Dead Water: The Klindt Affair

by Pat Gipple, Matthew Clemens, Marlowe Bergendoff (Editor)

Paperback, as pictured (f-G)

Genres: Book Club, True Crime, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Zara Fellman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I literally could not finish it. It is a great subject and interesting but it pained me to read it😭

[Debra Lowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a true crime fan, I find most of them grizzly and triggering. As a book club book, it fit the bill as the crime took place just a few miles from work. Gipple did a good job of bringing the investigation together for the reader.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly well-written, but because this murder was famous in my hometown, and was in the headlines as I was growing up, I've wanted to read this for some time. James Klindt claimed he killed his wife by hitting her in the head with a thrown pool ball. Panicked over how to get rid of the body, he cut it apart with a chainsaw and dropped pieces of her in the Mississippi River. Joyce Klindt's torso was found by fisherman. The case was the first murder trial in which DNA evidence was used.

[Kelsey Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being from the area, this is a book that I had to read. I met the author during a high school writing class and have an autographed copy.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t normally read true crime. I’m not a fan. But this book covered a murder near my hometown, a small town on the Mississippi. This murder and the trial took place mostly while I was attending college away from home, so I wasn’t entirely overloaded with news coverage of the events, like the locals were. My small hometown was also related directly with the crime, as the murderer dropped the dismembered victim’s body into the river upstream, and she was found downstream. So some of the events took place alongside my home town. There were so many jokes that people came up with about this murder, in particular from radio show hosts and kids, that I had to learn what it was all about. As I read through the book, I also learned that a high school classmate was a trial witness, so that came as a surprise to me. The book tells the story. It mostly follows the police investigation and the prosecuting attorney’s work to convict the chiropractor of murdering his wife. You also are given stories from the victim’s family and friends. This was very focused on the victim. After finishing the book, I felt I learned much more about the victim than the murderer. I won’t be going out of my way to read more true crime books, but this was what I was looking for in this case.

[Mary Davidsaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've lived in Davenport for a few years and have driven & walked past the "castle house" many times. I always wondered about the story behind the unusual design. Then I heard about what happened there. I had to read this book because it just seemed to far fetched to be true. The book is laid out like courtroom testimony: witness statements, forensic evidence, police reports. It would be too dry if it weren't about an actual case-a very difficult one. All this happened long before we were all spoiled by the CSI television shows. It showcases a different world for women and a guy who thought he'd get away with murder.

[Bob Bransdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started slowly and there were too many characters introduced in a convoluted way which made it hard to follow the story and unless you were familiar with the area it took place it was a little confusing. But it was based on fact and written ten years after the actual events and it told a very intriguing story of an unusual case.

[susie in tennessee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this primarily because I am from the area. I was away at college so heard snippets of the story and after a discussion on a local FB page I decided to read. Not terribly satisfying. You wonder how the case would be handled today.

[Hannnah S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I thinking the events were told in an interesting fashion without author bias, and when there was more clinical information during the trial it was relayed in a way the average reader could understand. I grew up in the area and was especially interested in this story

[Nancy J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give it 3.5 starts off i could. Very fast read ... just what happened and not much more. If you lived in the Quad Cities in the 80s, you should read this. We read it for our book club and are excited to have the prosecuting attorney join our discussion this week.

[Peggy S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Klindt was my chiropractor. Reading this book gave my heart grief and I did cry throughout it. "The truth shall set you free" may be the truth for some, but this truth destroyed a piece of me. It's definitely a very good read, heart wrenching as it is.

[Rosalie Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

Very good book about a time in the history of my community. It gives insight to what happened in 1983.

[Tabitha Lovetinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well presented case from start to finish.

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely loved this! read it my freshman year and found out this took place literally 25 minutes away from me, but super interesting book👍

[Tishly Herrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. He was so clearly guilty, we just didn't have the same technology then as we do today.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great account of the first murder case in Iowa (and possibly ever) to use DNA evidence to convict. Interesting read.

[Deb Woitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big true crime fan. Plus this story took place in the community where I live.