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Redacted: A Search for Truth About the Murder of Janette Roberson
On January 19, 1983, Janette Roberson was murdered in the basement pet department of the Gambles Store on Upton Avenue in Reed City, Michigan. Over thirty years later, the brutal crime is still unsolved and the perpetrator remains free. This book is a journey to seek the truth about what happened that day, and why justice has yet to be served.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
342 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2015
14 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Jeni Decker
17 books21 followersJeni Decker lives on a farm in rural Michigan with her husband, two autistic sons, two Australian Shepherds, and an albino frog named Humbert Humbert.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 10, 2018
There ain't ever gonna be a murder that isn't going to shock you, no matter how much TV desensitizes you to these things, when you pick up a book about a true crime and read about the life of somebody who was murdered it will hit you hard. For me the most shocking thing about this murder was how many people were about when it happened, I'd like to think that I would have been more observant, if I don't see a colleague for half a day hopefully I would do something about it.
Jen Decker has worked her ass off with the research for this book, hours reading transcripts from town meetings, many phone calls, interviews and a huge amount of her life spent battling with the authorities to get information supposedly available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). If she comes across a term she doesn't know or a procedure used to investigate a crime scene then she'll research the hell out of that term and then put her findings in this book for the reader, no need to go use the google machine.
A few things about her writing style, the book is a nice blend of a timeline of the crime and investigation with the odd tangent between the chapters. She puts so much of herself into the writing, the frustration really comes across when she keeps hitting FOIA brick walls, constantly addressing the reader to have a vent and try and calm herself down. Lots of digital scans have been included for the reader, so you can read the full (Slightly redacted) reports instead of her own version.
There was one issue I had right at the beginning, Jeni was trying to get stats of unsolved crimes in the area, again frustrating walls were hit, the writing was very aggressive against the police, there was only mention of how many crimes were unsolved, no mention of how many cases were solved with a successful conviction. The rest of the book is well balanced, it was just that small part at the beginning.
This was a well written book, covering a particularly gruesome crime, Jeni keeps her WEBSITE up to date so I'll be checking now and then to see if anything happens with this crime as it is still an open case.
Blog post is HERE> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2018...
Jen Decker has worked her ass off with the research for this book, hours reading transcripts from town meetings, many phone calls, interviews and a huge amount of her life spent battling with the authorities to get information supposedly available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). If she comes across a term she doesn't know or a procedure used to investigate a crime scene then she'll research the hell out of that term and then put her findings in this book for the reader, no need to go use the google machine.
A few things about her writing style, the book is a nice blend of a timeline of the crime and investigation with the odd tangent between the chapters. She puts so much of herself into the writing, the frustration really comes across when she keeps hitting FOIA brick walls, constantly addressing the reader to have a vent and try and calm herself down. Lots of digital scans have been included for the reader, so you can read the full (Slightly redacted) reports instead of her own version.
There was one issue I had right at the beginning, Jeni was trying to get stats of unsolved crimes in the area, again frustrating walls were hit, the writing was very aggressive against the police, there was only mention of how many crimes were unsolved, no mention of how many cases were solved with a successful conviction. The rest of the book is well balanced, it was just that small part at the beginning.
This was a well written book, covering a particularly gruesome crime, Jeni keeps her WEBSITE up to date so I'll be checking now and then to see if anything happens with this crime as it is still an open case.
Blog post is HERE> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2018...
September 6, 2017
Redacted was an interesting enough true crime read but could have been more engaging if there was more case evidence available to be included. Even though this crime took place in the downstairs of a busy store there are few clues and no eyewitnesses to what actually occurred. It's absolutely mind boggling that this crime was carried out in such a public area but it still remains unsolved today. The fact that there are so few details available is part of the frustration the author faced in writing the book which she discusses at length. I think the book could've left out a good portion of the details about her struggle to obtain documents related to this case as it started to get repetitive after a while. 3.5 stars.
April 18, 2019
Not bad...all of the info is there... perfect title!
As she says, she's NOT a true crime author... and it does show
She attempts to muddle her way thru the FOIA system and obtain the records pertaining to this unsolved case and finds herself embroiled in red tape at every turn. Seems she's finding herself familiar with why true crime authors need advances when researching their subjects. But, that's besides the point.
She does do a good job on the research, and overcomes her fear of cold-calling people who are related to the case to get information (which, me having the same personality as it seems she does, I give her high praise for), so she does give us not only the perspective from when the crime happened all those years ago, but she actually, personally speaks to some of the people involved, as well as some of the detectives, while researching the book.
For her first attempt at true crime, she did her research well, and she did her calls well. Her formatting, not so good. But her poking fun at herself for her flaws, and the fact that her spelling and grammar were perfect, adds a bit of charm to it that makes me, as a true crime buff, and very picky reader, overlook that and only remove one star from the perfect rating (for the lack of styling/formatting)
As she says, she's NOT a true crime author... and it does show
She attempts to muddle her way thru the FOIA system and obtain the records pertaining to this unsolved case and finds herself embroiled in red tape at every turn. Seems she's finding herself familiar with why true crime authors need advances when researching their subjects. But, that's besides the point.
She does do a good job on the research, and overcomes her fear of cold-calling people who are related to the case to get information (which, me having the same personality as it seems she does, I give her high praise for), so she does give us not only the perspective from when the crime happened all those years ago, but she actually, personally speaks to some of the people involved, as well as some of the detectives, while researching the book.
For her first attempt at true crime, she did her research well, and she did her calls well. Her formatting, not so good. But her poking fun at herself for her flaws, and the fact that her spelling and grammar were perfect, adds a bit of charm to it that makes me, as a true crime buff, and very picky reader, overlook that and only remove one star from the perfect rating (for the lack of styling/formatting)
January 3, 2025
It boggles my mind that anyone could give this book less than a 5-star review, as it covers as much as humanly possible in regards to the unsolved murder of Janette Roberson in Reed City Michigan.
I believe that this murder can be solved - and if it solved with help from the public - I'm almost certain that Jeni Decker's book will be the motivating factor for that person.
I believe that this murder can be solved - and if it solved with help from the public - I'm almost certain that Jeni Decker's book will be the motivating factor for that person.
August 8, 2018
Good read
Well written book. You can actually feel how much effort the writer has put in gather her information. Unfortunately not too much info is readily available and this case stands unsolved.
Well written book. You can actually feel how much effort the writer has put in gather her information. Unfortunately not too much info is readily available and this case stands unsolved.
July 18, 2015
A book that is half true-crime and half memoir about the frustrating process of writing a true-crime style book, Redacted is an engaging read. The unsolved murder of Janette Roberson of Reed City, MI is a tragic story, but the lack of suspects and the disturbing lack of action in finding suspects and solving this crime is the true meat of the story. Decker immerses herself in trying to learn as much as she can about the events taking place in the small town during the murder investigation and it seems that there was, indeed, a lot of small town drama and political clout being thrown around at this time in the 80s, which makes readers wonder what is being covered up. Unfortunately, as Decker learned while trying to learn more, finding out information about the case, even through public records, ends up taking a lot of time and red-tape cutting, and ultimately, requests for large sums of money-- enough to make most people walk away from further investigations. A close look at small town politics, the disturbing obstacles one must hurdle in order to obtain information through the FOIA, and underneath it all, a very sad unsolved murder mystery makes Redacted a great read. Four stars.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews