Wanda Evans

This true crime novel covers the brutal murder of Scott Dunn, bludgeoned to death in his own bedroom. His killers almost walked, however, as Dunn's body was never found, and in Texas, no body=no murder. His killer (and former lover), Leisha Hamilton, counted on that fact.

The fact that the prosecutor in Texas was reluctant to bring this case to trial gave me pause. Although his body was not found, Luminol sprayed on the walls of Scott's bedroom revealed that not only had blood been splattered all over the place, but that the murderer (or accomplice) had attempted to wipe most of it off. Perhaps I watch too much CSI, but shouldn't that be enough to make a prosecutor determine that a crime was indeed committed? Fortunately, even without a body to introduce into evidence, the manipulative Leisha Hamilton was indeed convicted of Scott Dunn's murder.

While this book was interesting, I don't think this merited the "brilliant and utterly gripping" given by the Booklist review. Wanda Evans carefully lays out the investigation of Scott Dunn's murder, but fails to give enough background information on him to make him a three dimensional character. Other missing pieces in this story include any mention of Scott's mother--what were her thoughts on the murder of her son?… (mer)

Although Roger "Scott" Dunn is the missing (presumed murdered) person in Trail of Blood, the book is about his father, Jim Dunn, as much as it is about Scott. Jim Dunn corroborated on this book, which chronicles Scott's case from the day his disappearance was made known to the trial, conviction and sentencing of two individuals for his murder. Without Jim's dedication, without him constantly pestering the police and anyone else whom he thought could help, Scott's murder would probably have never been solved. A good word should also be said for the investigating officers, who were very diligent in working the case and never "wrote it off," even when it seemed hopeless.

Although the writing is somewhat dry at times, this book presents a good portrait of the principal characters and also shows the difficulty of solving a murder where there is no weapon, no witnesses, no confessions, and worst of all, no body. The time frame covers over six years between Scott's disappearance and the convictions of his killers, but the suspense remains throughout. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was outraged when I discovered at the end that one of the murder defendants was sentenced to probation, and the other is already being considered for parole. Trail of Blood is a decent read, particularly those who are interested in forensics, since it goes into so much detail about the physical evidence.

UPDATE: Scott Dunn's body turned up in May 2012, just three doors down from his own home. The police had figured he was buried somewhere close by. He'd died of blunt force trauma to the head -- again, as expected.… (mer)