Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders by Billy Jensen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this originally in early March of 2020. I bought it with the usual cringe of embarrassment at my true crime addiction. Rereading it now was like reading a new book. The only thing that sounded at all familiar was Michelle McNamara, Golden State Killer yada, yada.
Granted, my life– everyone’s lives–got very distracting in that 19-month span. I lost my mom, I suffered a couple fractures with hospital visits during a scary time to be in an emergency room. It would be easy to forget. But I didn’t so much forget as read it with new eyes.
In that time, I also discovered true crime podcasts. I’ve been reading true crime and watching the TV shows for years. Podcasts were a new thing for me. I moved from my solved cases comforting place into the world of citizen detectives and unsolved crimes. I learned the names of the players in that world. I still don’t like unsolved crimes. They leave you in a state of existential uneasiness. I have no plans to become a citizen detective myself. It’s a calling, I think, and a commitment.
But this time, re-reading this book, I actually could absorb what Mr. Jensen was saying. I was primed for it. So yeah, like reading the book for the first time.
Author Nancy E. Shaffer 