This. Just wow. This book pulled me in from page 1. It was written in such an engaging way - I thought the continuous individual commentary versus a true narrative would have been jarring and difficult to read but somehow it’s what made this amazing. The author did an excellent job bringing this book to life in lieu of the craziness described within. 10/10 recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review

This one was odd, but thatś what kept me reading. Told as a true crime story, it tells the tale of Zoe Nolan who goes missing and the investigative reporter who is writing her story. However, another part of the story involves the author and his emails with the reporter...who is recently deceased. All in all, both stories were intriguing. Recommended.

“True Crime Story” is my first by author Joesph Knox. Part true crime, fiction, and mystery, it’s told in a metafictional style about the unsolved disappearance of a 19 year-old Uni girl, Zoe, about 10 years ago. The cold-case is now being investigated by fictional writer Evelyn, presented as a friend to Knox himself, who then picks up the case upon her passing. On first glance, I should have really loved this book - I do like this new mystery/thriller trope of authors inserting themselves into the novel (looking at you Horowitz & Chizmar) as exposition. I think it was probably the interview format that I did not care for, as I have felt similarly about others in this style (i.e. Daisy Jones). Also, it seems a bit long, and I struggled around the half-way mark. I do still think that the concept presented here is intriguing. My thanks to NetGalley, and the publisher for generously providing me with a complimentary DRC of this book upon request. The rating and opinions shared are my own and were not affected by this exchange.

At the risk of over-hyping this book: I am obsessed. This book was insane in the best way possible. If you are someone who loves true crime podcasts (shout out to my fellow murderinos and crime junkies) or Investigation Discovery documentaries, I can confidently say this book is worth picking up

This book is crime fiction pitched as an actual true crime story. Author, Joesph Knox picks up where his friend, Evelyn, left off investigating the disappearance of Zoe Nolan from her university. The true uniqueness of this book is in the format. The entirety of the book is a combination of email exchanges between Joseph and Evelyn, as well as interviews from Zoe’s friends and family recounting the events before and after her disappearance.

If you made a Dateline Secrets Uncovered episode into a book, this would be it. This definitely makes the list of my most memorable reads this year!

Zoe Nolan is a college student in Manchester and vanishes from her dorm one day back in 2011. Like many other missing girls, her case unfortunately went cold and she was not found. Joseph Knox is a crime writer that decides to write about Zoe’s story. Together with his friend, Evelyn, they investigate the case thoroughly. What they uncover is shocking and unimaginable!

An interesting “fiction” novel written in the style of a true crime documentary. I enjoyed this book which was in a very different style than I typically read. I found it engaging and plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes. The dark writing style works here and I would recommend TRUE CRIME STORY to any thriller fan looking for something a little bit different.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

What a captivating, twisty read! Well written, unique, fast paced, and tense! Had a hard time putting it down, which I loved! Uniquely written, with such a charismatic style that really engaged me! What else can I say, but read it! Highly, highly recommend!

I didn't expect to like the meta-meta-narrative, but as the meta-narrative grew on me, so did the story about the story telling a story. Extremely good twists. The ending of the narrative was eye-popping, but the ending of the meta-narrative fell a bit flat. Still. I was totally hooked; making every single character, including the meta-narrator (who is also sometimes the narrator?) and the meta-meta-narrator (same), totally 100 percent unreliable and yet still compelling enough to want to listen to and understand and use their interviews — molded into narratives by two unreliable narrators! — to make sense of the mystery was pretty clever. It really does your head, changing your trust in characters from chapter to chapter, making one and then another seem suspicious. Messing about with the timelines so you never feel like you fully grasp what's happened. Very well done, and I never though, you know, ugh, another Rashomon-in-[random location/time] while reading it. Oh and the atmosphere! Totally creepy and horrible the entire time, like the constant fog? The hideous building? The timeframe! Just really good. The sort of epilogue is a little pat, a little "congratulations on your happy ending, I guess?" But never mind that, it doesn't at all detract from a really unsettling, brain-bending crime thriller. It rewards a close and critical read, but it also puts you off with its pacing and the mounting certainty that you're nearly at the Big Reveal, so if you can at all resist that pull, read carefully, think critically, and enjoy the engaging, upsetting story.

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! This is in my top 10 ever for sure and tied for best book this year. What a creative way to tell a story and boy was it effective. My heart was pounding the whole time. Just when you think you know what’s happening everything shifts. This book preyed on my darkest fears being female. The players were complex and so well developed. I am literally at a loss for words. The realism was phenomenal. The storytelling was some of the best I’ve read. This is hands down the most creatively written novel I have ever read and it made this book simply astounding.
Fiction and Non Fiction crime lovers, read this book. It’s amazing. Bonus stars for sure.

When I first started the book, I had to double check that it was a fiction book. It definitely reads like it is a true crime story. If you are looking for troubled characters, you will for sure find them here.

This book is completely engaging and full of twists and turns that slowly draw you in until you’re firmly clenched in the story’s grasp. It’s the type of book where you read a few chapters and then you look up and you’re suddenly sitting in a dark room with a gross, cold mug of tea sitting on the table in front of you because somehow hours past without you noticing.

Told primarily in the format of interviews and emails between characters (think, a murdery ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’), this is a quick read. It was a bit slow to start, but I was drawn in just from the prologue to the point where I actually googled ‘Zoe Nolan missing’ because I wasn’t sure if she was just a character or if she was actually a real person who had been adapted into novel form.

If you loved the way that “Daisy Jones and the Six” was told-you MIGHT love this one too.

Struggling writer Evelyn Mitchell becomes obsessed with “girls who go missing” and decides to focus her book on one in particular-Zoe Nolan, who walked out of her shared accommodations at Tower Block and was never seen again.

In this fictional story, Evelyn turns to crime writer, Joseph Knox (actual author of this book) for help. The entire book is told through the words of those she interviewed-what they remember-misremember-and flat out lie about, (Daisy Jones style) as well as through her emails to Joseph.

So, why is he the one to publish the story, instead of Evelyn?

There are Publisher’s notes and Editor’s notes-added I think-to have this fictional story read as true crime-but I just found them to be confusing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Perhaps, because I recently read and loved “Chasing the Boogeyman” by Richard Chizmar, (5⭐️ for me) this one just didn’t compare. That story was also a blend of True Crime and Fiction, with the author inserting himself into the narrative, but as I read that one, I had to stop and Google the crime, several times, convinced that it was true.

I did not find myself doing that here.

In addition, once the “perpetrator” was revealed-I just could NOT buy into the motivations behind the things taken from Zoe’s room (you will know what I am referring to when you get there-Ick! 😖) or what was done.

The author has many fans from his Aidan Waits thriller series, and this book has mostly positive reviews, so you may want to read a sample before deciding if this one is for you.

But, it just wasn’t for me.
2.5 ⭐️ rounded up

Available December 7, 2021 from Sourcebooks Landmark

Thank You to the Publisher for my gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

This fictional novel presents itself as a "true crime story" about the disappearance of college student Zoe Nolan. It's also a bit of a mystery wrapped in a mystery as author Joseph Knox shares what author Evelyn Mitchell has written about Zoe's disappearance and her interviews with Zoe's friends and family. While in the course of her investigation, Evelyn is found dead in her car. Joseph completes Evelyn's research and the book with the reveal of what really happened to Zoe in 2011. The story is told through interviews with Zoe's friends and acquaintances, as well as emails between the two authors. I recommend this book to any fans of true crime or mystery. Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

True Crime Story- did not like. Wanted to like, but was very scattered and hard to understand where plot was going. Could not get into

Knox, Joseph. True Crime Story: A Novel. Illinois: Sourcebooks, 2012

True Crime Story starts out as do most true crime stories, telling the reader about a crime and a victim.


In the early hours of Saturday, December 17, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a nineteen-year-old University of Manchester student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.

She was never seen again
It proceeds, as many true crime books do, to explain how the author got involved in the case. We soon have a layered story: that of the author, the woman who got the author involved in the case, the backstory of the victim, the stories of her friends, her flatmates and those interviewed about the disappearance and finally, the story of the disappearance itself.

Look again at the title. It is NOT True Crime Story, it is True Crime Story: A Novel. For this is a novel, a story constructed not using the routine narrative pattern. The reader learns about Zoe, her family, her friends, her flatmates and a broad swathe of others with whom she was in contact in her life. On one level, thus, the book is about the attempts to solve a crime while on another level discussion of the crime is a tool to give us more insight into these people, these places this time.

True Crime Story: A Novel is not only enjoyable as a novel. The reader is free to read it AS a true crime story. The reader may enjoy analyzing the ways in which Knox uses the conventions of ‘true crime’ books not only to tell a story (a fictional account) of a crime but also to tell a story about a group of individuals and their interactions. The reader may also enjoy playing with the ‘messages’ or ‘meanings’ that might be implied. Is the author suggesting with the title that this fictional story is, in a sense as ‘real’ or at least ‘as accurate’ as most true crime books? Is the author boldly saying “well reader, if you like this type of book, let me give you a case in which no real person was hurt? Is the reader more invested in understanding the missing girl and the reasons for her disappearance or in watching the impact of that disappearance on those around her—her parents, her sister, her flat mates?

Knox has created a puzzle. Not simple the puzzle of what happened to Zoe but also a puzzle about the nature of social interactions, a puzzle as to how well we can truly know any other person. A puzzle as to why we read true crime stories.

Which of these puzzles is the REAL core of the story. Only you, the reader, can decide.

Knox, Joseph. True Crime Story: A Novel. Illinois: Sourcebooks, 2012

True Crime Story starts out as do most true crime stories, telling the reader about a crime and a victim.


In the early hours of Saturday, December 17, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a nineteen-year-old University of Manchester student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.

She was never seen again
It proceeds, as many true crime books do, to explain how the author got involved in the case. We soon have a layered story: that of the author, the woman who got the author involved in the case, the backstory of the victim, the stories of her friends, her flatmates and those interviewed about the disappearance and finally, the story of the disappearance itself.

Look again at the title. It is NOT True Crime Story, it is True Crime Story: A Novel. For this is a novel, a story constructed not using the routine narrative pattern. The reader learns about Zoe, her family, her friends, her flatmates and a broad swathe of others with whom she was in contact in her life. On one level, thus, the book is about the attempts to solve a crime while on another level discussion of the crime is a tool to give us more insight into these people, these places this time.

True Crime Story: A Novel is not only enjoyable as a novel. The reader is free to read it AS a true crime story. The reader may enjoy analyzing the ways in which Knox uses the conventions of ‘true crime’ books not only to tell a story (a fictional account) of a crime but also to tell a story about a group of individuals and their interactions. The reader may also enjoy playing with the ‘messages’ or ‘meanings’ that might be implied. Is the author suggesting with the title that this fictional story is, in a sense as ‘real’ or at least ‘as accurate’ as most true crime books? Is the author boldly saying “well reader, if you like this type of book, let me give you a case in which no real person was hurt? Is the reader more invested in understanding the missing girl and the reasons for her disappearance or in watching the impact of that disappearance on those around her—her parents, her sister, her flat mates?

Knox has created a puzzle. Not simple the puzzle of what happened to Zoe but also a puzzle about the nature of social interactions, a puzzle as to how well we can truly know any other person. A puzzle as to why we read true crime stories.

Which of these puzzles is the REAL core of the story. Only you, the reader, can decide.

Knox, Joseph. True Crime Story: A Novel. Illinois: Sourcebooks, 2012

True Crime Story starts out as do most true crime stories, telling the reader about a crime and a victim.


In the early hours of Saturday, December 17, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a nineteen-year-old University of Manchester student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.

She was never seen again
It proceeds, as many true crime books do, to explain how the author got involved in the case. We soon have a layered story: that of the author, the woman who got the author involved in the case, the backstory of the victim, the stories of her friends, her flatmates and those interviewed about the disappearance and finally, the story of the disappearance itself.

Look again at the title. It is NOT True Crime Story, it is True Crime Story: A Novel. For this is a novel, a story constructed not using the routine narrative pattern. The reader learns about Zoe, her family, her friends, her flatmates and a broad swathe of others with whom she was in contact in her life. On one level, thus, the book is about the attempts to solve a crime while on another level discussion of the crime is a tool to give us more insight into these people, these places this time.

True Crime Story: A Novel is not only enjoyable as a novel. The reader is free to read it AS a true crime story. The reader may enjoy analyzing the ways in which Knox uses the conventions of ‘true crime’ books not only to tell a story (a fictional account) of a crime but also to tell a story about a group of individuals and their interactions. The reader may also enjoy playing with the ‘messages’ or ‘meanings’ that might be implied. Is the author suggesting with the title that this fictional story is, in a sense as ‘real’ or at least ‘as accurate’ as most true crime books? Is the author boldly saying “well reader, if you like this type of book, let me give you a case in which no real person was hurt? Is the reader more invested in understanding the missing girl and the reasons for her disappearance or in watching the impact of that disappearance on those around her—her parents, her sister, her flat mates?

Knox has created a puzzle. Not simple the puzzle of what happened to Zoe but also a puzzle about the nature of social interactions, a puzzle as to how well we can truly know any other person. A puzzle as to why we read true crime stories.

Which of these puzzles is the REAL core of the story. Only you, the reader, can decide.

Knox, Joseph. True Crime Story: A Novel. Illinois: Sourcebooks, 2012

True Crime Story starts out as do most true crime stories, telling the reader about a crime and a victim.


In the early hours of Saturday, December 17, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a nineteen-year-old University of Manchester student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.

She was never seen again
It proceeds, as many true crime books do, to explain how the author got involved in the case. We soon have a layered story: that of the author, the woman who got the author involved in the case, the backstory of the victim, the stories of her friends, her flatmates and those interviewed about the disappearance and finally, the story of the disappearance itself.

Look again at the title. It is NOT True Crime Story, it is True Crime Story: A Novel. For this is a novel, a story constructed not using the routine narrative pattern. The reader learns about Zoe, her family, her friends, her flatmates and a broad swathe of others with whom she was in contact in her life. On one level, thus, the book is about the attempts to solve a crime while on another level discussion of the crime is a tool to give us more insight into these people, these places this time.

True Crime Story: A Novel is not only enjoyable as a novel. The reader is free to read it AS a true crime story. The reader may enjoy analyzing the ways in which Knox uses the conventions of ‘true crime’ books not only to tell a story (a fictional account) of a crime but also to tell a story about a group of individuals and their interactions. The reader may also enjoy playing with the ‘messages’ or ‘meanings’ that might be implied. Is the author suggesting with the title that this fictional story is, in a sense as ‘real’ or at least ‘as accurate’ as most true crime books? Is the author boldly saying “well reader, if you like this type of book, let me give you a case in which no real person was hurt? Is the reader more invested in understanding the missing girl and the reasons for her disappearance or in watching the impact of that disappearance on those around her—her parents, her sister, her flat mates?

Knox has created a puzzle. Not simple the puzzle of what happened to Zoe but also a puzzle about the nature of social interactions, a puzzle as to how well we can truly know any other person. A puzzle as to why we read true crime stories.

Which of these puzzles is the REAL core of the story. Only you, the reader, can decide.

Reivew has been posted at Goodreads and on my own blog Bookish Commentss https://mmycomments.com/2021/08/24/book-review-true-crime-story-a-novel/

After making his debut with the wonderful Aidan Waits seires, Joseph Knox is back and better than ever with this very different, truly original contribution to the thriller genre.

It's been seven years since Zoe Nolan, a university student of nineteen seemingly vanished in to thin air, never to be seen again. Evelyn Mitchell, an aspiring writer, has taken a special interest in this still unsolved mystery and dives head first in to the case, determined to piece together what really happened that fateful day. Through interviews, correspodences and transcripts the lines of reality and fiction blur leaving the reader in desperate need of a reminder to not believe everything you read.

As a real true crime junkie, I jumped at the chance to read this story as soon as I came across it, and while I knew Knox was a talented author I had no idea what I was signing up for but I knew whatever it was, I was loving being drawn in to the twists and deception and genius that is True Crime Story. I must admit, I've been sitting on this one for a few days, not quite sure how to go about writing a review as it truly reads exactly like a true crime case, once simply cannot approach this book the same way they would a clearly fictional novel.

That being said, if true crime books, shows, and articles are your thing you're likely going to love this wonderful lie, even as you struggle in frustration to separate fact from fiction.

Highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and the supremely talented Joseph Knox for granting me an advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This is one I cannot wait to purchase as there's a space on my bookshelf made for this wonder!

An intriguing premise: a mock nonfiction true crime novel. And, that bit was well done. But, as another reviewer points out, there are some cringeworthy scenes and a very disappointing resolution.

While I was reading this, I really enjoyed it, and was all set to give it 4-5 stars. The characters were interesting and complex, the story kept me guessing, the prose flowed well. BUT (big but). Then I got to the end.

SPOILER:

Remember the discussion of homophobia in Behind Her Eyes (https://aninjusticemag.com/breaking-down-the-homophobia-problem-with-netflixs-behind-her-eyes-7a61db59fd51)? Well, it's the same twist here: the only gay character in the story did it, because he was so jealous of a pretty straight woman. This is such a lazy and harmful trope, and I'm amazed that anyone would publish a book with something so offensive in it. There's also a really gross element about fertility and tampons that I won't even go into. But let's say that although it was a fun and twisty book, I will not be recommending it.

Such a fascinating book. This was really good and I had to keep reminding myself that it's fiction. Or is it? So well written and so compelling!

Aspiring writer Evelyn is writing a book investigating the unsolved disappearance of student Zoe Nolan some years before. She seeks feedback from her friend and mentor, published crime author Joseph Knox- and here is the twist. Knox is a real person and author of this (fictional) account of how she uncovers what happened to the missing girl. She interviews Zoe’s friends, parents and others involved with the case, but as she gets closer to the truth, it becomes apparent that she herself could be in great danger. I really enjoyed the unusual style of this novel, which uses transcripts of interviews to explain the events leading up Zoe walking out of a party at her student flat and never being seen again. The characters all have their own (different) interpretations of what was going on, and all have their own motivations and prejudices, and some are obviously more reliable than others. I was gripped and kept changing my mind about what had happened to Zoe and why as more pieces of the puzzle are revealed. The characters, although largely unlikeable, are convincing and layered, and the seamier side of student life and relationships is well portrayed. Underlying the narrative is a kind of sly humour, despite the often dark subject matter. It has a freshness and vitality that makes it stand out from others in the crime/psychological thriller genre. Recommended.

I began this book with some confusion. With publisher's notes and transcripts it does read as non-fiction. But it is in fact all completely made up.

Reviewing it as such, it is an interesting take on crime fiction, with plenty of twists and suspicion falling on all the characters involved. But it left me a little unmoved and uninterested in finding out the truth. The buzz created around the book was intriguing but the actual story didn't engage me and I labored through to the end reluctantly.