There was a box for January, but strangely, it only had a few of her dance recital programs, and no personal items.

One night, she stumbles upon a clue in the most infamous crime in her hometown’s history: the unsolved murder of six-year-old January. Flowers perfectly captures small town USA - the social pressure to do the right thing, the in-line thinking. AND we get it you felt guilty as you stare longingly at your uncle who looks so different these days as you take off investigating a cold case that you really have no business being part of in the first place. Because we don’t compare the two cases, past and present throughout the narrative, I didn’t feel any sense of TENSION, like I usually do with CRIME FICTION. For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password.Always tell someone where you’re going, especially if you’re going to meet up with ANYONE who could be a suspect in a murder case.

What I thought was interesting was that the family member vs outside intruder debate in the (still unsolved) JBR case were similar to plot elements in the book. I have a real problem with the lack of disclosure here, and skating on thin ice with ethics and morals as a human being. Really, I would have believed almost any motive for Billy to kill Krissy– he found out he wasn’t the father of Jase and January, he believed her to be January’s killer all those years and then just snapped, he found out that she was having an affair with a woman–except for the one that was given. Margo just happens to find the place Jace works in all of Chicago, because she remembers he likes art?I truly don’t understand if the author just ran out of time, or ink, or the publisher maybe forgot some pages at the end? The book diverges from there, but despite a story that has its interesting moments, the writing is so poor that it detracts from what could have been a good murder mystery. Since 2011, I have been guiding avid readers toward books they will love and offering a friendly place to discuss them. While I really appreciated all the twists in the January case and the number of suspects (Dave/Luke, Jace, Krissy, Billy, Elliott) I didn’t find the resolution 100% plausible. Hence, I found the audiobook gripping unfortunately, the ending ruined what could’ve been a 4 stars read to a more of 2.

She used a hammer to smash the basement window from outside and spray paint threats on the wall and make it look like an intruder took January. I randomly picked the audiobook since it was available on Libby and the summary sounded interesting. I didn't expect much from the queen of true crime plagiarism, but I somehow thought the story would at least seem incentive. Ashley is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of audiochuck, the award-winning, independent media and podcast production company known for its standout content and storytelling across different genres, including true crime, fiction, comedy, and more.

the writing is repetitive and boring, the tropes are overused, the reveals are predictable, and the non-ending is the biggest offender of them all. And along with the questions about Dave/Luke not telling anyone, I found it just SOOO convenient that his nickname kept him from being revealed as the friend. Both January’s and JBR’s parents gave somewhat awkward media interviews that made the public suspect they were not being forthcoming about everything they knew. Flowers embraces this small twisted-town spirit and runs with it in this novel with a Jon Benet Ramsey-ish nod from the 90’s.

The storyline was clearly inspired by real-life events of at least one real-life crime, that of JonBenét Patricia Ramsey. Having known a family friend who suffered from early onset dementia, I was completely empathetic to Dave/Luke and his heartbreaking situation. Panicked, he slammed her head against the cement floor and, when he realized she was dead, put her baby blanket in her hand and then snuck back into his own bed. Both girls got lots of attention for participating in beauty pageants/dance recitals wearing makeup.

I used to be a big fan of the podcast in its early days, but since the plagiarism came to light, I have not felt right to keep supporting the author and the co-host. Seriously for starters just say he has dementia or early onset dementia stop referring to it as his condition. For example, the small town police that don’t know how to do a good job, the close minded small town people that don’t know any better….