Summary

A popular sorority girl. An unsolved murder. A campus podcast with chilling repercussions. 

Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swain, who left a sorority party one night and never came back. Her body was found after two weeks, but the case has grown cold. Three years later while interning at the medical examiner’s, Lucas discovers new information, but the police are not interested.

Lucas knows he has several credible pieces of the puzzle. He just isn’t sure how they fit together. So he creates a podcast to revisit Candace’s last hours. Then he encourages listeners to crowdsource what they remember and invites guest lecturer Regan Merritt, a former US marshal, to come on and share her expertise.

New tips come in that convince Lucas and Regan they are onto something. Then shockingly one of the podcast callers turns up dead. Another hints at Candace’s secret life, a much darker picture than Lucas imagined – and one that implicates other sorority sisters. Regan uses her own resources to bolster their theory and learns that Lucas is hiding his own secret. The pressure is on to solve the murder, but first Lucas must come clean about his real motives in pursuing this podcast – before the killer silences him forever.

Why I chose to read this book
The summary reminded me of some of the murder stories covered by shows like Dateline, Exhibit A, and 20/20. I used to eagerly watch them, late at night, in my late teens and early twenties. The Sorority Murder seemed just as captivating as the stories depicted on those shows, but with a modern twist; podcasts! I feel like I haven’t arrived in the modern world yet because I haven’t given in to the trend of listening to crime podcasts, but who knows, maybe this book will make me start.

Thoughts & Opinions

This book was okay; an all too common story about the disappearance and subsequent murder of a sorority sister with a secret. I feel like I’ve heard this story many times before. The difference here is that the cold case is being covered by another student, through his podcast, in hopes of solving the murder. The story is a bit slow to start, there is a lot of repetition of the facts. They rehash the details over and over again like a real investigator would do. New information is given in small doses, trickled out throughout the book. I felt like a hamster thirsting after its water drip, impatient for the next drop. It’s a pretty long book so I understand that everything cannot be revealed right away. But once you have enough information you can already figure out what happened.

I’m not sure what the intention of the author was with the supposed main character, Lucas Vega, the podcaster; it seems like he was made not to be well-liked or trusted, in a way. I needed more information about him, I didn’t feel like I really got to know him. It feels like the real main character is Regan Merritt, a former US Marshal who helps Vega with his podcast and investigation. There are a few other characters that are introduced throughout the story, for which I wish more backstory was given. I’m curious by nature so I always like knowing a bit more about the characters and their relevance. All in all, as I said, it’s an okay book; not the best but not the worst. 

If you’re not American, The Sorority Murder will teach you about sororities and the important role they can play in a young woman’s life. I also discovered what true crime podcasts are all about; I liked the idea of crowdsourcing information to help solve a cold case but don’t know how feasible this practice is, since the callers are sharing alleged evidence and eyewitness reports to a podcast, not the police. To then convince the callers (sometimes anonymous) to make an official report with the police, is a whole other ballgame. I don’t know how the podcast in this book compares to real-life true crime podcasts but I definitely want to start listening to some now!

Check out my other Mystery/Suspense reviews:

Agent Running in The Field

Angels Flight

Autopsy

Finlay Donovan is Killing It

Where The Crawdads Sing

White Elephant

Discussion Points

• Have you read this book? If so, what did you think?
• Do you listen to true crime podcasts?
• Does the podcast described in this book resemble actual true crime podcasts?
• Do you feel like these podcasts are exploitative, or actually helpful?
• Which true crime podcast do you recommend I start listening to?
• I’d love to discuss this book with you in the comments below, looking forward to reading you!
• Which book should I review next?