This was an interesting read, but there was a lot of conjecture within the book. While some of the circumstantial evidence does seem to point in a certain direction, there is not enough to say one way or another for sure.

I was also really mixed on Hazel. Was she truly a good girl, or is that just what the author wants to believe. Again, without concrete evidence, we will never know.

With some proper editing, this book could be very decent. It also needs to have an addendum stating that all views within the book are those of the author.

I usually love books like this, books that tackle infamous cases. However, from the start I struggled with the pacing and the writing style. It didn’t flow very well, this read more like a second draft rather than a finished book. I also disliked the way Drake kept referring to Hazel as a “sexy” popular girl, it felt entirely inappropriate and unnecessary for the story. A vast majority of the book focused on Hazel’s connection to Twin Peaks without uncovering any new information or leads. This just didn’t work for me, it was rushed and certain commentary was entirely inappropriate.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

Hazel Was A Good Girl By Jerry C. Drake
Publication Date: June 10, 2025
Publisher: CLASH Books

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐✨
(3.5 ⭐ - Rounded Up To 4⭐)

📚MY REVIEW:

As a die-hard fan of all things Twin Peaks, I was immediately intrigued by the premise of Hazel Was A Good Girl. I never knew that Twin Peaks' main plot, the murder of Laura Palmer, was actually based on the real-life killing of Hazel Drew in upstate New York in 1908. I was so excited to be approved for this ARC through NetGalley and the publisher.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was so much more than just a connection to Twin Peaks! Drake really researched not just this unsolved murder, but also the history of the local community, the history of each person associated with the case, and how everyone connected with the victim. This was cold case research and a review of a questionable police investigation, combined with what read like historical non-fiction too.

At times, though, the writing became frustratingly dry, seemingly redundant and repetitive. The first half of the book began to feel really long-winded after the first few chapters, and I found myself skimming the minutia that didn't seem important to the true crime case at hand. It almost felt as if I were reading a bullet-pointed list of facts, in short and staccato sentences. I realize Drake was trying to get across a whole lot of facts and history he'd learned in his research, but there was a lack of storytelling prose which made it difficult to keep my interest. As a result, I found myself able to read only a handful of chapters in each sitting. Some reviewers were bothered by grammatical errors, but those didn't bother me as much as I know this was an advanced copy and not the final book.

The second half of the book piqued my interest again, as Drake presented his logical and pragmatic layout of the timeline of Hazel's life and movements in her last few days. I really enjoyed the systematic way Drake went through each potential explanation and/or suspect for Hazel's death, eliminating theories which simply did not make sense or did not match the facts. And I really loved his theory about the potential killer, as his rationale made a lot of sense and tied so many things together that had been presented earlier in the book. My biggest gripe was that I wished the logic, rationale, and easier-to-follow presentation of information had arrived sooner than the second half of the book.

Fans of true crime, cold cases, murder mysteries, or Twin Peaks are likely to really enjoy this book! It was fun to learn about this cold case and the way it inspired Twin Peaks. Thank you so much to NetGalley and CLASH Books for this advanced e-book in exchange for my honest review.

#HazelWasAGoodGirl #JerryCDrake #CLASHBooks #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #SolvingTheMurderThatInspiredTwinPeaks #ARC #truecrime #coldcases #HazelDrew #LauraPalmer #twinpeaks #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations

This is the perfect book for ANY Twin Peaks fan that loves true crime !!

The research the author Jerry poured into this investigation of who killed Hazel Drew does not go unnoticed!!

Hazel is a Good Girl is a labour of love and I loved reading this and dissecting along with the author and appreciated all the links and newspaper articles, it was a very hands on and unique experience!!

Thank you NetGalley , CLASH Books & Jerry C Drake for this amazing true crime cult classic inspired ARC !!

Jerry Drake really, really wants you to know that Hazel Drew inspired Twin Peaks.

It if were just brought up once or twice, I'd understand - but no, he mentions it CONSTANTLY. Hazel Drew, like Laura Palmer, was a "sexy blonde woman" (the phrase you're looking for there is "abused teenager," Jerry). Hazel Drew's case bears some similarities to that of Grace Brown, whose murderer wrote a letter to a woman named <i>Hazel</i> just before his execution - synchronicity! Just like in Twin Peaks! It's "eerily coincidental" that self-proclaimed psychics at the time of Hazel's death claimed to see the murder in dreams, just like Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks! Hazel's ghost led Drake to her grave via an oak tree in the cemetery, which when you think about it is kind of like something that might happen in Twin Peaks, and also the root of "Drew" is the same as the Celtic word for "oak," which means that Hazel came from a "druidic lineage," which when you think about it is the kind of thing that might come up in - say it with me now - Twin Peaks. (No it's not. Twin Peaks is full of Tibetan Buddhist mysticism, but it has no interest in druids.)

There is a subset of true crime books out there where the author is as fascinated with themself and their process as they are by the murder they're covering: I'd call it the James Renner special, but frankly, I don't want to give James Renner that much credit. Either way, that's very much the attitude on display here. In fairness, however, at least part of Drake's insistence on his own presence in the narrative is simply down to the fact that there's not much to write about Hazel herself: there's such a dearth of information on her life and death, Drake is left writing whole chapters about the layout of the hotel where she was last seen alive just to bump up the word count. He cautions against "supposition and speculation which, if we are not careful, could become irresponsible," and then immediately spins off into accusing Hazel's aunt of covering up for her murderer and getting rewarded with a rich husband. ("The D.A. and the investigators could never get a middle-aged domestic to say a damn word -" oh, okay, cool to get this glimpse into how you view middle-aged women <i>and</i> the working class.) Maybe Hazel was having a lesbian affair with Mina Jones! This suggestion comes directly before Drake looks down his nose as Will Clemens as a man who "liked to write about the deaths of pretty girls, introducing some grandiose mystery man into the mix as the murderer," a fairly rich accusation coming from a guy who's writing a book claiming that Hazel Drew was (spoilers?) murdered by the married employer who she was having an affair with, and that said murder was covered up by her aunt, the district attorney, and half a dozen railroad tycoons. The "solution" in this book is pure uncut speculation.

The murder of Hazel Drew is never going to be solved. It's been over a hundred years; witnesses are dead, evidence is gone, and the truth of the matter has long since been lost. So I don't want to come down too hard on someone for speculating; at this point, it's all we can do. But I can and will come down hard on him for writing this nonsensical ramble where he casts himself as Dale Cooper and drags a bunch of dead people through the mud so that he can play detective. Hazel Drew was not Laura Palmer, and this book isn't about either girl. It's a book about Jerry Drake.

Also: frankly, this book is really badly edited. "Presumptuous, then, to assume they were all written by men, then?" Come on.

When Hazel drew is found murdered, she not only inspired Police officers to quickly solve the case the case but she also inspired a TV show.
This is a well researched book and i found myself googling the facts.

It is also a sympathetic account and the author has drawnon emotion and personal feelings in order to make the book less dramatic.

An fascinating read.

This is a very well structured and written account which strikes the unusual balance of careful research with effective story telling. Without sacrificing any detail or potential evidence, the author paints a picture of the subject as an individual and the people around her as characters in her story. There are plenty of useful references to explore and I liked how the author wove in the odd personal story, such as the events at Hazel’s gravesite.