By the River's Edge by Gregg Olsen

About the Book

In 1990 in Washington state, the bodies of Yolanda Sapp, Nickie Lowe, and Kathy Brisbois were found on the banks of the Spokane River. They were part of a close-knit alliance of sex workers whose oath to protect each other was, in the end, hopeless. For twenty-two years their brutal murders went unsolved.

In 2012, a DNA cold hit pointed to Douglas Perry. A repeat assault offender, Douglas was currently incarcerated in Carswell, Texas. But there was a twist: The facility was for female prisoners. The man authorities hunted for decades was now Donna Perry. Her gender reassignment not only helped to mask the evil deeds of the past, it ended a life of childhood traumas and a pent-up rage unleashed on nearly thirty victims, according to Donna herself. Through total reinvention, she believed she’d finally slayed the monster within.

My Review

What makes a serial killer? Olsen looks at Perry's life, the family mental illness, being born intersex, the gender dysphoria, the childhood trauma experienced, how the gender change surgery came about. The investigation and the final move to trial. It was the first trial of an alleged transgender serial killer in history. There was also the issue of whether she was mentally competent. The surgery had changed Perry. Was Donna guilty now for what Douglas did years ago?

Olsen's writing style is good and I found this to be a compelling read. There is a long interview given verbatim. While it helped me understand Perry's mental condition, I found it to be the least interesting aspect of the book. Otherwise, it is a good true crime account.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

 

About the Author

Gregg Olsen is the #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author of more than forty books, including If You Tell, Out of the Woods, The Amish Wife, I Know Where You Live, The Hive, Lying Next to Me, and The Last Thing She Ever Did; six novels in the Detective Megan Carpenter series; and The Sound of Rain and The Weight of Silence in the Nicole Foster series. His work has received critical acclaim, numerous awards, and prominence on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestseller lists. Washington state officially selected his young adult novel Envy for the National Book Festival, and The Deep Dark was named Idaho Book of the Year. The Amish Wife was a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Born in Seattle, Olsen lives with his wife in rural Washington state and is already at work on his next book. Visit him at www.greggolsen.com.

Thomas & Mercer, 349 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-An exceptional book, 4-Better than average, relevant and liked by me, 3-It is average, 2-It is below average and not liked by me, 1-It is practically unreadable.)