I had never heard of this case. I am ending the book with the belief that the wrong person is behind bars. I am unsure who needs to be held accountable. This seems to be another case of wanting a conviction so badly that common sense is thrown out the window. I did have a hard time following the writing as there was a lot of repetition. This is a compellingly story that I hope one day will be reinvestigated.

I have seen this story on a few crime shows and always wanted to know more about the case. I was very happy when NetGalley and the publisher allowed me to read this book. I found the book to be well written, and it cleared up some thoughts/questions I previously had. It also outlines things that were not presented in the crime shows. Could the cops had did a bit more? Maybe. But overall,this was a good read and I enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Wow. In an age where we see people released from prison after being falsely convicted, nothing should surprise us, however, Convenient Suspect is one huge surprise after another. The author does an excellent job of providing side-by-side evidence of why the convicted woman should never have been the only suspect. She illuminates the ridiculous nature of supposed motive and she shines a huge spotlight on the victim's husband. The saddest part of this book is there is a real person, sitting in a real prison, who is never going to get out if someone cannot convince the world she deserves another trial. Her candid answers to questions about inconsistencies of her alibi and other topics are disarming. I would recommend this book to friends. It is a haunting example of the justice system going wrong and the probable guilty parties still roaming free.

Thank you to Netgalley the publishing house and most of all, the author, for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This was a fantastic book, I hope the author writes more true crime novels. I loved the way she gave both side of the story, a story I have followed on the media a little. I feel like I really knew nothing about the story after I read this, what I had thought originally was completely turned around. This author told the story in such a straight forward way and it was so detailed and well done.

This is what a true crime book should be, not rumor and innuendo, but the true facts that show what the justice system does sometimes goes wrong and people do still get convicted of crimes they did not commit.

I will definitely be checking out this author again.

I remember this case from a forensics show I watched. So when I saw this book, I was very interested. Before starting it I was very skeptical that Patricia Rorrer could be innocent. However, after reading the book, I am not so positive any more. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the book was researched and written. It was not just something thrown together to try to start another "Making of a Murderer" type situation. I found it to be interesting and full of good, sound information. I was not aware of all of the mistakes made in the investigation and prosecution of Patricia Rorrer. I am also puzzled by a conviction that did not have any real evidence to back it up. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are into true crime, as I am.

I really enjoyed reading this after only getting one side of the story for so long. After having seen a certain forensic show that has played endlessly on TV about this case I think many of us thought we all knew this case was pretty well, and it was a foregone conclusion. But after reading this book, I feel that are some very serious doubts and that they have been there all along. There was much that was kept hidden. I so enjoy when more facts are brought out that bring a fuller picture to light. The local cops were so focused on the husband that they never checked his ex-girlfriend's alibi for months, and by then memories were not fresh. By that time they didn't believe anything she said or her witnesses, of course. My thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. Thanks for reading.

Some true crime authors try to write novels, some get far too bogged down in minute details - but Tammy Mal manages to deftly combine storytelling and factual analysis to tell the tale of the terrible murders of a young woman and her baby and to demonstrate that the woman convicted is almost certainly innocent. She set out to just tell the story and condemn the convicted but became alarmingly convinced very quickly that the convicted did not commit the murders. The investigation into the deaths was, in fact, not just bungled and mishandled but likely even deliberately manipulated in order to convict SOMEONE of these crimes and bring the illusion of justice to a small town thirsty for blood. But there are so many holes, so many questions, and so much evidence pointing to the fact that Patty Rorrer - the convicted woman, former girlfriend of the murdered woman's husband - did not have anything to do with the murder. This seems to be a strong case for actual innocence - but either gross negligence or deliberate sabotage of DNA evidence has kept her behind bars and without much hope for further appeals. I hope this book manages to bring attention to a case of wrongful conviction and, of course, to the fact that the investigation needs to be re-opened because the gruesome double murder has not ACTUALLY been solved.

What a sad and tragic story. This was a very interesting case, but it seemed like the writer was on autopilot when writing it. A lot of it was very boring to read.

I love reading fiction and non-fiction, if it holds my interest. This book exceeded my expectations. I was hooked from the first few pages. I hoped for a better ending, but not the authors fault.

I could comment on the crappy job of the justice system, but this review is to be about the actual writing of the book. Job well done!

Patricia Rorrer's conviction and continued imprisonment is a terrifying commentary on our judicial system, the veracity of those who are sworn to serve and protect us and the manipulation of evidence that defies belief! Tammy Mal writes in painstaking detail about the known events, the incredible trial inconsistencies and leaves you near breathless with wonder that Patricia Rorrer was brought to trial in the first place, let alone convicted. A brilliant read, a frightening outcome.

Such a sad story, but beautifully written. A miscarriage of justice in my opinion, with hair samples switched, and so many avenues to prove Patricia Rorrer's innocence, not followed up. The poor woman is still in jail, hope this book helps her gain her freedom.

What a sad story! I am something of a true crime junkie (my guilty pleasure) and was grateful to receive a copy of A Convenient Suspect from Chicago Review Press and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

Because I am a hard-core true crime junkie and a podcast aficionado (and don’t even get me started on my favorite true crime podcasts!), I have increasingly become aware of the many outrageous examples of prosecutorial misconduct and evidence tampering that have been brought to light by journalists, investigators, and just plain folks looking for truth and justice. Well, this book is another example of what seems to a case of settling on a suspect then tailoring the actions of the police and prosecutors to fit.

Here’s the situation: Shortly before Christmas in 1994, a young mother named Joann Katrinak and her three-month-old son, Alex, disappeared from their home in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. Their bodies weren’t found for four months, when they were found in nearby woods. The police investigated for three years before arresting another young mother named Patricia Rorrer. Although Patricia was the ex-girlfriend of Joann’s husband, she had never met either Joann or Alex.

The prosecution’s theory was that Patricia brutally beat Joann, shot her and left her and her baby for dead in the woods, and Patricia Rorrer was quickly tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Fast-forward to Rorrer filing for FBI records under the Freedom of Information Act, and finding a document stating that hairs that were looked at by the FBI did not have a hair root. This was the critical piece of evidence used at Rorrer’s trial, and her attorney is working to re-examine what he sees as a totally flawed forensic investigation.

He is adamant that once state police started to focus on Rorrer as a potential suspect, they went to North Carolina where she was living and they obtained a sample of her hair to compare to the ones found at the scene. He asks a good question: "… whether the hairs that were actually tested were in fact hairs taken from the seatback or were they part of that general pile of hairs that were taken from Patricia Rorrer in North Carolina?"

In writing this book, Mal uses information that was not previously made public, gathered from more than 10,000 official documents, including Pennsylvania State Police reports, FBI Files, forensic lab results, and the 6,500-page trial transcript.

The case has been covered by the usual sources that have popularized true crimes, including People magazine, Dateline, and Investigation Discovery but none of them have the depth of this book. It was well done, and sufficiently provoked enough outrage in me to cause me to read further about this case. Yes, the deaths of Joann and Alex were very sad, but a thirst for resolution that results in a rushed conviction based on sloppy forensic work is not only sad, it’s unjust. The subtitle wraps it up nicely: A double murder, a flawed investigation, and the railroading of an innocent woman. I’m giving this one 5 stars -- for its genre, it’s OUTSTANDING.

I recalled hearing about this case years ago, but never knew much about it until reading this book. I have to say, after reading this, I am inclined to agree with the author that there is definitely reason to doubt whether the accused is actually guilty. She wrote a compelling book, offering solid evidence--certainly enough to make anyone who reads this question whether they have the wrong person locked up.

This book is very thorough, and although I understand how important the hair evidence is to the overall theme of the book, I did think at times those parts were a bit boring to read through. I felt it could have been simplified a bit just for the cause of writing an interesting book. Still, this was very intriguing, and if you read it from the standpoint that this book is really about an unfortunate soul that took the blame for a crime she didn't commit, this is horrifying. No one wants to think this could happen to them, but reading this book will likely make you question everything you know about justice and how it is served.

If you like real life dramas and true crime, this is one that you want to have on your radar for November. You'd be sorry to miss it.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I felt this was a very well written and a very well researched book on this very interesting case of a woman and her infant son being murdered. It seems that the police bungled the investigation from the beginning, evidence was mishandled, contaminated and switched. A woman who lived 500 miles away, Patricia Rorrer, an ex-girlfriend of the woman's husband was tried, convicted and sentenced to live without parole. The woman's husband, who was a suspect for a while, failed two polygraphs and had a third one but the results were not made known. I am convinced that Patricia Rorrer was wrongly convicted of a crime she did not commit. I just hope she gets a new trial.

This is a pretty confusing book - which is not entirely the fault of the author, as it's a confusing case. In the mid-90s, Patricia Rorrer was convicted of the murder of her ex-boyfriend's wife and small son. Intending to write a book about how a woman could commit such a horrific crime, Mal instead found a bungled investigation, mishandled evidence, and indications that the Pennsylvania State Police had long been covering up any evidence of alternate suspects in order to cover for their own cavalier attitude toward the case. It's been far too long now to figure out what really happened, and the details of the evidence are messy (it's hard to tell, actually, what evidence really exists and what has just been talked about for so long that people make their own assumptions about it). Mal doesn't do an outstanding job presenting the case, but she does lay out a pretty good argument that Rorrer was railroaded and deserves a new trial.

The book Convenient Suspect chronicles case of the murders of Joann and Alex Katrinak and the subsequent trial and conviction of Patricia Rorrer. This is a case that I was unfamiliar with prior to reading this. The author began investigating this case with a firm belief in Rorrer's guilt but as she read about the case and talked with those involved she became convinced that Rorrer was innocent of the crime and convicted on compromised evidence, a shoddy defense attorney and investigators who simply wanted to get a conviction despite the lack of physical evidence. The author does a great job of investigating this case and laying out of the evidence. The recounting of the trial testimony was a little too in depth for this type of a book. The grandstanding of the last chapter was a tad bit self indulgent and unnecessary.

Couldn't put this book down! This book made me angry. Angry at how normal everyday people can't see the forest thru the trees. Seriously, an exciting and fascinating story. Not to be missed.