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Cold Case Vancouver: The City s Most Baffling Unsolved Murders
Cold Case Vancouver delves into fifty years of some of Vancouver's most baffling unsolved murders. In 1953, two little boys were found murdered in the city's storied Stanley Park, and who remain unidentified to this day. In 1975, a country singer was murdered just as she was on the verge of an amazing career. And in 1994, Nick Masee, a retired banker with connections to the renegade Vancouver Stock Exchange, disappeared along with his wife Lisa, their bodies never found. Cold Case Vancouver is an intriguing whodunit for true-crime aficionados and armchair detectives. Eve Lazarus 's previous books include Sensational Vancouver .
182 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2016
24 people are currently reading
281 people want to read
About the author
Eve Lazarus
13 books56 followersEve Lazarus is an author, reporter and the host and producer of the Cold Case Canada podcast. Her bestselling books include Cold Case BC, Vancouver Exposed, and Murder by Milkshake which was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best Non-Fiction Crime Book, the City of Vancouver book award, and Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award (BC Book Prizes). Eve's latest book is Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 8, 2018
COLD CASE VANCOUVER: THE CITY’S MOST BAFFLING UNSOLVED MURDERS
Written by Eve Lazarus
2015; Arsenal Pulp Press (182 Pages)
Genre: true crime, mystery, crime, cold cases, Canada, Vancouver
RATING: 4 STARS
There is something about a cold case mystery. Hearing about a cold case captures the interest of not just the family of the victims, but new investigators and also armchair detectives. We drink up the past clues and background story hoping to find something new that will blow the case open. New forensic methodology has been one of the biggest ways to close a cold case. New witness testimony and undiscovered clue are usually close seconds. There is a great sense of triumph (no matter who closes the case) when the case does finally become solved. I do enjoy a good mystery - real or not - and watching programs about cold cases has always intrigued me. Reading real-life mysteries for some reason gives me the shivers so I don't read true crime as much. As I perused the library's "just ordered" page I saw the cover to Cold Case Vancouver and thought I would just look through the book. Afterall, a book about cold cases set in Vancouver is a must.
Each chapter has a brief case study of a cold case in Vancouver from 50 years ago. The cases are still unsolved so there is no thrill in seeing it to the end. However, it was eye-opening to see how the cases were investigated and where and how they stalled. Some murders seem random so have no suspects while others did but never had any concrete evidence to convict. Lazarus meets with the family and friends of the deceased and give the readers an insight to victim behind the crime. It was a quicker read than I first expected. Lazarus outlines the case without "sensationalizing" it. I do wish there had been a little more information for each case as the chapters ended just as you seemed to get into it. I do recommend this book to fans of true crime, mysteries, cold cases and those living in Vancouver, BC.
My Novelesque Life
Written by Eve Lazarus
2015; Arsenal Pulp Press (182 Pages)
Genre: true crime, mystery, crime, cold cases, Canada, Vancouver
RATING: 4 STARS
There is something about a cold case mystery. Hearing about a cold case captures the interest of not just the family of the victims, but new investigators and also armchair detectives. We drink up the past clues and background story hoping to find something new that will blow the case open. New forensic methodology has been one of the biggest ways to close a cold case. New witness testimony and undiscovered clue are usually close seconds. There is a great sense of triumph (no matter who closes the case) when the case does finally become solved. I do enjoy a good mystery - real or not - and watching programs about cold cases has always intrigued me. Reading real-life mysteries for some reason gives me the shivers so I don't read true crime as much. As I perused the library's "just ordered" page I saw the cover to Cold Case Vancouver and thought I would just look through the book. Afterall, a book about cold cases set in Vancouver is a must.
Each chapter has a brief case study of a cold case in Vancouver from 50 years ago. The cases are still unsolved so there is no thrill in seeing it to the end. However, it was eye-opening to see how the cases were investigated and where and how they stalled. Some murders seem random so have no suspects while others did but never had any concrete evidence to convict. Lazarus meets with the family and friends of the deceased and give the readers an insight to victim behind the crime. It was a quicker read than I first expected. Lazarus outlines the case without "sensationalizing" it. I do wish there had been a little more information for each case as the chapters ended just as you seemed to get into it. I do recommend this book to fans of true crime, mysteries, cold cases and those living in Vancouver, BC.
My Novelesque Life
November 27, 2019
This is a 3.5/5
"Cold Case Vancouver: The City's Most Baffling Unsolved Murders" is, if nothing else, a fun read - despite the horrific circumstances and outcomes and lingering mystery around some of these cases. There's a slew of infamous cases most BC residents know about or at least know of, and I'll mention a few of my favourites first: "The Babes in the Woods" case where the identification of two young children as a boy and a girl murdered with an ax and dumped in Stanley Park stalled the investigation for decades and includes great personalities like the anthropologist from Austria; "Vancouver's Drug Wars" that takes us back to a time when Vancouver was, as it still is, the drug capital of Canada and the battlegrounds were bloody over the rising heroin trade, a tale that takes us to some interesting locations with some colourful people who did some outlandish and violent actions; "Missing Without Trace", a fascinating case where two Vancouver Stock Exchange - at the time, a legalized corrupt gambling operation that robbed many people with every scheme in the book - that includes a cast of strange suspects - if the murder victims didn't simply just take off - ranging from mobsters to the super rich and all the eccentrics on Howe street at the time.
Other cases include a murder solved decades later with the help of DNA and our is-it-even-legal Mr. Big police operation, Asian gangs, a bloody murder on Christmas, the murder of a solitary cat-woman, the death of a woman who traveled back and forth to Mexico and its neighbouring countries to bring back items to sell - was she smuggling drugs? - and found strangled in the changing room of her Good Earth store, and many others, including the rash of pedophile-killers who seemed to find something in Cloverdale - what else is there to do their besides gamble and visit gas stations before going insane?
I have some issues with Eve's book: she claims in the introduction that most men who sexually assault someone become murderers - this is not true, and she provides no source for her claim - the statistic is less than half. She also digs into the antiquated laws that let a child molester out on a day pass with some of his records vanishing - my grandfather was a prison guard, not at the one mentioned here, at this time, and records were not handled with as much care as they are now, it's absurd to level suspicions on the jailhouse. She also brings up a feminist historian a couple times and this book does seem to be centred largely on female victims, ignoring a long list of interesting, disturbing crimes against males, but she doesn't seem to be interested unless the male is either gay, Asian, or a case where she can show justice winning one with a male's murder being solved. Again, females and children's lives are seemingly valued more than males - why is this? It's like the news, "18 murdered, 11 women, 3 children" - oh, okay, thanks for drilling it into our heads from an early age with media and books such as this one telling us who's lives are more important. If third-wave feminists claim they want inclusivity and equality, what gives?
The editing here is bizarre: in Canada, no one says, "in hospital", we say, "in a hospital" - English people are the only one's I've met who speak the former. However, we're taught the latter in school. That's one example of the strange British-sounding editing, as well as many errors that were in my (second) issue. Why are Canadian printing presses rife with editing errors?
This could've been something more than just an easy read. There's portions and people in some of the cold cases that are rather interesting and could've been brought to the book more - looking up some on the internet produced a lot of material that would not have slowed this read down a bit. A few more cases to make this more than something just slightly better than a collection of writings a bit more valuable than a wikipidia entry would've been welcomed. There's more photos that could've been included. Perhaps a section, a directory, in the back showing the stores and areas mentioned in this book in the decades the crimes happened.
It's still a book that's valuable for some, an entertaining read for others, and a nice compact overview of some of the crimes of Canadian thinking and laws of the time - for instance, the way homosexuals were seen and treated and had to live and the places they had to attend to find companionship is horrifying not only due to the obvious horror of such bigotry, but how long it took for my country to get their heads screwed on right. It's also notable, and a smart decision by the author, that there's no theorizing of what could've happened in her view, it's simply the facts and a few authorial rumblings presented as economically as possible.
"Cold Case Vancouver: The City's Most Baffling Unsolved Murders" is, if nothing else, a fun read - despite the horrific circumstances and outcomes and lingering mystery around some of these cases. There's a slew of infamous cases most BC residents know about or at least know of, and I'll mention a few of my favourites first: "The Babes in the Woods" case where the identification of two young children as a boy and a girl murdered with an ax and dumped in Stanley Park stalled the investigation for decades and includes great personalities like the anthropologist from Austria; "Vancouver's Drug Wars" that takes us back to a time when Vancouver was, as it still is, the drug capital of Canada and the battlegrounds were bloody over the rising heroin trade, a tale that takes us to some interesting locations with some colourful people who did some outlandish and violent actions; "Missing Without Trace", a fascinating case where two Vancouver Stock Exchange - at the time, a legalized corrupt gambling operation that robbed many people with every scheme in the book - that includes a cast of strange suspects - if the murder victims didn't simply just take off - ranging from mobsters to the super rich and all the eccentrics on Howe street at the time.
Other cases include a murder solved decades later with the help of DNA and our is-it-even-legal Mr. Big police operation, Asian gangs, a bloody murder on Christmas, the murder of a solitary cat-woman, the death of a woman who traveled back and forth to Mexico and its neighbouring countries to bring back items to sell - was she smuggling drugs? - and found strangled in the changing room of her Good Earth store, and many others, including the rash of pedophile-killers who seemed to find something in Cloverdale - what else is there to do their besides gamble and visit gas stations before going insane?
I have some issues with Eve's book: she claims in the introduction that most men who sexually assault someone become murderers - this is not true, and she provides no source for her claim - the statistic is less than half. She also digs into the antiquated laws that let a child molester out on a day pass with some of his records vanishing - my grandfather was a prison guard, not at the one mentioned here, at this time, and records were not handled with as much care as they are now, it's absurd to level suspicions on the jailhouse. She also brings up a feminist historian a couple times and this book does seem to be centred largely on female victims, ignoring a long list of interesting, disturbing crimes against males, but she doesn't seem to be interested unless the male is either gay, Asian, or a case where she can show justice winning one with a male's murder being solved. Again, females and children's lives are seemingly valued more than males - why is this? It's like the news, "18 murdered, 11 women, 3 children" - oh, okay, thanks for drilling it into our heads from an early age with media and books such as this one telling us who's lives are more important. If third-wave feminists claim they want inclusivity and equality, what gives?
The editing here is bizarre: in Canada, no one says, "in hospital", we say, "in a hospital" - English people are the only one's I've met who speak the former. However, we're taught the latter in school. That's one example of the strange British-sounding editing, as well as many errors that were in my (second) issue. Why are Canadian printing presses rife with editing errors?
This could've been something more than just an easy read. There's portions and people in some of the cold cases that are rather interesting and could've been brought to the book more - looking up some on the internet produced a lot of material that would not have slowed this read down a bit. A few more cases to make this more than something just slightly better than a collection of writings a bit more valuable than a wikipidia entry would've been welcomed. There's more photos that could've been included. Perhaps a section, a directory, in the back showing the stores and areas mentioned in this book in the decades the crimes happened.
It's still a book that's valuable for some, an entertaining read for others, and a nice compact overview of some of the crimes of Canadian thinking and laws of the time - for instance, the way homosexuals were seen and treated and had to live and the places they had to attend to find companionship is horrifying not only due to the obvious horror of such bigotry, but how long it took for my country to get their heads screwed on right. It's also notable, and a smart decision by the author, that there's no theorizing of what could've happened in her view, it's simply the facts and a few authorial rumblings presented as economically as possible.
July 24, 2024
I received a free copy of this. What a fascinating and tragic read. I always knew Vancouver wasn’t always the safest place back in the day, but this book really puts it in perspective.
August 2, 2019
To be honest this book is more of a 3.5 star read.
Cold Case Vancouver promises to look at Vancouver's most baffling unsolved murders and I think that subtitle makes the reader either expect more or want more. When I think of something as baffling, I'd suspect it to be more perplexing or bewildering. When I think of a bewildering cold case, I think of the Mary Jane Kelly - the last of the so-called canonical Jack the Ripper victims. Although most of the cases that Lazarus discusses in her book are rather interesting, I don't think they are quite baffling. I think the sub-title sets an expectation with the reader that Lazarus doesn't quite deliver, through not fault of her own. Well there are a few cases that are definitely baffling, most of them just paint a tragic history for Vancouver when people weren't safe despite the being an illusion of safety.
I will stress that the cases contained in the book are rather interesting, especially since they span from 1944 to 2005. And even more so because it shines a light on a city that wasn't always well known for it's diversity or stunning nature. At one time, Vancouver had quite the reputation for being more akin to the wild west than a scenic town.
Some readers may be familiar with one or two cases, such as the Babes in the Woods, but I reckon that most will probably be new to most readers. Although the primary focus is Vancouver, Lazarus does include a few cases from North Vancouver, Surrey and Langley. And she concludes the book with a case that had been cold but ended up being solved.
One of my problems when reading this book was that it seemed that Lazarus didn't know if she wanted to showcase the cold case she was writing about or showcase what Vancouver was like. For example, the case of Robert David Hopkin is truly baffling because there's so little detail. I felt that the chapter on Hopkins dealt more with what it was like for people who identified as LGBTQ in the 1950s as opposed to be focused on the victim. And whilst I can understand that Lazarus is sometimes working with scant details herself, I found some cases gave more information about the actual victim and crime whereas other cases seemed to focus on what Vancouver was like at the time.
I don't think this is a fault on Lazarus' part either. I think that with some of these cases, the more time that goes by, the more obscured the details about the victims, the crime and the case become. I know for a lot of historians of historical cold cases, one of the issues that arises is that no one expected that evidence would be looked at so many decades after the original crime was unsolved. Sometimes evidence wasn't collected or preserved and in other cases sometimes it was lost or destroyed. Also the way that police work now is vastly different from the way police worked in the past.
One of the thing that Lazarus should be applauded on is her efforts to humanize all of the victims and her attempts to focus on the victims instead of the crimes.
Cold Case Vancouver promises to look at Vancouver's most baffling unsolved murders and I think that subtitle makes the reader either expect more or want more. When I think of something as baffling, I'd suspect it to be more perplexing or bewildering. When I think of a bewildering cold case, I think of the Mary Jane Kelly - the last of the so-called canonical Jack the Ripper victims. Although most of the cases that Lazarus discusses in her book are rather interesting, I don't think they are quite baffling. I think the sub-title sets an expectation with the reader that Lazarus doesn't quite deliver, through not fault of her own. Well there are a few cases that are definitely baffling, most of them just paint a tragic history for Vancouver when people weren't safe despite the being an illusion of safety.
I will stress that the cases contained in the book are rather interesting, especially since they span from 1944 to 2005. And even more so because it shines a light on a city that wasn't always well known for it's diversity or stunning nature. At one time, Vancouver had quite the reputation for being more akin to the wild west than a scenic town.
Some readers may be familiar with one or two cases, such as the Babes in the Woods, but I reckon that most will probably be new to most readers. Although the primary focus is Vancouver, Lazarus does include a few cases from North Vancouver, Surrey and Langley. And she concludes the book with a case that had been cold but ended up being solved.
One of my problems when reading this book was that it seemed that Lazarus didn't know if she wanted to showcase the cold case she was writing about or showcase what Vancouver was like. For example, the case of Robert David Hopkin is truly baffling because there's so little detail. I felt that the chapter on Hopkins dealt more with what it was like for people who identified as LGBTQ in the 1950s as opposed to be focused on the victim. And whilst I can understand that Lazarus is sometimes working with scant details herself, I found some cases gave more information about the actual victim and crime whereas other cases seemed to focus on what Vancouver was like at the time.
I don't think this is a fault on Lazarus' part either. I think that with some of these cases, the more time that goes by, the more obscured the details about the victims, the crime and the case become. I know for a lot of historians of historical cold cases, one of the issues that arises is that no one expected that evidence would be looked at so many decades after the original crime was unsolved. Sometimes evidence wasn't collected or preserved and in other cases sometimes it was lost or destroyed. Also the way that police work now is vastly different from the way police worked in the past.
One of the thing that Lazarus should be applauded on is her efforts to humanize all of the victims and her attempts to focus on the victims instead of the crimes.
December 29, 2016
I hadn't heard of a single one of these cases, so that was really interesting to me. Probably the most interesting (and infuriating) thing that this book illuminated for me was how women are vilified even when they're victims, regardless of the time period. An unmarried woman was brutally murdered on her way home from the bus stop? Well, why was she out so late? She must have been up to no good. A married woman was brutally murdered on her way home from the bus stop? Well, why had she just bought a bottle of whiskey? She must have been up to no good. They all must have been asking for it. It's pretty depressing that our first reaction still to this day is to find out the motive behind why a woman would ~*put herself in a position*~ where she could be assaulted, because clearly that means that she could have prevented it if she'd been just a little more proper and ladylike in her intentions. So anyway obviously the stories in this book got me pretty riled up.
Eve Lazarus' writing, however, is pretty dry. I would have liked to have seen some of her actual voice come through in these stories so it didn't just feel like I was reading a textbook. She did state that yeah a woman who had had a baby out of wedlock was demonized after her murder instead of the actual person who murdered her, but she more so just presented that as a fact instead of presenting her own outrage or even interest over this atrocious injustice and disrespect. Even if she doesn't have theories of what really happened (or if she does but didn't want to voice them), couldn't she have offered up some questions to get the reader thinking? There was really no room for much of anything besides facts, which all come to a dead end, and then she'd move on to the next story. I feel like the writing was on par with a competently-written high school research paper. And while I find true crime really fascinating, I don't find it fascinating solely for the fact that someone died and someone murdered them - I find true crime fascinating due to the the storytelling behind it, because it's then that the victims get their voices and the respect they deserve, and even if the case is cold, in some part, having their story told properly gives them a bit of justice. I'm sure the author had every good intent; I just found her writing bland, and therefore, the stories of the victims felt clinical and, for lack of a better word, cold.
Eve Lazarus' writing, however, is pretty dry. I would have liked to have seen some of her actual voice come through in these stories so it didn't just feel like I was reading a textbook. She did state that yeah a woman who had had a baby out of wedlock was demonized after her murder instead of the actual person who murdered her, but she more so just presented that as a fact instead of presenting her own outrage or even interest over this atrocious injustice and disrespect. Even if she doesn't have theories of what really happened (or if she does but didn't want to voice them), couldn't she have offered up some questions to get the reader thinking? There was really no room for much of anything besides facts, which all come to a dead end, and then she'd move on to the next story. I feel like the writing was on par with a competently-written high school research paper. And while I find true crime really fascinating, I don't find it fascinating solely for the fact that someone died and someone murdered them - I find true crime fascinating due to the the storytelling behind it, because it's then that the victims get their voices and the respect they deserve, and even if the case is cold, in some part, having their story told properly gives them a bit of justice. I'm sure the author had every good intent; I just found her writing bland, and therefore, the stories of the victims felt clinical and, for lack of a better word, cold.
January 7, 2016
I'm not sure what I expected from this book other than what I got: a rather pedantic partial list of cold case murders in the greater Vancouver area. The author did a good job of re-creating the evidence in most cases, but, whether it was the subject matter or her writing style or both, the book felt flat and somewhat dull. I guess you need a good fiction writer to make such a grim topic more compelling.
March 6, 2019
Cold Case Vancouver is sad, compelling, and gripping. Eve Lazarus meticulously recounts a number of unresolved murders in Metro Vancouver stretching back to the mid 1940’s. I found the context that she provides about those times quite insightful. Having grown up in Metro Vancouver in the 60’s and 70’s I had no idea how violent and dangerous Vancouver had been for women and children after the war. According to Lazarus, men were drifting in from all parts of the country, looking for work, living in the bushes, or one of the many rooming houses springing up in the city. A small percentage of those men were violent predators.
It was shocking to read that some of the murders which took place during my school years happened not too many miles from where I lived. In those days, we all walked to elementary school and back home, half the time alone. We played unsupervised in the local parks with friends and never once thought that someone might be lurking in the bushes waiting, for an opportunity to hurt us. Looking back, it’s curious that our parents weren’t more concerned, but those were different times.
The photographs add a chilling aspect to descriptions, however the text was often superimposed over the black-and-white text, making it difficult to read. The final chapter recounts a cold case where the killer was indeed caught. I would have preferred to see more of a balance between unsolved and solved murders. As it stands, the book is a little bit depressing and morbid, mainly because it’s all too real. So many families are still wondering who killed their loved ones. Thanks to advancements in policing and technology, it’s some comfort to know that a much higher percentage of predators are caught today than they were then. If you’re looking for true accounts of Vancouver’s darker past, then this book is a fascinating read. By the way, investigators are still looking for tips on those cold case files.
It was shocking to read that some of the murders which took place during my school years happened not too many miles from where I lived. In those days, we all walked to elementary school and back home, half the time alone. We played unsupervised in the local parks with friends and never once thought that someone might be lurking in the bushes waiting, for an opportunity to hurt us. Looking back, it’s curious that our parents weren’t more concerned, but those were different times.
The photographs add a chilling aspect to descriptions, however the text was often superimposed over the black-and-white text, making it difficult to read. The final chapter recounts a cold case where the killer was indeed caught. I would have preferred to see more of a balance between unsolved and solved murders. As it stands, the book is a little bit depressing and morbid, mainly because it’s all too real. So many families are still wondering who killed their loved ones. Thanks to advancements in policing and technology, it’s some comfort to know that a much higher percentage of predators are caught today than they were then. If you’re looking for true accounts of Vancouver’s darker past, then this book is a fascinating read. By the way, investigators are still looking for tips on those cold case files.
December 19, 2019
I personally think that cold cases are the most difficult cases to solve, not only to the police but to the families of the victims as well. They will have to move on without ever knowing the who, why or what had happened to their loved ones. It is heartbreaking and at the same infuriating as the perpetrator is still somewhere out there walking freely without being brought to justice, and more often than not, the victims are forgotten.
But I am hopeful. Today's major advances in forensics is able to conduct better and more accurate testing; the wide usage of social media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter - means a new way to disseminate information in a faster way casting a wider net of audience. So, yes I am hopeful.
Cold Case Vancouver takes a look at Vancouver's most puzzling cold murder cases from 1944 to 1996 - from child murders to drug wars. The most difficult ones for me are cases involving children. Once again Lazarus did an excellent work in both research and writing. I enjoyed learning about the history and culture of Vancouver's early days. It was definitely a vast difference compared to today's Vancouver.
Overall, I enjoyed this part history, part true crime book. I highly recommend it to everyone and I think it is such an important book to read. Maybe some of these cases will refresh someone's memory who may be holding a valuable piece of information that will help solve a case. Solving a cold case would mean putting away a criminal and a closure for the family. The victims should not be forgotten.
But I am hopeful. Today's major advances in forensics is able to conduct better and more accurate testing; the wide usage of social media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter - means a new way to disseminate information in a faster way casting a wider net of audience. So, yes I am hopeful.
Cold Case Vancouver takes a look at Vancouver's most puzzling cold murder cases from 1944 to 1996 - from child murders to drug wars. The most difficult ones for me are cases involving children. Once again Lazarus did an excellent work in both research and writing. I enjoyed learning about the history and culture of Vancouver's early days. It was definitely a vast difference compared to today's Vancouver.
Overall, I enjoyed this part history, part true crime book. I highly recommend it to everyone and I think it is such an important book to read. Maybe some of these cases will refresh someone's memory who may be holding a valuable piece of information that will help solve a case. Solving a cold case would mean putting away a criminal and a closure for the family. The victims should not be forgotten.
June 28, 2017
I was not familiar with this author at the start but I like local history and true crime so I took a chance, expecting a light read and a pedantic collection of lukewarm can-con stories. What actually happened was that this book gave me nightmares (literally) yet I couldn't put it down. Seriously disturbing. I already knew that this city, built on colonial violence, is not a 'safe' place for some people still, but back in the 90's to the start of colonization this city wasn't 'safe' for anybody. Indigenous people, immigrants, women and children (especially children!), even men...It was truly the wild west out here and if anyone wants to appreciate what a messed up place Vancouver is this book is a good start. Also, anyone who tells you how 'safe' a place this was 'back in the good old days' is full of it. Neither the stories nor the numbers support those kinds of claims. So, so unsettling. I look forward to reading more by this author.
October 29, 2017
I loved this book and couldn't stop reading it. Even though the subject matter is quite sad and disturbing there was something to it that caught my interest. It could be because I live in Vancouver and many of the areas where these crimes happened I am familiar with.
A few of them happened in my general vicinity when I was growing up and I was wracking my brain to figure out if I remembered these when I was young.
It is also interesting to see how crime/murders has ebbed and flowed over the years and how technology has advanced. In several sections it was mentioned that Vancouver is the drug capital of Canada, I don't think that has changed.
The cold cases range from 1947 or somewhat recent times and only 1 was solved at the end of the book. Was this to lull the reader into feeling good at the end considering every story to that point was without closure???? Regardless, it was interesting and well worth the read.
A few of them happened in my general vicinity when I was growing up and I was wracking my brain to figure out if I remembered these when I was young.
It is also interesting to see how crime/murders has ebbed and flowed over the years and how technology has advanced. In several sections it was mentioned that Vancouver is the drug capital of Canada, I don't think that has changed.
The cold cases range from 1947 or somewhat recent times and only 1 was solved at the end of the book. Was this to lull the reader into feeling good at the end considering every story to that point was without closure???? Regardless, it was interesting and well worth the read.
May 24, 2022
I finally was able to get my hands on a copy of this book! Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because all the stories are cold cases, and I hate when I don't get answers at the end of a show or book. SIGH.
Also to know that there are that many families out there who never got closure just makes me so sad.
The details that went into this book were really neat. Lazarus really did her research and gave these victims a personality. She interviewed family members, obtained letters, records, pictures, etc.
Sadly, most of these cold cases are from the 40s-60s, way before DNA technology was where it is at today so a lot of evidence was lost, thrown out or destroyed over the years. Most of these families and friend of the victims have since died and never got any answers. Still always hopeful that one day maybe one of these will be solved.
Also to know that there are that many families out there who never got closure just makes me so sad.
The details that went into this book were really neat. Lazarus really did her research and gave these victims a personality. She interviewed family members, obtained letters, records, pictures, etc.
Sadly, most of these cold cases are from the 40s-60s, way before DNA technology was where it is at today so a lot of evidence was lost, thrown out or destroyed over the years. Most of these families and friend of the victims have since died and never got any answers. Still always hopeful that one day maybe one of these will be solved.
July 6, 2017
I really enjoyed this book but it was very sad that so many terrible murders have gone unsolved. I was especially touched by the death of the little boy Roddy. That child never had a chance in life from the moment he was born. I hope he rests in peace. What is very infuriating is how poorly the Vancouver City police operated. Their clumsy lazy haphazard way of storing evidence is astounding. Good grief people Scotland Yard still has evidence of crimes dating back a hundred or more years and you manage to 'lose' DNA from 20 years ago. I sincerely hope things have improved in the chain of evidence for this police force.
September 6, 2023
Interesting to hear about the various eras of unsolved murders in Vancouver. One of the biggest surprises I uncovered in the book was one victim was found in an alley behind where we lived, though the murder happened over a decade before we lived there. Still chilling to read, knowing the neighbourhood, and I'd never heard about it before, even though we had neighbours who would have lived there then.
March 6, 2018
One of the first I read from the great Eve Lazarus. Her stories really hit you, making you appreciate the fact that you are not a victim of such circumstances. I had to put it down sometimes because I empathize with the victims and felt so sorry for them and all the other people traumatized by the evil people who prey on us. (so that's why 4 Stars only)
September 14, 2020
I really enjoyed reading these stories. Brings things into perspective re: recent tensions with the police. My how things have changed in the last 40 years or so.
August 16, 2022
3.5 stars
October 26, 2022
Interesting and some puzzling cold cases from Vancouver. Some finally solved, others are still open.
May 5, 2020
This is a survey of unsolved murders, not only in Vancouver but also in the surrounding areas (the subtitle is misleading). Several of the cases are from North Vancouver. It is a discouraging read, because so little hope is offered that these matters will ever be resolved. Only at the end, is a murderer found in a more recent case. In older cases, much evidence seems to have been lost and therefore not available for DNA testing or other modern investigative methods. The writing here is pretty dry and straightforward, and the editing missed a couple of obvious errors (for example, 30 ounces of a drug is said to be "0.9 g." Well, no. Thirty ounces is more like 850 grams, or rounded to 0.9 kg.)
June 15, 2016
A very captivating overview of some of Vancouver's most famous unsolved murders. The author was very knowledgeable on the subject, and the cases were well researched. The author did not make any predictions or offer any of her own theories to what might have happened, which left it feeling a little textbook and not like other true-crime I have read. Some of the crimes were very horrific and involved small children, and the matter-of-fact writing style helped me get through some of the harder stories.
May 5, 2016
This great book is full of fascinating historical research and well-written. It was interesting to find out what life was like in Vancouver (and surrounding areas) during the time periods of each murder, the circumstances of the murders and developments in the cold case files over the decades. The stories felt very personal and the writing style made them flow easily. A surprising number of interviews were conducted/accessed by the author considering the age of many of the cases.
December 18, 2016
Anyone interested in mysteries would find this an interesting read. For me, it was rather gruesome reading about one murder after another, especially as most of the victims were women. There seems to be a lesson here about not coming home after dark on your own.
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