James Renner, True Crime Addict

Maura Murray drove her car into a snowbank near New Hampshire's White Mountains on February 9, 2004. She declined a passing motorist's offer of help, but he called the police anyway from his driveway 100 feet away. Seven minutes later, when the police reached her car, she was gone.

James Renner, a crime reporter who's written about missing girls before, became interested in Maura's case in 2009.

Renner's book weaves various threads into a very readable narrative—the events leading up to Maura's disappearance, the police investigation, the author's investigation, red herrings and other bits of evidence, horrible and terrifying events from Renner's personal and family history.

I particularly appreciate his transparency in his presentation of evidence. His approach toward reporting is to lay the evidence before readers so they can follow along, fact check him, and come to their own conclusions.

It's honest and more credible than stories served up with their evidence fully digested. This is true crime, but it's also a form of (very modern) history, and this is how I would like history presented to a popular audience as well.