True Crime Story by Joseph Knox

 

Seven years ago, Zoe Nolan disappeared.  She walked out of her dorm suite during a party after publicly fighting with her boyfriend.  Since that night nothing has been heard of her and the case has gone cold.  But now someone is taking notice.  Eve Mitchell has heard about the case and is making it the centerpiece of her new book.  She has been interviewing the police involved as well as family and friends.  She sends her book in chapters as she finishes them to her mentor and friend, Joseph.  He gives her advice which she blithely ignores as she writes the book her way.

Zoe was eighteen and had been at university for only a couple of months.  She was a singer and her family had always considered her destined for fame and fortune.  Her twin sister, Kim, always felt left out of the family and does whatever she can to distinguish herself from Zoe.  She is appalled when Zoe decides to come to the university Kim has picked for herself to get away, and even more appalled when her father arranges for the girls to share a dorm suite.  

The story of Zoe's disappearance is told in bits and pieces from various sources.  There is the boyfriend, a rich kid who wasn't really that interested in Zoe.  There is the Muslim boy who is victimized for his differences.  There is the over helpful guy who is always there whether anyone wanted him there or not.  There is the Oriental roommate who loves drama and finds Zoe to be a rich source of it.  There is the professor who may or may not have been in Zoe's life as more than a professor.  There is her overbearing father and mousy mother.  Each has a piece of the story and as Eve puts it together, danger seems to be coming for her.  Can she solve the mystery?

This is a fascinating novel that breaks the rules.  It is told from multiple viewpoints, a book within a book and it is up to the reader to decide what is true and what is false.  There are discoveries and there are unreliable narrators.  Through it all, the reader starts to glimpse what may have happened that night to Zoe.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.