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I haven't read a book for my own enjoyment since I started university. Reading books and articles for studying purposes or essay writing purposes kind of took the enjoyment away for a while. Until coronavirus hit us and I had a lot of time on my hands. I then started watching a lot of true crime videos on Youtube and a lot of documentaries which then lead me into looking for books that I might find interesting. First one I came across was Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker.

The Book: Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
The Author: Robert Kolker

Summary: Robert Kolker is an investigative journalist who dives into the investigation of the unsolved murders of five women. Taking into the consideration of the lives the women lead as escorts using craigslist to advertise their business but it also takes into account the lives they had before as children, as teenagers even going into detail about their families before they were born and then the aftermath of the girls being found and the family and friends who are left with nothing but memories and a pursuit to get the justice the girls deserved.

"There is more than one thing to know about a person. We all contain multitudes; we all are good and bad, wise and foolish, noble and self-deating".

Review: The book wasn't what I was expecting going in. It doesn't dive into the hunt for an unknown serial killer. There are no twists and turns. What Robert did in his book was give the women life. The stories of their childhood, the stories of their escort days, their struggles and their emotions and then the aftermath when their families came together to find out what happened to them. Each women was their own individual, they had their own personality and their own stories. The victims are the important ones, not the murderer.

The book flows well, each woman having her own section therefore it's easy to remember who Kolker is talking about. Things do get a little muddier once the bodies are found and family members and members of the intriguing private community that is Oak Beach (next to where the bodies were found) come into play with their theories and speculation of who the murder may be and their own little dramas between themselves, which I feel makes you feel a bit lost in the events at times but some people do come across as really shady.

If you are into true crime then this is a must read in my opinion. It's different as it doesn't focus on the killer, or too much on the police investigation but on the girls who were murdered. To give girls who are often not cared about because if their job as an escort a voice and to humanise them. Kolker done a great job on that front. I felt like I started to know them and that at often times felt sorry for them. That maybe they had no choice but to do what they were doing. It's a grim account no doubt about that but I do no regret reading it at all.

The investigation is still very much ongoing and one day I hope they find out who did this. I also hope there is a lesson to be learned that it doesn't matter whether it's an escort that's murdered or not. They still matter. "A missing girl is missing only to the people who notice".

How Do I Rate It?: ★★★½

Have you read Lost Girls? What do you think? Or do you fancy reading it? Are there any books like this you might want to recommend? Let me know and thanks for reading.