If you love true crime shows or books, then you will LOVE I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara! 

Michelle McNamara was a true-crime writer for the Los Angeles Magazine and the author of the blog True Crime Diary. As many articles will describe, Michelle McNamara was obsessed with true crime following the unsolved murder of a neighbor when she was a teenager. However, her interest in East Area Rapist was different than any other unsolved crime.

Between 1973 and 1986, the East Area Rapist, later coined the Golden State Killer by McNamara, raped, murdered, and kidnapped several dozens of individuals in Northern and Southern California. It was only with the help of DNA testing in 2011 did police find out the crimes in Northern California and Southern California were committed by the individual, ultimately reviving the cold case. 

McNamara avidly writes about the Golden State Killer, including evidence she’s received, collected, and sorted in both the Los Angeles Magazine and True Crime Diary. Here’s an article from the Los Angeles Magazine by McNamara that profiles the Golden State Killer.

As a true crime fan, this was such a riveting read. McNamara takes the reader through the killer’s patterns and habits. She identifies traits that can be found across the cases from Northern to Southern California. McNamara digs into the final moments of many of the Golden State Killer’s victims and in doing so she pieces together one of the most high-profile crimes. 

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is a compilation of McNamara’s extensive research and dedication to catching the “masked man” who haunted the state of California for over a decade. The book was completed and published posthumously two years after McNamara suddenly passed away in her sleep in 2016. It features an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt. 

Within months of the book’s publication, the Golden State Killer was identified as former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo. Two years later, DeAngelo pleads guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of kidnapping resulting in 12 life sentences. 

McNamara without a doubt played a pivotal role in getting this cold case solved. Her “obsession” brought the killer to people’s awareness, which as a result, forced the police to make it a priority. Not to mention she pieced together thousands of pieces of evidence!

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is most enjoyable when read from start to finish, but one of my favorite things about the book is being able to start at any point and not feeling entirely lost. Because the subject matter is so publicized, it’s incredibly interesting to read a version of the narrative that is both emotional and connects the dots of the case. In Michelle McNamara’s words,

“You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark,” you threatened a victim once.
Open the door. Show us your face.
Walk into the light.”

Thank you for reading,

Iyesha Ferguson, M.A.

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