This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead
Publication Date: March 25, 2025
Summary from NetGalley:
It’s the most famous crime in modern history. But only she knows the true story.
After the unexpected death of her father, college student Jane Sharp longs for a distraction from her grief. She becomes obsessed with true crime, befriending armchair detectives who teach her how to hunt killers from afar. In this morbid internet underground, Jane finds friendship, purpose, and even glory…
So when news of the shocking deaths of three college girls in Delphine, Idaho takes the world by storm, and sleuths everywhere race to solve the crimes, Jane and her friends are determined to beat them. But the case turns out to be stranger than anyone expected. Details don’t add up, the police are cagey, and there seems to be more media hype and internet theorizing than actual evidence. When Jane and her sleuths take a step closer, they find that every answer only begs more questions. Something’s not adding up, and they begin to suspect their killer may be smarter and more prolific than any they’ve faced before. Placing themselves in the center of the story starts to feel more and more like walking into a trap…
Told one year after the astounding events that concluded the case and left the world reeling, when Jane has finally decided to break her silence about what really happened, she tells the true story of the Delphine Massacres. And what she has to confess will shock even the most seasoned true crime fans…
ARC provided by Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
I for the most part I really liked this story. The characters were likable, the plot to some extent believable, the message that the online true crime community can be harmful or helpful was also important. What I didn’t like and what made me really uncomfortable was the fact that the author used the 2022 Idaho murders as the basis for her story. Anyone familiar with that crime will certainly see it in the story. It is a pretty blatant use of a recent high profile crime to base a fiction story on. Many people will be justifiably outraged by this, and there will be pushback on what is otherwise a pretty good book.
I really liked the main character Janeway, who is the sole narrator of the story. The story is told in the first person and is styled like a memoir or true crime nonfiction story, which I really liked. I liked how Jane often broke the fourth wall to help the audience understand what was going on. Jane was a young woman dealing with the grief she felt over the death of her father. Her grief was overwhelming her and she starts off looking for answers. The depiction of her grief and the path she takes to overcome it, was well done. Jane’s biggest fault though is her impulsivity and her naivete. Both of these put her in some difficult situations throughout the story.
I also liked the community of armchair detectives that she befriends on the internet. They have a bond and are very much like a family though they have never met in real life. They welcome Jane with open arms and take her in and help her learn how to solve a murder.
This is very much a plot driven story and there were some really interesting twists to the story. I was able to figure out part of what was really going on with the murders early on, but not all of the story was easy to figure out. The pacing and writing were solid for the most part and I was happy to follow along with figuring out the story with the characters.
However, I really disliked how close to the Idaho murders the story gets. It felt very exploitative, and totally unnecessary. The victims were almost exact copies of the real life women, the suspects were similar as were the crimes scenes. The seemingly ineptitude of the small police force was also used. Even the description of the town was eerily similar. I think using this crime that is still in litigation was unseemly and I expect better from authors and publishers.
But the commentary on how social media and the true crime community sometimes hinders or at times helps high profile investigations was well done. We saw this with the Idaho murders. The social media posts were out of control, accusing people right and left with no thought to how that would impact innocent people’s lives. The friends and families of the victims were unfairly victimized during the whole thing. As was the police force who, for good reasons were very quiet about the investigation. I think the author did a good job of portraying all of this in the story, but also showed how some of these amateur detectives can be helpful at times. (Although I don’t believe that was the case with the Idaho murders)
Looking past the huge problem I had with the use of a recent the murders, this was a really well done story. The twists and turns were well done and I was second guessing myself the whole time. If you like fiction that resembles true crime then this might be a book that would interest you. But be aware that there are parts that might make you just as uncomfortable as they did me.
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