NetGalley Top Reviewer

NetGalley Top Reviewer
NetGalley Top Reviewer

Friday, February 4, 2022

When a Killer Calls by John E. Douglas

"A haunting story of murder, criminal profiling, and justice in a small town..."


Continuing my current true crime binge, I now focused on the kidnapping and murder cases of the serial killer Larry Gene Bell.

Shari Smith was abducted and killed in 1985; this investigation and trial was not on my radar so all of the information was new to me without that historical background. Almost immediately, profiler John Douglas was involved in the massive manhunt along with the FBI and local law enforcement in South Carolina. Shortly after  that murder, another local girl was kidnapped -- 9-year-old Debra May Helmick. The community was fearful and frantic and the police and forensic scientists worked nonstop to track the man behind these horrific crimes. The book details how the criminal justice system worked together to find and prosecute Larry Gene Bell.

Another excellent piece of writing by this author and I am happy to rediscover a genre that fits my reading mood right now. The descriptions and details about the profile and investigation are extremely meticulous and quite absorbing. I feel that I got the facts with a very satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dey Street Books for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend. If you're tired of crime fiction, try this one for a change.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - true crime

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