This is a story about the abduction of Adolph Coors III on February 9, 1960. After not showing up for work calls were made to his home and to other family only to find out that he had left for work like he always every morning. When they did go looking for his vehicle it was found only two miles from his home. Because of the car and meetings of the brothers with different people in the morning all of the investigations got off to a very slow start. The elder Coors the father also wanted to keep everything hush as well because he may show up, he did not. By the time investigators from local, state and finally the FBI his wife had been answering the same questions numerous times which only made her life each more traumatic. Not only was the wife having problems but so was the children. Every phone call would be taped thinking it would be the kidnappers calling for ransom. What they did not know was that Adolph “AD” was already dead and they would be looking for his killer. The author takes you through the findings, the arrest and then the trial. What really got me though was the destruction of the family. Mary was totally in love with her husband and was slowly falling apart each and every day and then it got worse during and after the trial. The children tried as they did to help her but they had to help themselves as well, and on top of everything else because of the structure of the company Adolph Coors III family ended up with pretty much nothing, from the company or the father. The end of the book has all of the cousins getting into a business together but overall this was a very sad story, more than just the loss of a man it was a loss of a family. The author does a good job in relaying all of the information and for making it an easy to follow book.

This book is about the kidnapping and murder of Adolph Coors III by Joseph Corbett. The research in this book is excellent, along with the writing. The author gives a detailed background, which I do like, I really liked this book. Of course, this was a high profile case back in the day (in the 1960s) and Corbett was put on the FBI Top Ten list.. The son (and adult son as it were) was kidnapped on his way to work and then eventually murdered. The complete story was very interesting and made it hard to put down. I do recommend this book.

Having never heard the story, I was intrigued and this didn't fail to keep me flipping pages in true narrative nonfiction form.

What ultimately left me so saddened was that of the three brothers, Ad, seemed like the best of them and his disappearance/murder destroyed his family and not only that, but the connection that his kids had to the company that their forebearers started. The ultimate betrayal was that the man that most likely did it was not punished aptly, for either of his two murders. (Not really a spoiler, here)

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was that I seldom do with nonfiction. 5 stars for me, means that I want to shove the book into every person's hands that I see and sadly, most readers aren't that into nonfiction and even fewer are into true crime or murder, no matter how historical.

The Death of an Heir is an interesting read. I was unfamiliar with the story of the abduction of Adolph “Ad” Coors, the CEO of the Coors empire, and the subsequent manhunt for his abductor. On the morning of February 9, 1960, he was stopped less than two miles from his home by his would-be kidnapper. The crime went horribly awry, and no one could locate Ad nor the individual who tried to take him for many months. Philip Jett does a decent job relaying the story, but he is quite repetitive and verbose; it could have been at least 80 pages shorter. Moreover, the story jumps all over the place, and I struggled to follow his train of thought multiple times. I was glad I learned about the Coors family- what a sad tale and a dysfunctional family. I also really wished Jett had explained how the death of Ad affected who controlled Coors going forward. He alluded to the issues that could result from Ad’s death but then never followed through to explain how it all played out. Thanks to St. Martin’s and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this true crime/history book. A throwback to February 9, 1960. The same year I and a couple of my best friends were born. And to think that there was this huge crime committed against the very prominent Coors family in Golden, Colorado back then. I'm really kind of surprised I'd never read anything about it before. This was quite a big crime with the FBI involved and a lot of local and national resources used. I enjoyed the author's writing, for the most part, it moved along well and kept me very interested. A good book for true crime fans, for sure. I was given an ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.

I received this book from NetGallery in exchange for a fair & honest review.
First I love the True Crime genre, but this book left me disappointed and confused. The book seemed disjointed to me and read like an embellishment of news articles. To much seemed missing, granted it seemed to be a one on one crime where only the two people involved really know what happened, but facts seemed to be added randomly. More information about other family members was glossed over in the story and later embellished as afterthoughts. The author seems to indicate the lack of information was responsible because of the age of the crime, sorry, but that seems a cop-put. I have read current books on crimes from that era and older and they seem like complete accounts and complete books. This book seemed to just end, it almost seemed like part of a book, not a whole one. I'm sorry, but this book left me wanting to know so much more about the Coors Family and their lives and deaths and disappointed that the author didn't explore them more fully. I hate to write bad reviews, but had to give my honest opinion.

The Death of an Heir is a pretty interesting read. I would recommend it.

Read all my reviews at www.littorallibrarian.org

I admit, when it comes to my reading habits, my guilty pleasure is true crime. So a title like The Death of An Heir: Adolph Coors III and the Murder That Rocked an American Brewing Dynasty leaps out at me! That title turned out to be a spoiler for me, because I admit I had no awareness of this notorious crime – no idea that the CEO of the Coors family beer empire had been kidnapped and murdered at the age of 44 as he was on his way to work one morning in Golden, Colorado. (Of course, I was 12 when it happened, so I claim adolescence as my excuse!)

In the 1950s and 60s, the Coors name represented the dynasty that ruled over business and society in Colorado. Emerging stories about possible unionization of workers at the family business were seen as a threat by the patriarch, Adolph Coors, Jr., who drew a hard line against organized labor. His view was that the family had worked hard for what they had, so they could decide how to run the business and no one had a right to direct their activity. This led the authorities to suspect possible retaliation from one or more disgruntled workers when they began to investigate the disappearance of Adolph Coors III.

In February 1960, Adolph “Ad” Coors III, got into his car and left for work at the brewery, located twelve miles away. He saw a car stopped by a bridge, with the hood up, so he stopped to offer assistance. There he encountered a convicted murderer who had escaped from prison in California several years earlier, who thought if he made one big score by holding Ad for ransom, he would be set for life. Unfortunately, Ad was never seen alive again, and the search for his killer was exhaustive and included turf wars between the FBI and local law enforcement officials.

The search for Ad was the largest manhunt in the U.S. since the Lindbergh baby had been kidnapped. Everyone in the FBI up to and including the director J. Edgar Hoover worked on the attempt to locate the kidnapper(s?) and the victim. For months, Ad’s wife and four children waited and hoped for a miracle.

The Death of an Heir is a fascinating look at the incredibly detailed manhunt that resulted in the conviction of the kidnapper/murderer. The amount of tedious investigation that was required to be done manually before the Internet and the dedication of the FBI agents to “always get their man” is astonishing, although it turned out to be a Canadian officer who successfully located the suspect. The dislike between the federal and local authorities is emphasized by the way the showboat Colorado Sheriff (who later resigned in disgrace rather than be prosecuted on corruption charges) happily went to escort the suspect and escort him back to Colorado early one morning, only to be told that the suspect had been flown out of Canada in the dead of night by the FBI.

It’s an interesting story, particularly the detail on the manhunt and the impact of the tragedy on the family members, both in Ad’s immediate family and the larger Coors family empire. Very well researched and sourced, and an entertaining read. With thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review, I give this one four stars.

This is a book that will stay with you. This is the story of the kidnapping and murder of Adolph Coors, heir to the Coors brewing company. Even though this story is heartbreaking, Philip Jett has written such a great account of this tragedy. This story grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go. This crime was just so senseless. After I read this book, I went on Goggle to research and learn more about this crime. I highly recommend this book for all readers who like to read true crime dramas.

I had heard of this crime before but there isn't a lot written about it. This was a great book.

Mike