Eighteen Baffling True Crime Cold Cases--Solved! including;The Darkest Shade of Evil: Two little girls go missing from the mall. What happens to them is beyond your most terrifying nightmares. Cold-Blooded: Karen was the former wife of an American icon. But celebrity is no shield against a determined psychopath. The Janitor: When a preteen girl goes missing from a school, suspicion falls on the one person all of the female students are wary of--the creepy janitor. Neighborhood Monster: It was a simple errand, a quick run to the store in a safe neighborhood. It should not have cost a little girl her life. Plus ten more horrific true murder cases. Contains mature themes.
Cold Cases Solved: Volume 1 by Robert Keller is a succinct, true-crime collection of eighteen murder cases. By “succinct� I mean to say that when the book arrived, I was a bit bummed by the size. I thought that “Volume 1� must be only the first case.
Happily, I was wrong.
Mr. Keller really can (and does) aptly convey the circumstances of each situation in fewer than two hundred pages. His writing reminds of Ann Rule’s, in that we know what went down and are affected by the actions, but are spared gratuitous, graphic details. Also, there is little, if any, cursing which can broaden my scope of students that I can share with.
Speaking of sharing this with my students, these chapters are perfect for the self-professed “non-reader�. As previously mentioned, they are short. And contain small sections that seem to eliminate the intimidation of big books with tiny font.
Although I read, listen to and watch enough true-crime to be alarming; I was only familiar with a couple of these felonies.
Many cases seem to go cold due to determined presumptions. This is the first time I’ve heard of someone confessing because of found evidence assumed to seal his fate, only to later realize it had no relation to him or his crime.
I had never heard that taking someone’s life, while committing another crime against said person, equates to murder.
One criminal was able to commit his heinous act because only two days prior, he was acquitted of rape. Found “not guilty by reason of insanity�.
As an aside, I also learned about The Melbourne Cup, an Australian much-more-than-a-horse-race festivity dating back to 1861.
I will certainly be searching for further volumes of Mr. Keller’s Cold Cases Solved, for my own entertainment and edification and to share with “my� students.
This review was written by jv poore for Buried Under Books.
Okay, so I’ve just discovered ‘cold justice� on Amazon prime (late to the party, I know�) It has left me with an insatiable fascination for the relentless work these people do to solve cold cases, even if it’s sometimes 30 years later. This is a short book, straight to the point, the first in a sadly very large collection which I will try to work my way through. It is concise and informative, and thanks to its already give-away title�. Very satisfying in its conclusions!
The number of unsolved murders is astounding. Every time a cold case is solved and the murderer is brought to justice is a small but significant victory for law enforcement. It may be only a drop in the ocean, but for the victim's family, it is a burden lifted.
The 18 cases covered in this volume are to all appearances unsolvable, leaving a killer free to go on with life, perhaps to kill again. The child killers are the scum on the pond. They have committed an act that calls for harsh punishment. To see these cases solved is an occasion for celebration, although the family will never again see their beloved child.
If you like to read about cold cases being solved, you will be happy to learn that Robert Keller has launched a new series bringing readers stories of cold cases solved.
I always enjoy reading books where justice is served and crime mysteries are solved. This collection of cold cases that have been resolved kept my attention throughout. And while there wasn't as much depth to the retelling of the cases as I would have liked, (thus, the 3 stars), I'm glad I read it and will pick up the sequels in the future.
An easy going read full of author bias and true crime
I've read about 20 of Keller's books now so I should leave a review!
These books are very short and can be read in an hour. They basically give you everything you want as a true crime fan, the shocking details and the whodunnits! They're not particularly well written and there is a lot of the author's personal opinions in there but if you can get past that, these books are a cheap, easy, and enjoyable read.
Summed up in two words? Shallow and misguided. The 18 stories in just over 100 pages should have been a red flag, but I apparently chose to ignore that. Every story that was covered in this book contains as much or less information than what I could find in a Wikipedia article. The very base general facts were stated with almost no discussion of leads or evidence that didn't point to the killer. Keller also frequently referred to polygraph (lie detector) testing as compelling pieces evidence in the cases, despite the fact the polygraph evidence was deemed inadmissible in court in the early 1990s! With all of these tests happening after 1990, it's absolutely ludacis for Keller to act like it's some groundbreaking clue! Similarly, this whole book reeked of of misogyny. Almost every case was presented in a "oh, the poor defenseless women were no match for the big strong bad man" way. Keller even goes as far as blaming one of the victims for her own murder, all because she dared to try and protect herself. That's beyond reprehensible in my eyes. Even all of the descriptions of the murders and/or crime scenes were infantilizing and borderline torture porn. Why did he focus on the "grotesque" faces of the victims? Why did he almost exclusively choose cases where the victims were sexually assaulted? Why was the victims murders and torture treated like entertainment? There was no respect for the victims or their families in this book. Hell, most of the time, the families were barely a passing mention! It's exploitative and disgusting. I will never be reading another book by this man again. I hope he takes a step back and evaluates why he's making a profit off the murders of others, when he can't even be respectful of their lives and their families.
Finally Solved I don't like reading about unsolved true crime cases. Justice Delayed is way better than Justice Denied. I'm used to reading about cases that occur that get attributed to a convicted predator because the MO (modus operandi) is the same or very similar. But I am have never enjoyed reading about uncaught killers, unsolved homicides, murderers who got away with it or watching true crime TV shows about them.
I was so pleased to learn that Robert Keller was going to release a book about cold cases that had been solved! This is a great compilation of true crime murders that sat in evidence storage for decades some even coming close to being thrown away for lack of any new leads.
Analysis and comparison of supects' DNA to old crimes, as well as the use of the FBI CODIS system to try to find matches to crimes in other locations across the country helped link traveling serial killer victims. But Keller goes a step further by discussing the use of a new technique that employees the use of familial DNA.
This is a fascinating look at killers who thought they'd eluded law enforcement, of families shattered by a murder but finally getting justice for their lost loved one. All murders are not solved in the first 48 Hours or in 60 minutes like on CSI.
The wonderful & powerful influence of forensics through more advanced DNA analysis has lead to not only killers being identified, but innocent men being set free after many years of incarceration for crimes they did not commit.
Perhaps it’s the lack of immediacy since most of these crimes were solved decades after the events. But I wasn’t wrapped up in this collection like I normally am with a Keller book. Keller, presents each crime, or murder, gives the explanation of why it has gone cold and then describes the breakthroughs in technology that allow the crime to be solved, though long after the time of the event. Almost all of the stories detailed show that DNA tech is what allows the criminals to be caught. Keller also talks about a further step and that would be familial DNA. This allows the criminal to be caught because the DNA of a member of his family has been garnered and that will eventually lead to someone in that small group as the murderer. This was an informative book, but not very thrilling.
While I had previously read a few of these cases in other books, it was interesting to see them from a slightly different angle. Even though the major details were the same there were a few additional details in a couple that gave a little different perspective.
I like that they are short enough to read several in a single sitting, or just one pr two to occupy time spent in waiting rooms. It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways murderers try to get away with it. Even more amazing is how ever increasing technology catches up with some of the most creative killers. It is sad that there are still so many unsolved, but seeing justice served makes me happy there is no statute of limitation on murder. Good stuff. I’ll certainly be reading more of Keller’s books.
Weird to me to write that I liked such a horrifying book. But as a fan of Cold Justice, I thought I would give it a go. There isn't much detail, but not sure I would want more. Sad that for these families they waited for so long for justice to be served, also disgusting how some of the criminals got such light sentences when they were finally caught. Appreciated the explanation as to why cases becomes cold, lack of money, lack of manpower etc. Good read overall
I've read a few of Keller's books but they are usually anthologies of killers who were caught relatively quickly. I enjoyed this look at cold cases, solved years or decades later with new technology. Keller's books are always well written and well edited and they are all available on Kindle Unlimited. If you like true crime, well worth the read.
This author writes quick read TC books at a Malthusian pace and they are always satisfying. I enjoy his "Murder Most Vile" series the most with the unsolved mysteries set as a close second. This new cold case series is turning out to be really interesting too. I had never heard or read about any of these cases. On to book two!!!!
I listened to this on audiobook format. Succinct, so quite a few cases get covered in a non sensationalist way. I read and listened to a fair bit of true crime content, so I was expecting to be familiar with most of the cases but I was pleased to find that quite a lot of them were new to me. I will be checking out the next volume.
n this book the author takes us through different crime cases. It’s a fast listen as it’s well written and presented in the finest way by a narrator who is very pleasant listening to.
The author manages to keep the reader/listener hooked from the beginning until the book is finished.
I have heard of some of the killers in this book yet was surprised by some of them. I honestly think that we will never find out about the ones that still exist or have killed and never been caught.
This is very shallow, almost a retelling of newspaper articles except they tend to be more detailed. It really doesn’t add very much to anyone’s understanding of the crimes, the investigations or the science behind the resolutions
This was a very interesting book. It is amazing to read about how samples taken at a murder can be used years later to find the guilty party so that a family can have full closure and a person will be held accountable.
The most interesting thing about this book is these are all unknown cases and therefore they are new to the reader. Well researched and always interesting. Recommended
This was an okay audiobook that presented cold case stories in short form, much in the way of "Forensic Files" or similar true crime TV shows. There wasn't a ton of background on each case, but it's always nice to see them resolved.
It felt more like reading a copy & pasted Wikipedia article or a news report than anything else. If you prefer just straight facts then this is definitely the book for you! I just personally prefer more commentary and psychological analysis when reading books of this nature :)