Rating: 3 out of 5.

This is a pretty good epistolary mystery written exclusively as if reading a movie script. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home. Luke was babysitting Guy. Luke’s two teenage step-daughters found him dead in the back yard, while Guy slept in his room. The children’s mother was a suspect but she was at a party that night with a solid alibi. His murder remains unsolved.

Guy is now directing a new Netflix series Infamous, dedicated to investigating–and perhaps solving–the case. The production team and a panel of experts will re-examine testimony, re-interview witnesses, and scour the evidence again to see if anything was missed. As we read, each episode ends on a cliff hanger as more evidence is discovered.

I like reading epistolary books. I think they are a unique way to tell a story. This one was pretty good. I liked all of the twists and turns and “new evidence” discovered, even if most of them led us down a rabbit hole that led nowhere. The reason I marked the rating down was because it was quite evident, at least to me, who the killer was. That took some of the fun out of the book, but i enjoyed reading all of the twists.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks. All opinions are my own.