Murder In A Rear View Mirror: Stories of True Crime

by Thomas D. Perry

Historian Thomas D. "Tom" Perry writes about stories of true crime along the Virginia North Carolina border region that he calls home. From the 1912 Hillsville Shootout to the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre, Perry writes about these stories that have interested him over a long career of writing about the history of the place he calls home. Subjects covered include the 1929 Lawson family Christmas murders in Stokes County to the shootout on Fayette Street in Martinsville, Virginia, along with the case of the Martinsville Seven. Multiple bombing stories from Mount Airy, North Carolina, before it was Andy Griffith's mythical Mayberry to the title of "Little Chicago." Several murder true stories from Perry's native Patrick County are included.

151 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 10, 2018

About the author

Historian Thomas D. "Tom" Perry was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and grew up just over the border in Ararat, Patrick County, Virginia, where Civil War General J. E. B. Stuart, Reverend Bob Childress "The Man Who Moved A Mountain," and Orleana Hawks Puckett, the famous mid-wife on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Perry has written or published over thirty books on regional history focusing on the Civil War. His latest book Beyond Mayberry: A Memoirs of Andy Griffith and Mount Airy North Carolina.

Reviews

[Kay Remines · Rating 2 out of 5]

read in (2021): good information but got caught up in religion and i felt like it diminished the premise of the book at times

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The overall concept of the book is appealing and the background is interesting. Each chapter is a different murder story or mystery. I did not read every chapter- I skimmed a few, read a few, and skipped a few. There were some typos and other mistakes which occasionally made it difficult to follow. Also, there seemed to be a lot of “filler” in some of the stories along with other unnecessary information. Some info being too detailed about people and timelines, and other included personal thoughts/opinions and experiences. These stories are written from a historian perspective versus the “story teller” view, so if you prefer historical style you will likely enjoy it more.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book had some interesting things in it. I just feel like it was not all of it was informational. This book is very extremely biased and I felt that some it of was sexist and offensive. The author mixed in lot of biblical thing in it. I don’t have a problem with the Bible, but I don’t feel that a True Crime book is the place for religion. This book is on my DNF pile. (Did-not-finish) I just couldn’t with the opinions and sexist comments, I stopped on page 149.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems to be pulled from news of the day with little additional research or insight. Like a box of newspaper clippings it is interesting, down to earth, has information on crimes that did not gain national attention. Some did have an impact on police and court procedure, so it's worth a look if you are interested in that.