A Death in Belmont
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4.1 • 7 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“Riveting. . . reads like a novel. . . . A worthy sequel to The Perfect Storm.” —New York Times Book Review
In the most intriguing and original crime story since In Cold Blood, New York Times bestselling author Sebastian Junger examines the fatal collision of three lives during the infamous Boston Strangler serial murder case
In the spring of 1963, the quiet suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts, is rocked by a shocking murder that fits the pattern of the infamous Boston Strangler, still at large. Hoping for a break in the case, the police arrest Roy Smith, a Black ex-con whom the victim hired to clean her house. Smith is hastily convicted of the murder, but the Strangler's terror continues. And through it all, one man escapes the scrutiny of the police: a carpenter working at the time at the Belmont home of young Sebastian Junger and his parents—a man named Albert.
A tale of race and justice, murder and memory, this powerful true story is sure to rank besides such classics as Helter Skelter, and The Executioner’s Song.
Customer Reviews
Nuanced but Unfocussed
Junger’s personal connection to the Boston Stranger story is fleshed out in this great read. At first I was convinced he was employing a tired trope, but his take on the killings turned out to be nuanced and balanced, which lets the reader make his own speculations, or to let the uncertainty stand, with the true facts unknowable so many years after the events. My only criticism is the narrative loses momentum during Junger’s frequent tangents into contextual history, where, while the details are fascinating, are not strictly necessary. An example: details of Jacqueline Kennedy’s blood-stained dress would seem to not add much to the story of a contemporaneous unrelated jury decision. Interesting, but probably distracting, and pages of details could be easily replaced with a single sentence. There are many more examples of this which at times made the narrative seem inflated, like Junger was trying to fill that minimum page requirement. Not that I didn’t learn something from each of these diversions, but the did take away from the gallop.