Customer Reviews

Villisca

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mr. Marshall has taken cold historical facts and written a book that weaves you into the mindsets and personalities of the investigators and the accused of this unsolved murder. The result is a book that contains enough content to satisfy the analytical historical mind as well as a story line that would delight those readers merely seeking a good mystery.

I just finished this account of the unsolved mass murders in 1912 in Villisca Iowa after finding out a bit of the historic event in early Iowa on the Web. I found the account pretty well written and engaging though the narrative, at times, took a back seat to lengthy historical documentation. The entire book as a whole might have been improved by some reductions in places but the content was fine as is. I have to admit I was surprised NOT to find the "author's take" at the very end (or somewhere) on who he thought was behind it all, what person(s) committed the actual murders, was there a conspiracy, etc. After plowing through all that text, to not be provided this account might seem to make the book and author more credible, but I distinctly missed such an offering.

Ably researched and deftly written by Roy Marshall, Villisca is the true story of a terrible crime that took place in 1912 America. Eight victims, six of them children, were bludgeoned to death with an axe as they slept. Private investigators dissected the case after inexperienced police detectives failed, and scandals concerning public figures were drawn into the white-hot light of public scrutiny. A thoroughly researched and evenhandedly presented narrative, Villisca is a welcome and recommended addition to personal, and community library True Crime shelves, as well as academic Criminology Studies reference collections.

There are so many players in this true crime story that the reader could get so confused. The author in the beginning gives you a list of the people involved and a brief summary of them so that if you get confused you can go back to the summary. Well written book (alot of typos though) that puts you right into the era of the early 1900's. The author provides details and also uses research documents in telling the story. It gave me a sense of this is what really happened. Interesting characters and definitely well researched. You get involved with so many of the people especially the detective who was so driven by ego he harassed both an innocent man and the who judicial system. Definitely worth reading if you are into a good true crime story without all the sensational cheap thrills and gory details of crime books that fill the bookshelves today.

A 'little known' true-crime murder mystery worth dipping into. The author has moments of creative narrative. But not enough to sustain the reader through pages and pages of reprinted document text. One would expect that a book of this kind, one that purports to be a "true account", would have sources listed at the end, or footnotes, or end notes, or any kind of notes to verify that the author didn't just make this stuff up. It is customary in nonfiction to cite sources.

Roy marshall has recently became a friend of mine,even sent me a copy of kellys confession recently and anyone who knows about the villisca murders has got to read this book. go to youtube and search for apra paranormal villisca, and tri county paranormal villisca and orbs omaha villisca and you can hear evps of the actual murder taking place.

Although it starts out fine the bulk of the book is simply a reprint of newspaper articles and trial transcripts mostly dealing with rumours and gossip not the crime itself. Boring.....

Roy Marshall's excellent research brings to life a terrible crime that baffled investigators and destroyed a community pitting neighbor against neighbor. This book leaves no stone unturned in looking back at what happened that night in 1912. If you really want to know what happened, this is THE book to read about the murders. Marshall gives us the facts and does not try and solve the crime for us. EXCELLENT!!

sorry, to say, but I did not enjoy this book . Lots of reprinted text, which became tiresome to read . I did not find this a riveting account. A polished author would do this story justice--someone who can string a story together in a comprehensible fashion. Plus, the number of typos in this book is deplorable. Misspellings, wrong words used,etc etc ! Either the publisher stinks at proofreading, or the author did not opt to pay for it in the package offered by this company. A big disappointment overall for me.

I enjoyed the book not only to read about the murder but also lives of the people at that time.