Pros: Gripping story with plenty of twists
Cons: Courtroom recordings slow things down
The Bottom Line:
This true crime podcast
Features lots of twists and turns
For gripping listen
Michael Connelly Tackles a True Crime
As I mentioned a couple of months ago, I didn’t really start listening
to entertainment podcasts until this year.
I started when I heard about Murder Book. This true crime podcast is from bestselling
mystery writer Michael Connelly, and I love his books, so I had to give it a
chance. I was quickly caught up in the
first season case – The Tell-Tale Bullet.
It’s no wonder that this case was picked for the first
season since it has enough twists for a Michael Connelly novel. The story starts in 1987 with a carjacking
gone wrong in Los Angeles. It ended with
the death of a young man named Jade Clark.
When the police begin investigating the case, they quickly find a
suspect named Pierre Romain. But the
police can’t find enough evidence to get a conviction, and the case goes cold
until DNA evidence this century causes the police to reopen the case. And that’s when the twists really start.
I found the podcast when the first half a dozen episodes had
already been released. I thought I was
going to space them out, but I was hooked, and soon I found myself anxious to
download the newest episode each Monday morning to listen to on my way to and
from work since each episode is roughly an hour.
It is easy to see why Michael Connelly chose this story for
his first season. It contains lots of
great detective work and courtroom drama.
In other words, it would have made the basis for a great novel featuring
both Harry Bosch and Michael Haller.
There are certainly parts that will make you angry. I will admit to looking up some news stories
to find out what happened before the season finished. I just couldn’t take the suspense any more.
As much as I enjoyed the season, I did get frustrated with
the courtroom episodes. The Murder Book
team got permission to record the trial, but those recordings are hard to
understand. Michael Connelly does a good
job of summarizing what happened during those recordings for us, but it is
still frustrating not to be able to hear everything when we break to the actual
tape. Not to mention, for those of us
looking for fast paced courtroom drama, the attorney’s talking seem a bit slow
at times. They needed writers to punch
things up for them. I felt the use of
the courtroom recordings actually slowed things down in a few episodes.
In a real life twist worthy of the story, there are a couple
of updates that were made after the initial run of episodes aired. The entire first season is now available, so
you can easily dig in and enjoy the entire thing in one fell swoop.
And once you start, you will be hooked. I normally don’t enjoy true crime, but if you
do, you need to listen to this podcast.
We get interviews with the detectives and attorneys involved in the case
to help us understand some of the whys as well as the facts of the case. It makes for a fascinating look at our
justice system, how it works, and how it doesn’t at times.
We’ve been promised a season two when the crew finds a case
worthy of being included. In the
meantime, you can enjoy The Tell-Tale Bullet.
If further seasons are as good as the first one, you can bet I will keep
listening to Murder Book.
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