Who Killed My Daughter? (Mass Market Paperback)

by Lois Duncan (Author) "This is a true story..." (more)
Key Phrases: car leasing, random shooting, insurance scam, Bao Tran, Betty Muench, Sergeant Lowe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
On July 16, 1989, Kaitlyn Arquette, a part-time college student and the author's daughter, was shot as she drove home in Albuquerque, N.M. She died the next day. The police department initially suspected that she had been the victim of a random shooting. The police ineptly handled developments in the case, charges Duncan, not because of incompetence, but due to laziness and stubborn adherence to the theory of the moment. Duncan's appeals to the FBI for help went unheeded. She turned to psychics, who offered leads, and to a private detective, who was ineffectual. Gradually it surfaced that the naive Kait had become involved through her live-in Southeast Asian boyfriend with a Vietnamese gang of drug smugglers who also dealt in insurance fraud, a gang that probably used Mexican Americans as hit men. The case is still unsolved, according to the author, and there are clues galore to be pursued. Readers critical of either Duncan's contacts with paranormals or her talking to God and to her dead daughter may be put off by the book, but many will be sympathetic to this mother's plight. The book could well be a top seller. Duncan, author of 39 young adult suspense novels, won the 1991 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement, jointly sponsored by School Library Journal and the Young Adult Library Services Association. Photos not seen by PW. Time-Life Book Digest condensation selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YA-- Reading like the suspense mysteries that have made her famous, Duncan's account of her daughter's murder in New Mexico in 1989 is horrifying and at the same time thought provoking. She put all else aside as she followed up on every lead, sought the help of psychics and private investigators, and convinced an aggressive investigative reporter to help. The further she delved into the events of that fateful night, the more mysterious the pieces of the fragmented puzzle became. At the same time, the official stand of the Albuquerque police continued to be that Kait's murder was a random, drive-by shooting. The connection of Kait's Vietnamese boyfriend to an insurance scam and possible drug dealing appeared to be ignored by the APD. Throughout the first year of Duncan's investigation, several members of the family experienced death threats. Selling their family home, she and her husband tried to hide through an unlisted phone number in an apartment complex. After over a year of despair and frustration, the author turned to what she does best as a healing exercise--writing about what had happened. This book will find readers of all ages, and should be a part of all collections serving young adults. All of the elements of a suspenseful mystery are here--intrigue, turns and twists at every corner, cover-ups, and page-turning action; the sobering fact is that, this time, they're true.
- Barbara Lynn, Econo-Clad Books, Topeka, KS
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Dell (February 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440213428
• ISBN-13: 978-0440213420
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,985 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Novelist's True Crime Story, July 21, 2004

By	A. E Rothert (Edwardsville) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book after listening to Lois Duncan speak earlier this month about her continuing search (15 years on) for the persons who murdered her daughter. This a compelling account of mother facing the unthinkable. I am somewhat astonished by the reviewer who critizes the book for not revealing the true killers. Readers hope for a clean ending will be disappointed; those requiring it will miss the point. Lois had always written of law enforcement as heroes, competent and tireless pursuers of justice. In reality, she got resistance, not assistance from the police. Lois loses not only a daughter, but also her trust for our justice system.

There are two reasons the book stands out and is worth reading. First, Lois writes well. Hers is not the only family to become victims of unsolved crimes, but she tells the story we don't often hear -- precisely because it does not have a neat or hopeful ending and reminds us that, in the end, we are all at the mercy of our fellow human beings. The second reason this book is different is because of the use of psychics. I am quite skeptical, generally, and wondered at first whether Lois and the psychics used each other: Lois to feel better; the psychics to self-promote. But the useful information that inexplicably emerges through the psychics is uncanny and too plentiful to be the product of sheer chance or coincidence. It really requires one to consider one's views on the nature of life and death.

If you want a thought provoking looking inside and mother's nightmare, then read this book. If you want a happy ending, then do not.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read!, November 4, 1999

By	Totally bored Stafford Springs, CT (USA) - See all my reviews

Who Killed My Daughter is a wake-up call on young murders, better yet on all murders. This was an excellent book that both made me cry but also stand back in total admiration for Lois Duncan. From beginning to end, this book held my full attention, and I was always anxiously awaiting the upcoming events. One reason I was awaiting upcoming events was that Lois Duncan showed how a person could survive the most tragic events in a life. After reading the tale of her struggle to find her daughter's murderer, I thought about the ways people deal with obstacles in life. The police insisted that her daughter, Kate's death was a random shooting, but Lois wouldn't take "random" for an answer. Not once did she ever throw her hands up in the air and give up. She persevered until she felt confidant with the efforts made to find a killer. When she couldn't get any response out of the police, she went to the FBI. When she couldn't get a response out of the FBI, she hired a private investigator. Whenever a lead came up and nobody else cared, when her private investigator failed, Lois took care of the lead herself by doing her own investigation. I give her a lot of credit for this determination because not only was she still grieving over her daughter's death, but she also was discovering bad secrets about her daughter while keeping after the case. Lois found out that her daughter was involved in insurance scams along with her boyfriend. Despite this bad news, Lois kept on working on the case. I don't know if I would be able to be this strong. I would want to take pity on myself and drown in my own misery. The only people she put her total trust in were herself and her family. She is a strong person, and someday if anything bad happens in my life, I hope I can be as strong as Lois was. Though I admire her strength, the authority figures made me angry. To see that everytime they received details about Kate's death, they never looked into them just made me sick. The police put this case on the back burner because they didn't want to fund all the investigations that would have to take place to solve the murder. Instead of the police looking into these situations, they wanted to declare this event a random shooting. This is an easy way out, but what about justice? I know if I were to be murdered, I would want my parents to know who killed me. In order for them to have peace back in their lives, they would have to have justice. This is what parents' need at a time when their lives are already in complete turmoil. I would want the police to work in total cooperation with them. I understand that investigations cost a lot of money, but more dead bodies from the murderers would mean a greater loss then the money used to catch the killers. Though this book made me angry at times, the reading widened my opinions on psychics. I was a skeptic of psychics before, but the way these people in the book knew information was amazing. Lois went to many physics throughout this story, and each one knew many details of the murder. They gave Lois a lot of information to fill in the gaps of Kate's murder. One told Lois where the accident took place, the motive, and the cars that were involved. This was astonishing because the police records matched their stories perfectly. After reading this novel, I believe that police should use psychics for information on these cases, especially since they knew the details before the police did. If the police in this book had given credit to them, then maybe they could have gathered more information on the case. Overall, this book was a fantastic tale of a family's struggle to find a murderer, an actual look into the justice system, and a breakthrough on psychic abilities. I've never read any of Lois' other books, but after reading this one, I might read another. I'm just very surprised that she can still write murder mysteries after this tragic event happened to her.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching, December 14, 1999

By	Marie (Warrensburg, Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews

It is hard to read this story without at least coming close to tears. Duncan's loss of a daughter, and her struggle to find the killer is incredibly touching. The suspense will keep you attached to the book, unable to put it down. With all of the twists and turns in the novel, you never know what will happen next, or how it will end. I highly recommend it to anyone in search of an emotionally captivating book.