Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail

Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail by Early Swift (2026), 368 pages 

I seem to be on a kick of reading novels where middle-aged men revisit an adventure from their youth. Between Mississippi Solo, Walking with Sam and Up on Cove Mountain, I have found the latter to be the most interesting. BUT, if I was likely to actually undertake one of the three treks, it would definitely be the Camino de Santiago (then the Mississippi River with the Appalachian Trail a far third). Why? Because Swift does an excellent job of conveying just how hard and long the trail is. I cannot imagine doing it twice, with the second time being 66 years-old. Swift notes how the trail has changed over 34 years and how climate change has affected the availability of resources (especially water) for hikers. I learned a lot about how people hike the trail, trail culture, and what it means to thru-hike. I thought it meant you did the hike in one long fell-swoop. Apparently, it is not uncommon to leave the trail and come back many times and, as long as you complete it within a year, you are considered a thru-hiker. Swift also touches upon a tragedy that happened during his first thru-hike: the murder of a young couple on the trail. He had interacted a few times with this couple and their murder shocked him and the otherwise insular AT community. While this is an interesting sub-plot, the majority of the book is devoted to what it means to hike the trail and the self-discovery it brings along the way.

Spider to the Fly

Spider to the Fly by James Markert, 352 pages

Ellie Isles was a regular suburban mom until a serial killer murdered a stranger who was identical to Ellie. Equally fascinated and horrified by the coincidence, Ellie started her own investigations into the killer known as the Spider, who left victims scattered alongside I-64, and wrote a bestselling true crime book about her experience. Four years later, the killer is still at large and more victims keep appearing, but Ellie has created an online following that's helping her get ahead of the Spider, and helping her remember some long-buried memories that may shed some light on the case.

The premise of this book is intriguing and it definitely is a wild ride. However, I found a lot of the final twists to be a bit over-the-top — it almost feels like two books smushed into one. Still, if you want a quick and terrifying thriller, give this one a go. Just don't hurt yourself rolling your eyes at the way-too-convenient conclusion. 

This Book Will Bury Me

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead, 480 pages

When her father dies suddenly, Jane finds solace in the least likely of places — the online true crime community, where she quickly becomes immersed in solving murders near and far. One case, the murder of three girls in Idaho, is particularly perplexing, and even though they've gained plenty of detractors among both police and amateur detectives, Jane and her online friends from the community are determined to solve the crime. However, as they learn more, Jane discovers that there is much more to the triple murder than meets the eye.

While I enjoyed this book, the slower pace and focus on solving the murders kept this from feeling like the thriller it's marketed as. It also kinda bugged me that the book kept referencing something in the future that made the main character notorious, which I assumed would be the main source of danger and tension, but that didn’t really appear until halfway through the book. Enjoyable, but not my favorite thriller of the year.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, 338 pages

In the 1920s, a series of murders in Osage County brought the attention of the fledgling Bureau of Investigation. The people being killed were all Osage tribal members, and all of them wealthy from the mineral rights they held over the Osage tribal lands, which at the time were rich with oil. Killers of the Flower Moon details several of the murders, the many failed investigations, and the finally successful investigation that led to the conviction of one of the more notorious killers. While doing that, the book also shows how the prejudices of the era (some that are sadly still with us) impacted generations of the Osage. This is a fascinating historical true crime book, well worth a read, and I'm kicking myself for not reading it before now.

The Art Thief

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel, 221 pages

Kevin, Regan, and Karen have all previously blogged about this fascinating nonfiction tale of the most prolific art thief in history, so I won't rewrite what they so wonderfully summed up. Suffice it to say that readers of this book will be awestruck at the audacity of Stephane Breitweiser, and impressed by Finkel's research. (Also, I listened to the audiobook, which was excellent.) If you enjoy this one (which you probably will), I highly recommend Finkel's previous book, The Stranger in the Woods, which profiles a very different but equally fascinating man.

The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder

The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder by Daniel Stashower, 326 pages

This historical true crime book is about the July 1841 murder of Mary Rogers, a well-known "cigar girl" in New York City. There was not yet a unified police force in the city, and so the murder went unsolved. A year later, Edgar Allan Poe decided to use his fictional detective C. Auguste Dupin to solve the mystery through his story, "The Mystery of Marie Roget."

I really enjoyed this book, as it combined a biography of one of my favorite authors and an overview of the murder of Mary Rogers and the subsequent investigations. Stashower also analyzes the aforementioned short story, and how Poe used the newspaper reports of the time to come to his conclusions. There is even some history of the newspapers in New York at this time. If you are an Edgar Allan Poe aficionado, a fan of true crime, or interested in early 1800s New York, this is the book for you! You will definitely learn something new.

The Holly

 

The Holly: five bullets, one gun, and the struggle to save an American neighborhood / Julian Rubinstein, read by the author and Larry Herron, 392 pgs.

This fascinating book was one I could not put down.  At first you don't see where this is going...is it another account of a wayward criminal who reinvents themselves?  Then backslides?  That is not giving credit for the extensive research and reporting by the author that builds an almost unbelievable narrative of gangs in Denver.  What is the impetuous for their activities?  What could put a stop to the violence?  Who benefits?  Do we get all the answers? of course not.  But we do get a lot to think about.

Chase darkness with me

 

Chase darkness with me / Bill Jensen, read by the author 317 pgs.

Looking for a new hobby?  Well Bill Jensen has an idea for you.  Become a "citizen sleuth" and help the cops solve crimes.  He's been doing it for years.  Sometimes resulting in unbelievable frustration but other times, resulting in justice.  Here he tells the story of how he became interested in solving crimes, he talks about his friendship with Michelle McNamara, the citizen sleuth that helped solve the case of the Golden State Killer. I am not the biggest fan of true crime books but I found myself unable to put this one down.  The audio, read by the author is fine but I had to grab the print version at times because I couldn't wait to hear what he was reading.

Diamond Doris

Diamond Doris: the true story of the world's most notorious jewel thief / Doris Payne, read by Robin Miles, 266

Oh my gosh, this book is one heck of a good read.  Doris didn't want to "wipe people's butts" for a living so she became a jewel thief.  She was good enough to support herself and her family.  The adventures she reveals in this book are amazing and her salty language and attitude refreshing.  What a life!  Robin Miles does a good job narrating this amazing story.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer / Michelle McNamara, 328 p.

McNamara, who died in 2016 at the age of 48, was the author of True Crime Diary, a blog of her efforts to research and solve crimes in general and one especially horrible series of crimes in particular.  The Golden State Killer, who is also known as the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker (EARONS), raped and killed an extraordinary number of Californians in the 1970s and 1980s.  It took years before the many disparate law enforcement jurisdictions involved connected his attacks, and he was only caught in 2018, after McNamara's death. 

Given the extent of McNamara's work and the strenuously well-documented ferocity of her obsession with the GST, it's understandable that her family (and publishers) wanted to bring her work to fruition in book form as quickly as possible.  Without McNamara, though, it's clear that editors and other researchers struggled to give the story, in its tremendous complexity, the top-down feel it needs to produce a satisfying read.  Too often the zigzags in time and place don't make sense to the reader, and certainly don't aid in either comprehension or suspense.

What's impressive here are the long passages on the GST's 'work' in Sacramento, which sometimes experienced multiple home invasions and rapes in a week, and whose residents became understandably terrified and paranoid.  The GST was brutal but he was also efficient, and the extent of his crimes is breathtaking.  One can now Google the Golden State Killer and see photos of the man in custody for his crimes.  He looks depressingly ordinary, and I suspect one could write another book about why seeing this nondescript old man in an orange jumpsuit feels profoundly disappointing.

The Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson, 447 pages

In 1893, Chicago welcomed the world to the most magnificent World's Fair ever presented, complete with architectural grandeur, incandescent light bulbs, and a thrilling new spectacle called the Ferris wheel. Just north of the fair site, a man by the name of H.H. Holmes opened his three-story building as a hotel for fair-goers, though several of them (mostly young women) seemed to mysteriously disappear during their visit to Chicago. In this fascinating history, Larson juxtaposes the shocking (and shockingly smooth) practices of one of America's first serial killers with the bumpy road to World's Fair glory. It's gripping, thrilling, and amazing. Like all the other Larson books I read, I loved this one. Highly recommended.

The feather thief

The feather thief: beauty, obsession, and the natural history heist of the century / Kirk Wallace Johnson, read by MacLeod Andrews, 308 pages

This is the kind of book you start and then maybe stop because you think...."what kind of kook thought up this plot?"  Then you look again and realize this is nonfiction.  Yes, this is all stuff that ACTUALLY happened.  After that, you can't really stop reading until you are done because it is all so odd.  Obsession is in the title but people who steal birds...dead of alive, to harvest their feathers to tie Victorian age flies, the kind you go fishing with, prove themselves obsessive in many different ways.  The main subject is Edwin Rist, a 21-year old flutist who steals a suitcase full of dead birds from a well respected natural history museum.  When the crime is solved, he gets off with no jail time despite the value of what he stole after being examined by the cousin of comedian Sasha Baron-Cohen, himself a clinical psychologist who thinks Edwin is autistic.  Who could make this up?  As I read, I kept thinking truth really is stranger than fiction.  Perfectly read by MacLeod Andrews. 

Conan Doyle for the Defense

Conan Doyle for the Defense: the True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World's Most Famous Detective Writer / Margalit Fox, 319 p.

First-rate true crime writing and much more: Fox takes the story of a brutal 1908 murder of a wealthy Glasgow woman and the Jewish foreigner who was punished for it and draws smart, intriguing connections to both the Holocaust and the present day.  Eloquent discussions of otherization, racism, and profiling that enhance rather than distract from the specificity of the crime and its investigation. 

Helpful footnotes, plentiful photos, and strong indexing and bibliography.  Highly recommended. 

The Feather Thief

The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson, 308 pages

In 2009, Edwin Rist, a 21-year-old flautist, broke into an ornithological museum in the U.K. and stole almost 300 rare bird specimens. Did he do it for the challenge? To sell to taxidermists and milliners? Nope. He stole them to tie flies and sell to other fly-tiers. Yes, like the ones used for fly fishing, but WAY fancier. Johnson's book delves into all aspects of this crime, including the history of the museum and the birds that were pilfered, the squishy ethics of the elite fly-tying world, the opaque psyche of Rist, and the post-heist hunt for the birds. Through it all, Johnson weaves the seemingly disparate subjects of crime, natural history, fashion, fishing, and classical music performance into a tight, well-told story.

I'll be gone in the dark

I'll be gone in the dark: one woman's obsessive search for the golden state killer / Michelle McNamara, read by Gabra Zackman, 337 pgs.

An amazing book that tells of an obsession by an investigator.  A woman who is focused on a crime spree of the Golden State Killer, a name she pens after becoming increasingly involved in these crimes.  Michelle McNamara is not paid for this work...nor are many others who "partner" with her and share information.  Of course there are professionals on the job.  A bunch of investigators who work at different jurisdictions but who are often also obsessed with these cases.  This book is amazing.  I'm amazed by the crimes, I'm amazed by the writing, I'm amazed by the devotion to this project.  The narration is exceptional.  Recommended for anyone who likes true crime or well written non-fiction.  Michelle did not live to see the case broken but undoubtedly, her work is important to the recent arrest of a suspect that seems to be the perpetrator of this many crimes.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, 328 pages

For years, investigative reporter Michelle McNamara obsessively researched the crimes of the Golden State Killer, a man who raped and murdered gobs of people between 1976 and 1986 throughout California. She hoped that by reexamining the details of the crime scenes, the victims, the evidence, the massive pool of potential suspects, she might be able to help the cold-case detectives finally track down the elusive criminal. Unfortunately, she died in her sleep in 2016 at the age of 46 with the Golden State Killer still on the loose (it wasn't until earlier this week that investigators arrested a suspect). I'll Be Gone in the Dark is the story of McNamara's investigations, and her obsession, masterfully mixed with the stories of the crimes themselves. It's a fascinating and somewhat bittersweet story, particularly if you know ahead of time that she never got to see the fruits of all of that labor. Bonus points for the audiobook, which features wonderful narration by Gabra Zackman.

Black Dahlia

Black Dahlia by Rick Geary  80 pp.

This is another in the "Treasury of XXth Century Murder" series of graphic novels by Rick Geary. In 1947 the mutilated body of Elizabeth Short was discovered laying in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. The body had been drained of blood, scrubbed clean, and cut in half. A police investigation discovered her identity but not the killer(s). The local and later national press covered the discovery and investigation extensively and dubbed the victim "The Black Dahlia". Geary covers the facts and his realistic pen and ink drawings give it the feeling of an old newspaper account. The Black Dahlia murder was never solved and much has been written about it, both nonfiction and fiction.

Thunderstruck

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson, 463 pages

In Thunderstruck, Larson expertly interweaves the tale of innovator Guglielmo Marconi's quest to create instantaneous transatlantic wireless communication and that of the unhappily married Dr. Hawley Crippen, who eventually becomes the most unlikely murderer of the Edwardian era. It's a fascinating tale, wonderfully told. And props to Bob Balaban, who narrated the audiobook, to which I listened. Excellent all around.

A Burglar's Guide to the City

A Burglar's Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh, 296 pages

In this fascinating book, architecture blogger Manaugh considers the ways in which bank robbers, art thieves, and cat burglars (among other ne'er-do-wells) use and misuse architecture and urban design. In this exploration, Manaugh discusses various real-life and fictional heists, learns how to escape capture, finds out about the ways to breach vaults (and the ways in which vault owners can try to prevent those breaches), and gets the perspective of police officers, reformed burglars, and lock-picking enthusiasts (it's not illegal to pick your own lock for fun, after all). For any fan of heist movies and books, as well as for anyone with an interest in architecture or urban planning, this entertaining book is a must. Well done, Mr. Manaugh!

Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, 253 pages

Frank Abagnale dropped out of high school and spent a sizeable chunk of the 1960s on the lam, impersonating everyone from a Pan-Am co-pilot to a prosecuting attorney to a pediatrician while passing fake checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Catch Me If You Can (which was the inspiration for the 2002 movie of the same name starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks) is Abagnale's memoir of his life as a charismatic con man, and is just as charming and entertaining as Abagnale himself must have been to all of the marks he scammed.

If this book has any fault, it's in the ending. Those familiar with Abagnale's story know that he eventually was apprehended and became a successful consultant to the FBI on forgery and fraud. This book, however, doesn't go into exactly how that happened, which I'm sure would have been a great story, considering how disliked he was by the FBI agents who were tracking him. Otherwise, though, this was a fun book.