Name: Tanya Sutton's review of True Crime Addict by James Renner
Item: True Crime Addict
Rating: 4
Author: Tanya Sutton

James Renner

An account of the author's lifelong fascination with true crime and his obsessive quest to find Maura Murray, a UMass student whose disappearance in 2004 has stumped authorities to this day.

How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray

True Crime Addict

Tanya Sutton

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. - For fans of Serial and David Fincher's Zodiac

Wynter

Well-written and intriguing account of the mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray back in 2004. It brings up some interesting theories and leads for further investigation, and includes an unexpected peek into the author's personal life. But I cannot get away from the impression that Renner embodies every bad stereotype of a noxious reporter, when I think about some of his actions during the investigation. I cannot think of any person mentioned in the book who would have kind words to say about the way they were presented. Actually, the entire Murray family would have an axe to grind with this dude. But I guess somebody has to do the dirty work to bring us, the insatiable true crime addicts, the riveting read that we crave so much.

I really disliked how the majority of this book was essentially James Renner’s life story. I don’t know why his wife was still with him at the time of publication and I really hope she’s left him since. It went into way less detail than most podcasts I’ve heard and was way more speculative. I don’t like how the author basically insinuates that Fred Murray had something to do with the disappearance or that there was something untoward about his relationship with Maura. Like, no wonder the family didn’t want him to write this book- if I had a family member go missing and met this guy, I wouldn’t want him poking around in their history, either.

Kendra Leigh 

shellybn

I don't know if I admire Mr. Renner for pursuing a case when the family of the missing person obviously does not want him involved, or if I think he is overstepping his bounds almost to the point of harassment.

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.

Tanya Sutton &
True Crime Addict by James Renner

Reviews

Join the club

Tanya Sutton &True Crime Addict by James Renner

Reviews

Join the club

Tanya Sutton &
True Crime Addict by James Renner