Lead up was amazing, but after the murder happened it started to drag

Palmyra Atoll was featured in a recent issue of The Nature Conservancy's magazine. The article also mentioned this book, which is how I learned of its existence.

If your experience with criminal trial consists of Law & Order, you will find the very detailed trial retelling hard to slog through. The trial is the meat of the book. After the initial sunshine and excitement on Palmyra, the courtroom in rainy San Francisco isn't quite as scintillating, especially since it takes place 11 years later. I did read it though, because it's interesting to learn the strategy of a defense lawyer and mostly because I was hoping to find out WHAT HAPPENED. I confess that I skipped the 20 or so pages of the summation to get to the verdict.

This was pretty interesting for a murder mystery. It is a true story and I do get a bit scared so that's why I didn't rate it higher!

4 stars for the first section, 3.5 for the second.

I had never heard of the Palmyra island (atoll) murders. Not surprisingly, because it happened before I was born and even though the trial occurred when I was 5, it wasn't notorious enough for me to be aware. The events were very interesting and raised a lot of questions. Either Jennifer is very naive when it comes to her boyfriends, or she is very clever and a pro at hiding it. The trial proceedings get a little long-winded and boring at times.

This is a great book and is a true story of a crime. It takes you on an adventure across the high dead and through the lives of several people including the murder. If you love true crime then this book is for you.