That obsession leads James to a successful career as an investigative journalist. I don’t think she’s living a quiet life in Quebec or anywhere else, unfortunately.When an eleven year old James Renner fell in love with Amy Mihaljevic, the missing girl seen on posters all over his neighborhood, it was the beginning of a lifelong obsession with true crime. It’s foreseeable that she was very intoxicated, and probably died of hypothermia somewhere near where her car crashed, and her remains were never found. I believe she took off on foot after the crash – a poor judgment call probably influenced by alcohol. I really think that the most likely explanation of Maura’s disappearance is that she’s not alive. I feel bad for Maura’s family, it has to be difficult to still have no answers after so many years. Why drag your young child into that? Although I appreciate the amount of time Renner has invested in his research, I don’t think I’ll be reading any more of his books. That felt like an invasion of privacy to broadcast. But it especially bothered me that he talked about his young son’s behavioral problems and medications in the book. It’s one thing for Renner to talk about his own use of Cymbalta, weed, and booze (including, driving drunk).

It felt like he was trying to be cool, when he wasn’t. EVER.” The casual f-bombs didn’t add anything to the book. Someone else on Goodreads said “if an author in a non-fiction book refers to a strip club as a”tittie bar” AND spells it “tittie”, that person has no business writing a book. Something about Renner’s storytelling was unsettling, uncomfortable, and creepy. It’s hard to feel like he had compassion for them. Renner admits to being obsessed with Maura’s story, but his obsession is more for himself, than any desire to help the Murray family. Renner covers the story pretty well, and obviously has spent a large amount of time researching the case.īut the story falls short in the execution. Maura’s story is mysterious with some major oddities. I really don’t know that I’d want Renner involved if a member of my family was missing. But I didn’t feel that Renner honored Maura or her family, nor did he honor his own family. There is definitely enough content to Maura’s story to dedicate to an entire book. If you’re not familiar, see Investigation Discovery summary here.

Before I read it, I was familiar with the mysterious vanishing of Maura Murray, having listened to several of the podcasts discussing her case.

Book Number 5 of 2021 was True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray.

True Crime Addict by James Renner