Product Description

Writer, Lawrence Schiller, reveals the uncensored story of the events that unfolded on Christmas night of 1996 and the unthinkable damage suffered by a community in the aftermath. This account attempts to answer the question: what happened in the town of Boulder, Colorado, on that night?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #417703 in Books
• Published on: 1999-12-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 832 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey on Christmas night in 1996 inspired sensational headlines throughout the nation--and plunged idyllic Boulder, Colorado's justice system into an ongoing nightmare. In Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, bestselling author Lawrence Schiller explores both the child's mysterious death and the exhaustive, yet often mishandled, investigation that has, in the two years since the crime, failed to produce either a plausible scenario or a killer. The more that was discovered about the crime, the less likelihood there seemed of tying all the evidence into a single theory that fit the murder scene. Meanwhile, conflicting agendas and personalities within the Boulder police department, the district attorney's office and the sheriff's office escalated a war that has all but eroded the picture-postcard image of liberal, laid-back Boulder.

Schiller has a knack for distilling context and meaning from violent crime. He partnered with Norman Mailer on the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Executioner's Song and was O.J. Simpson's choice of confidante for I Want to Tell You. (From there, he went on to write the definitive story of the Simpson defence, American Tragedy.) For Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, Schiller and researcher Charles Brennan conducted more than 500 interviews, examining the exculpatory evidence from every conceivable point of view to create a fascinating portrait of what happens when tragedy strikes in paradise. There are no easy answers, no simple outs; the murder of JonBenét Ramsey remains unsolved. --Patrizia DiLucchio

Customer Reviews

Something of a disappointment
The author has accomplished the impossible - he has rendered a riveting story unconscionably boring. Whilst we awarded the 2 stars entirely for the research - which is excellent - the book is almost like a "text book" . It was a great feat of endurance to read this book from beginning to end. Far to much time was given to describing the in-fighting between the Boulder police department and the DA's office. It is important that this is mentioned but the author has over stated it in our opinion.

Classic Crime
If you are interested in this case and want a definitive, unbiased account of what went on then this is the book for you. Extremely thorough and very detailed it is probably not for those who want a quick glance at the crime or want merely some horror story. However, if you're generally interested in true crime and are tired of the sensationalist language peddled in many of the books available this will come as a welcome read.
True crime books, in my view, should have a decent story to tell; 'Killing for Company' and 'Helter Skelter' being two excellent examples. Books on unsloved cases should let us make our own minds up. There is enough detail here for me to be able to make up my own mind, and I have; I don't know who did it.
Here is what I feel I do know though; The crime scene was staged. The ransom note was meant to confuse and there was no intent to kidnap. JonBenet was killed by someone who not only knew her, but cared about her. She may well have died in an accident. The possibility of there being an intruder is neither more nor less likely than the possibility of Patsy being the culprit.
And my final conclusion is that had the first few days of the crime been handled and investigated properly and thoroughly, JonBenet's killer would currently be behind bars.
Make your own mind up. Read this book first. Then maybe read some of the other theories.

Don't bother...
I agree with many of the other reviewers of this book. I found it hard to concentrate on and often forgot what I'd read and had to go back to re-read sections. If you want to read a better book about this crime then get'Jonbenet' by Steve Thomas which I couldn't put down and read in a few days. As for Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - I'm yet to finish it a year after starting it!