The description clearly states that this book is fiction, but it read like true crime so many times that I almost forgot. The presentation with lots of emails and interviews was a great way to immerse me into the story and had me desperately trying to figure out what happened to Zoe Nolan.
She was a university student who vanished without a trace in 2011. Seven years pass and it seems like this cold case will never be solved. Then an author, Evelyn Mitchell becomes interested in Zoe's story. Emails between her and Joseph Knox, don't get as much of a response as she wants, as he is busy with his own life and projects. But when she sadly dies, he decided to pick up where she left off and hopefully find some answers.
Told from the perspectives of Zoe's friends, her parents, her boyfriend, and her twin sister, the one thing they all have in common, besides Zoe, is that they are mostly unlikeable people. As I was trying to piece the clues together, the only thing I was sure of was that I had plenty of suspects.
I enjoyed this twisty tale that the author presented uniquely.

She stood on the rooftop looking down over the city. Rooted in the same spot her sister once stood. She tries to feel her energy, to get a sense of her still being here. But she’s not… she’s gone. She closes her eyes and tries to piece everything together… trying to figure out what went wrong, but the answers elude her and the truth of that night seems to be slipping into further darkness where no one will be able to retrieve it.

True Crime Story is a fiction crime novel that reads as though it’s filled with facts about a true crime. It was an intriguing plot and I loved the interview style of writing. A few times I had to stop and pause and remember that this was actually fiction.

While the writing style format was neat and I enjoy true crime stories… this book had a lot of slow moving parts and sections that just dragged. It was hard to pick up at times because I just needed something with more action.

I did enjoy how the author painted every character with a motive which left me guessing and I like a book that keeps me guessing!

If you’re a fan of true crime, unique writing formats, and corrupt, flawed characters… then you’ll want to give this one a read!

I enjoyed this suspenseful story. This is a newer author for me which i enjoyed. This is a well written story where the author used details to make the story realistic. His characters are creative and are connectable. They pulled me into the story from the beginning and kept the story engaging. This is a fast paced story that is full of action and suspense. The twists and turns kept me sitting on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what wold happen next. This is a story about missing girls and what happened to them. I really enjoyed the growth of the characters and what they brought to the story. This is a great story that I highly recommend.

Oh my goodness !

Who is telling the truth in this clever diabolical and very compelling read.

I found myself intrigued and at the same time what was real and what was not; is it true crime or is it fiction.

All questions I asked myself and to me that is a great read.

Lots of unlikeable characters, always a favourite of mine.

Did I guess the ending? Not even close.

The lights stayed on as I followed the twists and turns and red herrings.

True Crime Story is a clever book and a great read. Don't miss out.

I am a new fan of Joseph Knox and will be checking out his books .

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a book that kept me guessing and on my toes.

Okay- I'll say it. This is clever but I just didn't care after a while. Yep, I'm the odd one out. Knox has written a novel of snippets of interviews of the college associates (not really friends) and family of Zoe, who went missing from a fire drill at Manchester University in 2011. He's done a good job with the different voices of her twin sister Kim, Jai, Andrew, Fintan, her roomers and so on but gosh these people are annoying. Each of them has a secret- and one of them is hiding a huge one. The conceit that Knox uses his real name to put himself in a story where he alleges that he got most of this from a writer named Evelyn Mitchell and the stunt aspects of the whole thing had me confused at first but then somewhat annoyed. I never felt as though I had a good sense of Zoe who is, after all, the proverbial missing girl. I actually cared more for her twin Kim who everyone else dislikes. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I'm sure others have enjoyed this more than I did.

True Crime Story
by Joseph Knox
Pub Date: December 7, 2021
Doubleday

Mystery, Crime, Fiction
This one is not my favorite. This was very different that Knox's Aiden Watts series. I found it difficult to get through. It may have succeeded as an audio book for me this is not a winner.

Thanks to Net Galley and Doubleday for the ARC. I will not be recommending this one.

3 stars.

I love a good mystery and will admit to getting caught up real life ones. So when I came across True Crime Story on NetGalley I couldn’t recall resist requesting it. Thank you Sourcebooks for my DRC.

What a story this book tells. Written as if it was a real life crime was brilliant. I especially love the fact that an “updated” Version was being presented and I was fascinated by the reason why.

The characters were not likable in my view and yet I couldn’t stop reading about them and their relationships with each other. Told from alternating points of view through author interviews, the plot kept me flying through the book. I needed to know what really happened and the story continually evolved so you never quite knew who to believe.

This was a 4 and 1/2 star read for me. I was engrossed in the story and surprised by the twist at the end. I would definitely recommend picking this one up!

3.5 ⭐️‘s

Knox gives us a unique look at a true crime story in a fiction format. Inserting himself into the book was brilliant. The book itself was quite slow at the get go and came across disjointed with so many snippets from so many people, when it finally started to come together it was unstoppable. So stick with it ... it’s quite an engrossing read.

The audio version was quite difficult to follow as there were so many voices. I found it to be a much better read than listen.

The disappearance of a 19-year-old college student draws in a struggling writer to solve the mystery.

In 2011, Zoe Nolan disappeared from a party and was never seen again. In 2018, writer Evelyn MItchell dives into the mystery, intent on solving it. But as she takes a hard look at the evidence, she sees inconsistencies and soon learns that Zoe had secrets of her own. Turning to another crime writer, Joseph Knox, for help, Evelyn is pulled into Zoe's world - will she disappear too?

Written like a true crime book, using transcripts, articles and emails, the format can be a bit jarring for some. There are a whole lot of unreliable narrators going on in this story to keep readers guessing.

Unique for certain, True Crime Story was an engaging but rather long and convoluted crime novel. All the while pushing forward to solve the mystery of a college student’s sudden disappearance, I read through endless interview transcripts of characters in whom I was barely interested. Several of the interviews could have been eliminated without affecting the “plot.” While the concept was engaging, many questions were left unanswered. I was particularly dissatisfied with the conclusion.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark publishers and NetGalley for providing a digital advance reading copy of True Crime Story in exchange for my honest review.

I personally rate the book 3.5 stars, which I rounded up.

I tried listening to this book, but i was not able to finish it, I couldn’t get into the writing style, I’m not sure what exactly it was that seemed off.

True Crime Story is a bit of a Blair Witch Project style novel. The reader knows going into it that the original researcher, Evelyn passed away at some point and the "author" is piecing together her research. So initially I was thinking Blair Witch in that we are supposed to believe that all this is real, or true crime all inside a fictional book.
It also brought vibes of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, which was completed posthumously by a researcher and the husband of the author, Michelle McNamara (and did result in part in the capture of the killer.) And actually, also reminded me of Daisy Jones and the Six, which followed an interview-style narrative of the plot. So one book brought up all these others, and I'm starting to see it had some tough competition.
I was super intrigued by the idea of True Crime Story - that a girl goes missing and is never seen again. The book is made of of the "real" interviews with her friends and family (including an identical twin sister.) The book was also an international bestseller so I definitely wanted to give it a try.
While I did enjoy the book, at times I felt that it moved too slowly and that in part I believe was due to the interview-style of the book. I also felt like details jumped around a bit and made it a little confusing. That said, I appreciate how unique the book was and I'm always a sucker for anything true crime.
Special thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out December 7!

When I started True Crime Story I found the style to be a little off-putting. It was like reading the transcripts of a Netflix documentary. It took some time for the style to grow on me but as it went on it became more and more intriguing. The disappearance of a young college student is, at times, almost second to the mess of the lives of those around her and as a reader, I was wondering how much the two things had in common. I found the ending abrupt, but sometimes that's how these things go. The author truly puts himself into the story as a writer helping another with this story, amongst other things. I truly appreciated the creativity that went into the entire format by the time I was done.

True Crime Story was definitely better than I expected!! I really loved the concept of having a fiction book read like a true crime book. When I first started reading I had to pause and make sure I wasn’t reading nonfiction!! I will say I feel like I may have enjoyed this one more if I would have done the audio. Still really enjoyed the concept and story line. The twists definitely kept me guessing and I was surprised by the ending. 4.5 stars!

Review ⁣
Book: True Crime Story⁣
Author: Joseph Knox⁣
⁣
🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦: True Crime Story is a novel, that seems like a book of non-fiction. It follows the disappearance of Zoe Nolan after a Christmas party at her college flat. Eight years later, a writer called Evelyn starts to investigate. During her investigation, she reaches out to Joseph Knox for assistance with her book. Thus making it a story, within a story. The story is told via transcripts and email exchanges, which unravel the truth of Zoe’s disappearance. ⁣
⁣
For this book, I had both the hard copy and listened to the audiobook at the same time. I thought the idea behind the book was interesting. Listening to the audiobook reminded me of a scripted true crime podcast. The book was well written and had lots of twists and turns, with an end that I didn’t see coming. ⁣
⁣
I received an ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Well. This was…different. It took me a while to work my way through it as it is written in interviews with people involved in the case and dialogue between two authors working on the book. I think this would work better as an audiobook, but to read it felt super long.
Zoe was a university student who went missing without a trace one night. 7 years later, the case is cold and the interviews the author has with the persons involved in Zoe’s life leading up to her disappearance are all unreliable. They are all shady in their own way. Readers are taken through all their steps leading up to her disappearance for many, many pages and then it all gets wrapped up in just a few, with hardly any details.
I get that true crime is messy, but this one kinda takes it to another level.
Thanks to Doubleday Books and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

This is the first book by Joseph Knox that I have read. I wan’t overly impressed but I think I am in the minority. Zoe Nolan, a first year student at Manchester University, goes missing after a Christmas party. Seven years later, Evelyn Mitchell is struggling to prove her self as a writer with her second book when she comes across Zoe’s story. The novel is written as a series of Evelyn’s interview transcripts and emails. I really liked this format but at times it was a bit confusing. Overall it moved a bit slow and at times I had to force myself to keep reading. I was having trouble connecting with any of the characters and the slow pace made it difficult at times to really connect with the plot. Then the ending was just too abrupt and left a lot to be desired. I would recommend you give it a try. Most people seemed to enjoy it and , as stated above, I really enjoyed the format. The story unwinds from many points of view and I did enjoy trying to figure out who to believe, who just got caught in the crosshairs, and who the villain really was.

In 2011, Zoe Nolan disappeared from her dormitory during a party, never to be seen or heard from again. Her story joined the legions of cold cases involving missing girls that happen every year. But when a struggling writer named Evelyn stumbles across it, she is fascinated and becomes determined to investigate the crime. Told in interview format interjected with email correspondence to a friend, True Crime Story shows Evelyn’s descent into the disappearance of Zoe all the way to its shocking and tragic conclusion.

Thank you to @bookmarked and @netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

I’m a sucker for a good true crime novel (you’d think working in the field would be enough, but apparently not 🤷🏼‍♀️) so I found the concept of this book super interesting. Knox blurs the lines between fiction and reality by inserting himself as a character in the book - a friend of the woman investigating the disappearance and ultimately the editor of the account. He interspaces interviews with emails between him and his friend while she is writing the book. This almost reminded me of a more accessible House of Leaves in essence (which I swear I am still slowly working my way through). The structure of the story and foreshadowing from the emails creates an air of mystery that constantly keeps the reader on their toes. Because of this and the many reveals, it is hard to figure out “whodunnit” until the very end.

Without spoilers, the only thing that didn’t ultimately work for me was the ending. On one hand, I felt Knox left it intentionally vague because true stories don’t always have a clear cut ending. On the other, some of what I think he was trying to do didn’t land as strongly, and it was the thread of the story I was most interested in so I was a bit disappointed. Still a very cool, meta look into the true crime genre, and absolutely put Knox on my radar to read his other books.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TRUE CRIME STORY by Joseph Knox

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-arc! This one is out 12/7!

At first, I really disliked this book and wanted to DNF. However, as I read, I realized how deeply woven the story was and I became more and more impressed. I'm so glad I kept going!

Zoe goes missing during her first semester of college, vanishing from her college dorm and is never seen again. Years later, Evelyn is writing a true-crime book about her disappearance, interviewing her twin sister Kim, roommates, and other people around her. The more that everyone shares, the more questions Evelyn and Joseph have.

This book is fiction...but nonfiction... but fiction? I honestly still am not sure. I went to Goodreads to check and eventually messaged someone else who was reading it too because it was mind-bending. Joseph includes himself as a character, references the publisher, and more that really made me think it was nonfiction. The way the interviews were written, the photos he included, and the emails back and forth... they were all brilliant.

As I mentioned, I was really not into this book to start. It took me a little while to get into the way it was written, but once I did I was so invested in Zoe's story.

It reminded me a little of IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE, in that it is something that happened in college and we're hearing about interviews many years later.

The ending was a little quick... I thought it was building up to being someone else and was angry at that character, so I was a little unsatisfied when it was someone else / how the crime was solved.

If you like thrillers, true crime, or collegiate suspense, add this one to your list!

This was a huge slog to get through. Like I said in one of my updates, this format would have worked well as an audiobook, but on the page it was incredibly drawn out and slow, ALL telling, no dialogue, action, or showing of any story.

It's presented as two writers who have researched a cold case of missing college student Zoe Nolan. In going back through old transcripts, as well as conducting new interviews with those involved, they are determined to discover what happened to her.

Through pages and pages of tedious interviews from all involved, we realize that everyone in turn is an unreliable narrator--because when it comes right down to it, aren't we all in real life? We position ourselves in the best possible light, and if that means bending the truth, deliberately hiding things, and misdirecting--if we know that it has no effect on the outcome, we all do it. But when you take it as a whole, the lies of omission and the truth bending just serves to make solving the crime nearly impossible.

I didn't care for the ending wrap up either. It was too abrupt, after so very much lead up. I only stuck with it because I wanted answers, and I was far from satisfied with what I got. The ending was way too neatly tied up, yet way too open ended for my liking (if that makes any sense).
I know many people really liked this one but it just did not work for me in so many ways.