The first quarter of this book was fascinating. The manner in which the author begins the story at the end and then works her way backwards over several decades was fascinating. But there are far too many characters/familys to keep track of in the book and there was so many details that felt extraneous to the main plot that I felt completely bogged down in endless details. Not far from the end of the book the author describes in detail what everyone in a family wore to a wedding. Historically this might be interesting but what was the point of this? The reviewer for the Times talked about a family chronology ay the front of the book and as I listened to the story on audio I think this would have been of great help to me. I just couldn’t follow the generations of families nor the lines of criminality. In the end I found the book to be exhaustive and exhausting. My favourite sections were about the immigrant lives and how they found their way in America. But in the end there were too many details and detours for the book to hold my interest until the end. I think at least half this book could have been edited out.

I really enjoyed reading this and was awe struck by the amount of research and time this book took to write. However there was a lot of information provided, almost too much at times.

I am hoping to write a review for my blog, Cobleskill Commentaries in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Fascinating story. I disagree with the idea of environment being partially to blame. Each person made choices. Dante made it. Joe DeSalvo was given a generous opportunity and blew it

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating book. Have you ever wondered how some people from similar backgrounds can turn out so different? This takes a look into the choices, circumstances, and behaviours of families that converge together in a horrific way. It's so well researched with many sources for anyone who wants to go further down a rabbit hole. Amazing read that sparks so many questions and wonders.

How do you judge if a man with a violent past is ready to be released from prison? The fact is that you don't and this cautionary tale is proof that not all prisoners can return to society and not commit crime again. This just happened to be in my state and I had never heard anything about it. Definitely worth a try if you like true crime and history. I received a free copy for my honest review.

I really would have preferred it if this book was about half the length that it was. There was so much information that I got overwhelmed. I feel that the author did such a fantastic job that they wanted to portray that to the reader, and rather than condensing they just included it all. I admired the amount of research that went into this one, but as a nonacademic reader, I prefer more of a story, less of mountains of research. The writing was fantastic and the author had wonderful flow. This is just one of those cases where less is more.

I will not be reviewing this book outside of netgalley.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A well written read that captures and captivates the reader’s attention. Well versed look into the lives of the Cosentino ,Tarlov and Troy families and how the events that took place changed and forever entwined them. A must read for all true crime fans.

This book covers very interesting territory but I found myself wishing it had been edited better. The number of people described becomes unwieldy unless the reader is taking notes, and the breadth of the focus felt too wide for me. But when it was good, it was very, very good, gripping and eye-opening. I expected it to be much more tightly focused, I suppose. But, readers can always skip ahead in a book they are getting bogged-down in, right?

Genealogy of a Murder by Lisa Belkin is a well-researched, expansive work following three generations of families. A doctor, a prisoner and a police officer are all involved in a murder. We know this from the beginning. Belkin transports the reader back to the early 1900’s, years before the murders occur, when families from all over Europe are emigrating to America from Ireland, Italy, and others.

Belkin has an easy and engaging writing style. At the same time, the narrative often felt jarring - each time I would get invested in a character the narrative shifted to a different point of view. It was hard to keep track of the different people and families - there were so many. This would have been more cohesive as a series of short stories about each family instead of a divided narrative.

Narrative structure aside, I enjoyed this book, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys history.

Rating: 3/5
Genre: History, Non-Fiction

Sometimes less really is more. Lisa Belkin's Genealogy of a Murder is a case of wonderful research going badly wrong. The book centers around the murder of a young cop in 1960. Belkin traces the lives of multiple families as they finally converge on that fateful night.

There are some very good parts to this book. Belkin is a gifted writer and when the story is focused it is very easy to read and be engaged. As mentioned, the sheer amount of research into this book is staggering. It's clear Belkin left no stone unturned.

However, that research is what regretfully sinks this book so completely. By going back generations, Belkin introduces way too many names for any to meaningfully stick in reader's minds. Each of these families had numerous children and it often feels like pages are full of names instead of narrative drive. The choice to divide chapters by dates and then combine family stories is distracting. There is also focus on a malaria trial in a Chicago prison which further bloats the book.

This does not include multiple long sections on the infamous Nathan Leopold of the well known Leopold and Loeb case. There are two major problems with his inclusion. First, many researchers still argue quite coherently about the personalities of the two killers. There is not enough room in this book for a deep dive and it makes the narrative around Leopold feel too simplified. Second, when I look back on the book, I realize he can be completely deleted from the story and not much is lost. Which leads me to my final issue with the book.

I'm not sure what the book was trying to accomplish. I expected a deeper study of families and how one might produce a good cop and the other a lifelong criminal. These avenues are left unexplored while large swaths of the book talk about family members who don't factor into the greater narrative. I don't necessarily believe books need to spell out their themes, but in this case, I think it is too hard to discern.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and W. W. Norton.)