Mark Bowden’s choice of title The Last Stone is apt for indeed no stone was left unturned until a 38-year-old cold case was finally solved. Over the last years there has been a massive amount of true crime publications of recently solved cold cases. Bowden’s work stands out. The author provides hours of original interrogation records of suspects and perpetrators which are gems on their own. Listening to the skillful interrogators and how they finally got what was needed to solve the case is fascinating,the insights this provides on human nature, an eye-opener. The case itself is no less fascinating, if horrendous. In 1975 two girls aged 10 and 12 disappeared without a trace. Last seen in a shopping mall, the disappearance of the two young girls, coming from a loving suburban home produced an uproar. The parents were devastated and despite the media attention it received, the tireless efforts invested by the police, the case remained unsolved until 2012. Then the case was reviewed and a trail already having become cold got hot again. What the parents had to endure gets little mention in this book but perhaps it was just as well. Their terror must have been unimaginable. I have listeners to Bowden’s audiobook and the reader did a fantastic job in covering a range of accents, especially the hillbilly Virginian. On the objective side,the book is extremely well-researched. The prose is objective and straightforward, suitable for the genre. Yet, courtesy of the realism conveyed so well, the unadulterated interviews we follow, and the serpentine, heroic struggle of a few untiring detectives, one gets emotionally involved quickly, and when towards the end it all comes to a head and the sky falls in on the perpetrators, we get great great satisfaction from justice served, well and from a cold platter. ( )

Compelling. Sad. Tragic. Pathetic. Gut-wrenching.

Just a few of the words I have used to describe this true crime book by Mark Bowden. What makes it even more horrific is that it is true. A sadistic monster brutally kidnaps, rapes and viciously murders two innocent little girls, ages 10 and 12.

Told from the POV of the suspects own taped interviews with detectives over the course of 2-3 years. A narrative where you find yourself shaking your head and thinking about your own kids.

Highly recommended. ( )

since they never found the bodies the whole thing is kinda untenable. the investigators come off as jerks. ( )

I am reminded of the comment of a friend who was a parole officer in Prince Georges County, Maryland, where some of the suspects lived: "I don't know how to feel about my clients; they are simultaneously so pathetic and so vicious."

This isn't a particularly exciting read, but I think that is very educational, and both heartening and disheartening. I am moved by the dedication of the detectives, sifting the tedious lies in an attempt to solve the case. Disheartening, in that for all their labor, they cannot really get to the whole truth of this horrific 40-year-old cold case. They are left knowing that very likely Lloyd Welch, who was convicted, didn't act alone, and while they have strong suspicions about his accomplices, they can't prove their involvement. ( )

I was interested in this book because some of the events took place in Montgomery county and some in Prince Georges county, Maryland. ( )