A very well-researched and documented story and Every Word is True was a pleasant surprise. It provided information I thought I already knew, hence it was a great read. I devoured the book in one sitting. Great job.

This is to be a story about the Clutter family but it's mostly about the author and his fight to get the book written and published, not really what I was expecting. I wish the book was more focused on what new input he had then the fight.

Wow! A new look and new information about an old crime! If you are a true crime lover, you need to read this book! Certainly worth consideration!

I first read "In Cold Blood" as a middle school student. It was too intense for anyone younger, or so they said. The book by Truman Capote has been celebrated, promoted, made into a movie and verified as the truth for many years. But what if it were not the WHOLE truth? The book jacket tells the reader that Gary McAvoy came into possession of some notes taken during the murder investigation that lead him to believe Truman Capote sensationalized some details to sell more books and left some information completely out for the same reason. He makes a good case for his position since Kansas sued him to keep the information from being released. This book is definitely worth reading whether you are familiar with "In Cold Blood" or not.

On my bookshelf is a well-worn, well-read book – its wear and tear clearly denoting its position as one of my favourites. On its front cover is a black and white photograph depicting an ordinary Kansas family – mother, father, and two children.

This is not the whole family, as two older daughters, Beverly and Eveanna, are absent (perhaps edited out, as the photo is not balanced, suggesting they may have originally been on the right of the photo), but their absence makes for a more satisfying image: the typical family, 2.2 children in a two-parent household.

Yet it’s not a happy image. Mother and father are both smiling for the camera, but he looks like he’s told everyone to smile, and she still manages to look sad, tired, despite her smile. The children, unlike their parents, keep their mouths close, and although the mouths smile, their eyes don’t.

These are the Clutters – dad Herb, mother Bonnie, and children Nancy and Kenyon. In 1959, they would all be shot dead in their isolated farmhouse, and their murders would move the family from ordinary American life into mythology.

The reason we know about them, and why they remain so iconic when other murders – such as the Walker family murders of around the same time – have not, is thanks to one man. Truman Capote, the enfant terrible of literature, published an account of their murders and the subsequent execution of their murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, under the title In Cold Blood, purporting to be a true account of what happened. The book was, and is, a hit, a must read that is on many bookshelves, including my own.

Many people know of the issues surrounding the book: Capote’s unwillingness to credit his research companion, one Harper Lee, for the stalwart work she did; his embellishment of facts despite protestations that nothing had been created; the concern over people reading about four horrific deaths as though they were fiction.

Yet one man has gone further, and written his own account, one which is scathing of Capote. Gary McAvoy is a writer, but also the owner of a memorabilia company. Gary was approached by the son of one of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s agents involved in the Clutter investigation to sell some of his father’s possessions – two spiral bound notebooks detailing aspects of the case, and a copy of In Cold Blood signed by Capote himself, amongst other things – and it is the notebooks in question that ostensibly form the basis of his book.

Gary clearly, and perhaps understandably, is angry about Kansas state trying to stop him from selling these items. The state was clearly concerned about the prospective sale, to the extent of taking Gary and Ron, the owner of the items, on an incredibly long drawn out court process to stop them. Eventually, the state had to cave, but instead of selling the items, Gary wrote a book, and the items were given to the New York Public Library.

The book, though, is partly about the rancour Gary feels towards this legal process. He mentions it again and again throughout the book, insinuating that the state was involved in some sort of cover-up about the murder, or about Capote’s book writing, without ever really making clear what exactly he thinks has gone on.
It’s never clear whether his book is trying to argue that the KBI colluded with Capote; or that it was part of a conspiracy to get rid of Ron’s dad; or whether it’s simply about McAvoy and Nye’s court case.

The book is never entirely confident about its focus; McAvoy makes clear that he believes Hickock and Smith were responsible for the murders – as anyone would – yet tries to suggest it was a contract killing, with the two men commissioned by a mysterious man named ‘Roberts’ who he can find little evidence of, or by a man who was in prison at the time, who McAvoy thinks was mysteriously moved to a better prison, and must therefore have been paid off by officials.
The problem is that McAvoy sees the documents that have come into his possession as holding some sort of key to re-evaluating the case; they are ‘new’ documents, therefore they must have new, important information. But they don’t. Therefore the book twists and turns, taking in various other transcripts and interviews, frequently returning to the unfairness of being stopped from selling the notebooks, criticising Capote for claiming to have written an unfair account of the murders, and so on.

The Capote criticisms are particularly frustrating. Anyone writing a true crime book is inevitably fictionalising in some way, creating a readable narrative and seeking to get readers involved in the case. To do so, you have to present things from your perspective – and as you can’t talk to the victims, you have to recreate them as best you can, filling in the gaps, and consciously or subconsciously putting some of your own personality on them.

McAvoy is guilty of this shaping of narrative, too. He assumes that Herb Clutter had an affair with his solicitor’s wife on the basis of a couple of gossipy references made by those interviewed about the case, and tries to take the morally superior line of not wanting to publish the crime scene photos he has in his possession, when at the same time he keeps referencing, unnecessarily, the cutting of Herb Clutter’s throat. He tries to take this moral high ground despite only having got involved in the story when he was asked to sell items related to it.

He also tries to make Ron’s father a hero of the story – because this is where he got the documents from, and Ron was involved with the book, providing an afterword and introduction. Yet Ron’s father is a man who insisted on showing his young son autopsy photos of a naked Bonnie and Nancy, who was an unreliable husband, and who suffered from narcolepsy yet insisted on driving his terrified family around, despite knowing he could kill them. He is no hero, however much the author wants him to be – and an acknowledgement of that complexity would have made a more satisfying, and less one-sided, read.

There are moments of interest: the meeting of three men in a café who might have been Hickock, Smith and ‘Roberts’; the stresses on the Clutter marriage and the impact of Herb’s strident Methodism on it, for example. But it is a book as much about Gary McAvoy as about the Clutter case; it is not a new retelling of a horrific true crime, but the airing of grievances and a one-sided view of law enforcement and its potential failures.

I was very intrigued by this book, as I had previously read <I> In Cold Blood </I> and loved it. Many would say that <I> In Cold Blood </I> is one of the greatest works of true crime, and this book is out to question everything that is previously known about the Clutter murders.

This book was written with the help of Ronald Nye, the son of Harold Nye, who had investigated the Clutter Murders as a member of the KBI. Ronald came into possession of some of his fathers old journals and documents from the case and wanted to make known the real facts of the case. I thought that the author did a great job of setting up the story and also highlighting why it was important to publish this work.

The work of Truman Capote is often showcased as THE story about the Clutter murders, being cited even by the KBI as the true account of what happened. Throughout the story I found it interesting that the author kept highlighting that Capote was spoon-fed the information from the KBI that they wanted in the story, and may not have dug deeper into what had actually occurred.

If you are going to this story in hopes of being enlightened on a new ending to the story, then this is most definitely not the book for you. The author created a lot of speculation around the events based on the letters and journals of Harold Nye but does not solidify any information that was not previously documented in <I> In Cold Blood </I>.

I bought this book by accident, but then what do they say? There are no accidents. I started reading and couldn't put it down."

After reading the book In Cold Blood by Capote, I was captivated by his ideas and thoughts as it pertained to this case. The murder of this family was a very tragic event and the police worked tirelessly to find out who the killer/s were. When the movie came out it solidified his account by making it realistic. I wanted to read this novel once I realized it was in existence. I wanted to know if the was more to the story that we had believed for so long to be true. Could there be another ending? McAvoy does an amazing job telling a story based of the numerous facts that he had on hand. Anyone who is a true crime buff would, I think, love to read the other side of the story. One based of off information gathered over the years from police and the detectives that worked the case. There are many eye opening things inside the pages of this book that will leave you with questions as to why this information was kept hush hush for so long. New information is provided along the way that will have you questioning the investigation of the Clutter family murder and Capote’s book as well.

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

I found this to be a well written account of the additional and sometimes conflicting information related to the crime that was contained in numerous journals and letters, ultimately supporting this author's claim that Truman Capote's account was not based entirely on the facts of the crime. The information is presented in an organized manner that flows well.

There are many instances included in this book clearly detailing the facts that were either not known or intentionally ignored by Truman Capote when he penned his accounting of the "true" crime facts.

I subtracted one star from the rating because the author did not adhere to basic punctuation conventions when providing directly quoted material. At times, this made it difficult to determine which information was quoted, and the transition from quoted to non-quoted material was abrupt and disruptive to the reading experience. Another basic set of punctuation rules that was not utilized was the use of italics and quotation marks to identify book titles and titles of newspaper/magazine articles.

The information provided within these pages is worth reading by any true crime fan that has read Truman Capote's version of events related to this crime. There were some eye-opening situations that put a new spin on the crime and provided food for thought and consideration.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC copy of this book. These are my honest, unsolicited opinions.

I read In Cold Blood far too young and am still haunted by Nancy Clutter, helping a friend bake an apple pie her last day of life and writing in her journal nightly, every year in a different ink color. We all know who killed the Clutter family ... but this book asks WHY were they killed?

The book repeats things over and over quite a few times, and the overall organization is somewhat strange, but here is what really struck me:

After the news spread about the murder, most of the local law men (including Alvin Dewey who was a friend of Herb Clutter) felt the answer lay close to home. Herb Clutter was not the provincial wheat farmer Capote portrays - he was the founder of the Kansas Wheat Association, had served on national agricultural boards, even had ties to the White House. And Clutter had made enemies along the way.

Richard Hickok wrote of being paid $5,000 to murder Clutter, and that after the murder they only had an hour before having to meet "Roberts." And indeed, an hour after the murders, two men who fit the descriptions of Perry Smith and Hickok were seen meeting an unknown man in a diner 30 miles or so away from Garden City.

Supposedly Frank Miles in prison told Hickok about the Clutter home and the safe full of money. Miles drew a map for Hickok detailing where each family member slept .... except the house the Clutters were currently living in wasn't BUILT when Miles worked on the Clutter farm.

The author was provided investigative notebooks from Harold Nye's son Ronald. Nye was the major investigator on the Clutter case and always felt something was hinky about the case. He always kept notebooks on hand to write his observations and thoughts. When working on this book, the state of Kansas SUED them to prevent publication. They claimed the notebooks belonged to the State, they claimed that further investigation would disrupt the privacy of the families (this despite the fact that the knife that cut Herb Clutter's THROAT is displayed in some state office lobby), they made all sorts of outrageous claims which the judge threw out and made them pay the cost of the litigation - almost $4,000,000.

Why did Kansas fight tooth and nail to prevent this information from seeing the light of day? Why does the state have so little documentation from the case and trial?

Looking at the case from the outside, there were enough clues and odd circumstances that make the motive questionable ("It was robbery, simple robbery, nothing to see here .... move along") and yet there was little in the way of trying to follow-up on any of this. The State was willing to let Capote have access to everything (and he had full access to FBI files as well) and once the book was done, according to the State, In Cold Blood was the complete and full summary of the case.

I used to lie awake at bed in night thinking of the poor Clutter family. After reading this book, I actually laid awake wondering what really brought that awful night into motion. A fascinating book that everyone needs to read and ponder. 5 stars for the material and 3.5 stars for the telling which is at times is a bit convoluted.

Nothing, it seems, is as it first appears. The bestselling book, 'In Cold Blood' is the instantly recognisable bestseller from the pen of Truman Capote and was what got me hooked on both the true and fictional crime genres. It would be naive to imagine, even though Capote himself insisted however, that 'every word is true' in that book.

The son of one of the lead detectives, Ron Nye, and the owner of an auction house, Gary McAvoy, hoped only to raise money for medical costs when they began arranging the sale of some of Harold Nye's personal notes, correspondence and books on the murder of the Clutter family. Instead they found themselves in a legal battle with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) who wished to bury the entire collection.

Whilst I wouldn't go so far as to say it was, as the publishers stated, a 'spellbinding forensic investigation' some of the omissions discovered by the author do make for interesting reading. It also gives some insight into the lives of those investigating or caught up this case and how it impacted them from then on.

I don't think any book can answer all the questions the author asks and as there is no miscarriage of justice there is no need. There is a train of thought however that the desperate need for secrecy shown by the KBI might, in a less secure conviction, be extremely concerning.

I was able to read a copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who has read the Capote classic and wants to see it from a slightly different perspective.

An interesting, factual deconstruction of Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood’ plus in-depth analysis of the circumstances surrounds the Clutter family murders and subsequent execution of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. It's a shame that Harold Nye is no longer around to see it.

Just about every one I know has read Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD ... or seen the TV Movie... or read about it in the news. It was some time later that I met someone whose family had been friends with the Clutters.

This book explores the possibility that there might have been other reasons for this crime. Supposedly new details were discovered as well as a letter written by Richard Hickok, one of the killers. This alone made me wonder why this was never released ... why was it buried?

Book Blurb: Even readers new to the story will find themselves drawn into a spellbinding forensic investigation that reads like a thriller, adding new perspectives to the classic tale of an iconic American crime.

I read this one in one night ... hoping to be enthralled, entranced, riveted by a continuing story of the Clutters. That's not exactly what I got. The new 'facts' were actually told in a boring manner. However, anyone who has read and liked IN COLD BLOOD will find this interesting.

Many thanks to the author / Literati Editions / Netgalley for the digital copy of the book that will take you back to 1959. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Originally serialized in The New Yorker Beginning on September.25.1965 serialized in four consecutive issues selling out all copies issues. In January 1966 the initial run of 240,000 copies was sold out. Since the original printing of the book.





And Every Word is True, deals with what is often called America’s first true crime story the murder of The Klutter’s a case that Truman Capote would be fascinated from the time of its occurrence to his death in 1984, and a case that has led to many others fascination!





I found And Every Word is True to be well written, and well researched as well as educational for those who want to learn about true crime.



I give And Every Word is True five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

The title of this book is a quote by Truman Capote about his most famous book "In Cold Blood". Published in 1966, it detailed the murder of four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959 and the subsequent arrest and trial of two men, Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith, found guilty of the killings. Capote's book was hailed as a masterpiece - one of the first "non fiction novels".
‘And Every Word is True’ by Gary McAvoy shows an alternative view of these murders, based on the personal files of Director Harold Nye of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), one of the original investigators of the Clutter family murders. It is reinforced by letters written by Richard Hickock while he was on Death Row.
After Harold Nye's death, his son Ronald was looking to auction off some of his father’s personal papers and books on the Clutter case to raise money to pay medical bills. When word of this leaked out, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation filed an injunction to stop the auction leading to a 4 year legal battle to prevent these details being made public. People wondered why so much fuss was being made over a robbery gone wrong in a remote Kansas farming community half a century ago?
But what if the motive for the murders wasn't robbery? This book details previously unknown facts of the investigation suggesting a different reason behind the Clutter family killings. I found the early part of the story, outlining the legal fight to make Harold Nye's files public, somewhat slow-moving and unexciting. But, overall, it provides fresh insight into the crime which made Truman Capote's reputation as a writer and "In Cold Blood" one of the biggest selling true crime book of all time.

As someone who loves to read the odd True Crime book and listens to My Favorite Murder, I have of course read Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. Aware that he stated that his book was all true, and was explosive in it’s time leading to a film adaptation as well, I was aware that Capote probably took some liberties in the creation of his powerful book. What I hadn’t really thought about was that he might have been fed the story by people involved. Every Word Is True sheds some incredible knew light in the story of the Clutter murders in Kansas in the 1960’s which we all thought was a cut and dried case, that we all knew what had happened.

The Clutter’s were a well respected and wealthy farming family in their community, who were slaughtered one night by two ex-cons who were looking to make a quick buck. Getting away with only $40 and a radio, the brutality of the almost random killing shocked the nation and traumatised the small rural town. Capote’s book detailed the case, and also researched the sad, violent lives of the perpetrators.

Years later, though, a man saved some signed books and papers from the trash when his mother was cleaning out her home. Those documents belonged to his deceased father, Harold Nye, a man who was a detective on the case of the Clutter murders and who went on to become director of the KBI. What he had were just personal notes on the case and copies of the case files, but when he went to sell the signed books, copies of In Cold Blood signed by the author and the people involved in the case and the film, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation came down hard on him and started a legal battle that would take four years and cost upwards of six figures, even though the case would be thrown out of court eventually.

What came to light was that Capote either didn’t tell or didn’t have the whole story. Were Hickock and Smith actually paid to kill the Clutter family? What have the Kansas Bureau been so eager to cover up all these years?

This story is incredibly well known and many people will want to read this book to hear the final chapter about what really happened to the Clutter family and why, and find some answers to some of the holes in the In Cold Blood story. I found this book really fascinating to read, even though it didn’t feel as well written as say, an Anne Rule book, the facts of the case and the story of the Nye family is truly compelling. It’s clear that there is even more to this story that the Kansas government are covering up and that this book can’t tell us about, but I always felt like there was more to this case, and now I feel like this book has provided those missing peices where something just didn’t add up.

Read It If: you’re a true crime fan, this book is a must read. It’s fascinating, even though it’s perhaps not as beautifully put together and composed as some other true crime you may have read.

I read In Cold Blood was horrified saddened by the sickening events now everything is in question.The author of this book brings to light new evidence suggestions of cover up doubts about the father..The question of police coverup is shocking.True crime lovers will devour this excellent piece of journalism.
#netgalley #independentbookpublishers

I ...like many true crime fans have read "In Cold Blood" ...three times now I think...and have always thought of it as one of the first true crime books...I have read it and just like other books...you believe what you read...when I read the synopsis of this book...I was stunned...to think that all I had read and believed ...was now up for grabs...I am so used to hearing about criminal cases where information isn't turned over...where police hide things...build half truths...it seems like we hear stories every day...so I guess it should come as no surprise that this happened in the past too...at a time when beaten confessions were practiced...where you were guilty if they didn't like the way you looked...but to read it...and see the history and the notes from the lead investigator...that never made the original book...

this book is an absolute must read for any fan of "In Cold Blood" if you read that book to discover the truth...now see the additional information...that the state fought in court to keep from coming out...even 60 years after the killings...This book will open your eyes...and will change "In Cold Blood" forever...

The Clutter father wasn't all he was supposed to be...was there a third killer? if so why wouldn't the killers give that person up? ...so much more information...but more than anything...the state's absolute freaked out response to the possibility of this information getting out....it shows there is much more involved than the original book...read it...decide for your self....

I want to thank Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book and give my honest review.

I previously read Truman Capote In Cold Blood about the Clutter family murders and found it riveting
‘And Every Word is True’ reveals the details of the murders from the personal journals and archives of Director Harold Nye This information is backed up by letters written by Richard Hickock one of the murderers while on Death Row.
This book ultimately gives further insight into why Hickock and Smith could have killed the Clutter family.
Having read this I think robbery as the motive we were led to believe is possibly not the motive at all.
It was telling how the Kansas Bureau of Investigations battled for so long in court to suppress the details of the case emerging.
I could not put it down and read it in one sitting
As a note of warning I will say that the writing style was quite dry and plodding in parts but I was really interested in the subject.
Would personally recommend especially as a follow on to Truman Capote’s wonderful book.

This true crime book explores the Clutter family Kansas murder case which formed the basis of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." The author does a good job in explaining why some of Capote's conclusions and 'facts' are not true. The accompanying photos and documents give credence to McAvoy's claims that perhaps robbery had not been the motive for the killings.