I am not so sure that the murder in question here was sufficiently rich enough with content to warrant a complete book. I could see this account condensed somewhat and included in some sort of true crime anthology. The author includes material involving her family's history (which seemingly does pertain to the area), history of Corvallis, and other side-trips that don't really seem to contribute or add a great deal of context to the actual murder of Dick Kitchel. Overall, I felt this was a bit of a lackluster read lacking content and interest.

I was able to find it after all to read it , it wasn't showing up under the title but when I went to look double check I found it under the author's name on my amazon account . One of the things I like about this book was that it was a on a case I never heard of and i loved how the author brought it to life as well .

In 1967 a 17 yr old by the name of Dick Kitchel went missing after attending a party in Oregon. Ten days later a body was found beaten and strangled to death floating in the Williamette River. At that time there were several other big stories that took over much of what was being discussed. The police felt that they had a suspect but could not prove his guilt enough to arrest him. The writer of this true crime novel grew up in this area and decided to write about the cold case. Now, 50 years later there is still no end to this mystery. A cold case detective has taken another look as well at this murder mystery and has come to his own conclusion.p, however the killer or killers have been able to evade justice. The writing in this book is somewhat convoluted and tends to travel onto something less relevant many times throughout. It is obvious that the writer wants us to know about her life in Oregon as well. I felt that the like and death of this young man is tragic and the only person writing about it really does not grab ahold of the seriousness of the situation. I am glad that someone wrote a book about him and now his life will be remembered by who ever reads this.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

When I sit down and read a true crime book it’s what I expect to read. Even though there was a murder I felt like we learned more about the author and her upbringing and life than Dick the boy who died. I am glad that he will be remembered because of this book I just wish we knew more.

I am a great fan of true crime, but to me this book would be more suited to a memoir genre. The story tells of a 17 year old high school student, Dick Kitchel who was found in the Willamette River in Corvallis. Several people were interviewed, but although the police had a suspect, they could not gather enough evidence to arrest anyone.
The story did not flow well and the author seemed to go off on a tangent with her memories of the town. I read to the end hoping that when the cold case detectives went through all the evidence again, that they would find something tangible. A disappointing finish for me with many unanswered questions, though I understand that in the late 1960s, there was not the forensic science available that we have now.
I do thank the author and publisher for my copy in exchange for my honest review

I am a huge fan of true crime stories but the structure of this story really threw me. The story could have been better told. The case presented has enough information without the author thinking back to what she was doing at that period in her life. I prefer to read straight facts about an unsolved case and not anything else that the author is thinking about at the time.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I hope the author tries again with another case and can set it up in such a way that it is more enjoyable to read.

More of an atmospheric study of life in small-town Oregon, USA, in the 1960s, than a satisfying true crime book; instead, Morris uses the murder which happened in her hometown to look at life at this time in this contentious decade, to study the lives of several people then and now, to look at the way the murder exposed the way life was lived and affected these others. I'm not sure it's ultimately satisfying - it doesn't quite proclaim what it's doing in the beginning, so someone expecting a satisfying catharsis a la 'true' true crime may feel let down, although it does tie up the murder as much as it can be done. It's not a satisfying crime, but it is an interesting look at an interesting time.

Many thanks to Wildblue Press for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review. On October 21, 1967, the body of seventeen-year-old Dick Kitchel was dragged out of Willamette River after having been missing for ten days. Small I'm stature and from the wrong side of the tracks, the police had often been called to his home to break up fights between him and his father. He was known as a tough guy and had recently been arrested for drunk driving. The last anyone had seen of him was at a get together the weekend he went missing. Observations differed, but there had at least been a heated discussion and a ride off the property. How did he die? And who did it? This book sets up the answers quite well. I didn't have the feeling of suspense when I read this. I basically knew who it was. I just wanted him caught. That's what kept me driven to finish. That's what was crushing. Dickie seemed like a sweet kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. And his dad was a punk. I couldn't stand him. The ending broke my heart

Thank you to NetGalley and Wildblue Press for a copy of this book.
This book is written by Rebecca Morris, a woman who grew up with the murder victim. Years later she has decided to look into the murder and how it affected the people of the town.
What I liked most about this book is the incredible detail we get about the small town but also her family and friends. It doesn't really read like a true crime book, but a memoir. It is a very visual novel in my opinion because the descriptions paint a very vivid picture of the social sphere but also the town.
Overall, it is a sad story about a boy with a hard life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wildblue Press for a copy of this book!!

Rebecca Morris did a wonderful job in describing how it was in her world while she was growing up. She is very detailed and described things so well that I thought I was actually there at times.

I am very sorry that such a tragedy happened to this young man. So many unanswered questions. You wish that they had the technology that we have today and that there would have been more evidence.

I did like the follow-up of "where are they now." I do think that the last line of this story "He was unfinished," will stay with me for a long time. So many lives are taken every day, every year....so many lives were "unfinished."

This is a story of a murdered boy in the 60's. However, it should be classified more as a memoir than as a true crime. While we do learn about the murdered boy and the case, we learn more about the author's life during this time. I did find myself learning more about the area where the murder was committed and all the players. I liked the small town story and could see the good, the bad and the ugly throughout the town. If you like memoirs with a mystery thrown in, check this one out!

This book was written from a personal view as Rebecca knew the victim from her hometown., therefore the book was really a memoir. It was still good to read but as a true crime fan I would prefer to read about the murder rather than someones hometown.

Dick Kitchel was a senior in high school in 1967 when his bloated and blackened body was found in a local river. Detectives worked with what little information they had to try to solve the murder, but over 50 years later, Dick's murder remains unsolved. Dick hung around with a rough crowd, including a young couple whose home he visited on the last night he was alive, when they were throwing a party. Could any of the party attendees have killed Dick? Likewise, Dick was being raised by his severe, surly father, Ralph Kitchel, who displayed some questionable behavior after his son was killed. Was Dick beat to death by his father?


Rebecca Morris, author of A Murder in My Hometown, was a classmate of Dick's, so she had a personal insight into the case. In that sense, she brought a very personal perspective. Although not personal friends with Dick, Morris was able to evoke the setting in which this tragedy took place, and included some personal photographs, such as yearbook pictures, that added a lot to the story.

A Murder in My Hometown is divided into three sections. The first section deals exclusively with Dick's murder in October 1967 and the immediate aftermath, including the investigation and any leads that came forth. The second section was titled 1968 and focused on the second half of what would have been Dick's senior year of high school. This section felt like it could have belonged in a separate book. It was nice to get a glimpse of what life would have been like for Dick had he lived, and it gave an all important look at the culture of the 60s, but there was no flow from this section to the section preceding it as well as the section following it. The last section takes us to "modern day" (2008), where the case is being re-investigated. As is often the problem with cases so old, many of the key players had died, and memories had ceased being as sharp.


As far as true crime goes, I was invested in this story. I knew there was a good chance that there was no resolution to the case, which isn't a problem for me as a reader, and although it can be problematic to some, I think there is enough there so that the reader doesn't feel slighted. Overall, I wish the book had felt more cohesive. I can see why the book was broken up in sections, but it wasn't successful.

I was intrigued by the title, description, and cover. I enjoy reading true crime novels. It started out interesting, but I quickly found it was more of a memoir/walk down memory lane.
There wasn't a lot of actual intrigue or resolution, just a recalling of rumors etc. There were a lot of tangent stories which really had no relevance. I quickly bored of it and read through it as quickly as possible.
People from the area and time period might find it interesting, but other than that, I can't recommend it.

I was very pleased to have been approved for A Murder In My Hometown
by Rebecca Morris from WildBlue Press. I grew up in one of the many small rural towns near Corvallis during the late 60's so I read this true crime story from a different perspective than some readers. Corvallis was "The Big City" for us and Rebecca Morris took me home to a wonderful time and place despite the turmoil of the times. Unlike other reviewers I felt her personal story was as important to the book as was Dick Kitchel's story. She painted a beautiful picture of a time and place long lost, when a senior high school class was impacted by the murder of a classmate.
Her research was impeccable as were the interviews with those who where there in 1967 and those involved in the murder investigation. The murder of Dick was written with care and respect. There was no unnecessary unpleasant details. Since This crime has never been solved though several people she interviewed pointed to the person they felt was responsible. This is a great story, very well written and a wonderful memorial to Dick Kitchel's memory.
Thank you NetGalley, Rebecca Morris and Wildblue Press for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like this was unnecessarily sensationally titled. It is really a memoir of an older woman returning to her hometown where a murder had coincidentally occurred. The description was also very misleading, the book was fine but a bit boring. It seemed like she wanted to write a memoir and used a murder to cash in.

This was more about the authors return to her hometown than a story about murder. Fans of true crime may not be satisfied with this.

This is a good book by true crime writer Rebecca Morris about a murder that happened in her hometown of a young man, Dick Kitchel 17, who disappeared after a party in the fall of 1967 in Corvallis, Oregon. Eventually, a body was spotted ten days later floating in the Willamette River by two children and was pulled to shore and taken to be autopsied.

The case dragged on for many years with lots of suspicions and turned into quite a big cold case with multiple suspects. Many others thought it was the guy who dropped him off in town. Many thought he made it home and was subjected to one last fatal beating by his own father. But what turned out to be the real story after nearly 50 years of investigating and checking into the story?

You’ll have to read it to learn how it turned out, as I did. An advance digital copy was provided by Netgalley, author Rebecca Morris, and the publisher for my unbiased review.
Wildblue Press Publication: May 22, 2018

I also enjoyed another book Morris wrote titled “Ted and Ann” about serial killer Ted Bundy and a young victim suspected of being an early kill of his that went undetected for a long, long time.

As truth is stranger than fiction, sometimes it is also quite frustrating since the ending can' t be orchestrated.
There are lots of reasons why this kid may have been targeted and ultimately killed, but none so glaring that a single suspect can be immediately identified. The search goes on, very few kids of that age deserve that kid of outcome, but with fit and starts, misdirection and just plan lack of sufficient clear information.

While it may be pretty clear who is the culprit, it is frustrating when there is not clear TV ending. I feel so sorry for some, and for the author, who I think so wanted to paint a picture of the hometown She does that well, but the inability to get the bad guy is disappointing.

Probably how it is in more cases than we realize.