie, and son, Casey.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your usual true crime story --, November 8, 2006

By 

kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets & Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic (Hardcover)

Take a good look at the cover of this book, and you'll see why the name Amy Mihaljevic still resonates in the Cleveland area. For that matter, possibly anyone anywhere in the country will recognize her name and her picture as she smiles at you from the cover of this book.

It's entirely believable that the eleven-year-old James Renner fell in love with that photo when the ten-year-old Amy was abducted from a shopping plaza in Bay Village. The date was October 27, 1989, and for the young James, it was love at first sight when he saw her photo on the nightly news. He may no longer be in love with her, but neither can he get her out of his mind.

In this meticulously-crafted and engaging book--which is both memoir and true-crime--Renner begins with the events of that day and continues until this one. Always in the back of his mind was the idea that someday he would find Amy's abductor and killer, and bring that person to justice.

Coincidence rides along on his shoulders, too, through the years as he peels back layer after layer of rumor, untruths, secrecy from a multitude of law enforcement agencies and people who knew various members of the Mihaljevic family. He travels throughout Ohio, and even to Wisconsin, where Amy's ashes were buried with her mother. Through his own wide-eyed naïveté, he puts himself in precarious situations time and time again, but somehow emerges unscathed--physically.

The writing project began simply enough--as a short feature for a local weekly `alternative' newspaper, but his compulsion to find Amy's killer would not let him stop with such a brief bit of writing. Thankfully, his wife recognized the importance of getting the entire story--or at least as much as he could--although he did change papers and editors in the process.

Renner does not succeed in exposing the killer, although clues to that person's identity--as he unearthed them--are sprinkled through the pages. They're filtered, however, by the various law enforcement agencies, and the inevitable conspiracy theories that still, to this today, abound in this area. The case is still an open file in Bay Village. Someday, maybe . . .

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Search for a Killer, January 21, 2011

By 

MoodyBlue - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets & Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic (Hardcover)

The author begins the story of the abduction and murder of Amy Mihaljevic by telling us that as a child he had hoped to be the one who brought Amy back home to her family. When Amy is found murdered an adult James Renner embarks on what he hopes is the road to finding her killer. The problem is, there are alot of suspects and many twists and turns along the way. There is no easy answer at the end, just the good effort of a man who still hopes he can help Amy. Easy read and if you like true crime, you will enjoy this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sweetest angel in heaven, December 10, 2006

By 

Jeanne Silver (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets & Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic (Hardcover)

I knew Amy very well......there wasn't a sweeter girl anywhere. Mr. Renner has done a wonderful job of examining in detail the most important aspects of this case. I pray that some good can finally come out of this tragedy and give some peace to her brother and father. I have read the book three times and keep finding something else of interest in it. .