Truman Capote’s bestselling book “In Cold Blood” has captivated worldwide audiences for over 50 years. It is a gripping story about the consequences of a trivial robbery gone terribly wrong in a remote village of western Kansas.But what if robbery was not the motive at all, but something more sinister? And why would the State of Kansas launch a ruthless four-year legal battle to prevent new … prevent new details of the State’s most famous crime from being made public?
Based on stunning new details discovered in the personal journals and archives of former KBI Director Harold Nye—and corroborated by letters written by Richard Hickock, one of the killers on Death Row—“And Every Word Is True” meticulously lays out a vivid and startling new view of the Clutter family murder investigation, one that will keep readers on the edge of their seats as they pick up where Capote left off. Even readers new to the story will find themselves drawn into a spellbinding forensic investigation that reads like a thriller, adding new perspectives to the classic tale of an iconic American crime.
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I need to read In Cold Blood. That would have made me more invested in And Every Word Is True. Once I got into this book, I started getting more invested, I just wanted to be that way through the whole thing.
I do like the concept of the novel. It was written in a different way, and I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book like this. The plot was intriguing and the thrills were definitely there.
Overall, I recommend this one. However I want to read the first novel and then re-read this one. I think it will be more impactful.
*I received a copy of this book as part of a blog tour with Partners In Crime Tours. All opinions are my own.*
The Clutter family murders occurred the year before I was born, so I was in junior high school before my parents allowed me to watch the movie which led me to read the book based on the crime—In Cold Blood. This, along with the Tate-La Bianca murders, helped foster a lifelong interest in true-crime novels.
And Every Word is True doesn’t claim to offer new evidence or produce a smoking gun. It explores the personal files of a chief investigator and other principles involved with the case, along with personal documents from the two men convicted and executed for the heinous crime.
Like with any crime—high profile or not—alternate theories are posited, some which existed before this book.
Highly detailed and well-written, this read slows when it centers on the Nye’s family reason for auctioning the documents (medical expenses) and the court battle against the KBI (coverup?), but it offers enough details to make one wonder why the KBI so strongly resisted the documents being made public.
Were Hickock and Smith fulfilling a murder contract on Herb Clutter? Did the KBI help bury vital evidence and information?
History shows us the length bureaucrats will go to keep from looking foolish (or guilty), and I believe the KBI helped build a blaze when silence would have better served them, but readers will need to read the thought-provoking And Every Word Is True and decide for themselves.
If you’re interested in the Clutter family murder made famous in In Cold Blood, you’ll love this book. It provides previously undisclosed details about the crime.
AND EVERY WORD IS TRUE
by Gary McAvoy
Truman Capote said of his nonfiction novel IN COLD BLOOD, “and every word is true”. In his nonfiction book AND EVERY WORD IS TRUE Gary McAvoy raises some questions about that. There may be more to the Clutter murders than a robbery gone horribly wrong. In bringing the police notebooks of Harold Nye, former director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, up for auction the author found himself embroiled in a legal battle with the state of Kansas. Why was the state determined to get the papers back? The case was solved fifty years earlier and all of the lead players were deceased. Going through Nye’s notebooks and copies of documents he kept regarding the case AND EVERY WORD IS TRUE posits more theories about the Clutter killings. Was the case really solved?
AND EVERY WORD IS TRUE actually tells two stories, the first is the story of the investigative notebooks of Harold Nye and the author’s legal battle with the state of Kansas to auction them for Harold’s son. The second is the information these notebooks contained. Although the two stories are woven together, there are distinct differences between them.
I enjoyed reading the information about the Clutter case and truly appreciated seeing photographs of the actual documents. McAvoy lets a good portion of the information speak for itself, copying the information from the documents, several of them handwritten, putting the information is an easily accessible manner then raising questions and providing other possible motives for the killings. The book is incredibly well researched and reads well enough, but doesn’t have the literary craftsmanship of IN COLD BLOOD. Then again, this is a non fiction book, not a nonfiction novel and McAvoy is expounding the facts, not exploring a new art form.
The problem I had with this book is the legal battle about the notebooks. I am surprised that McAvoy won the case. As a former police officer I know that the notebooks I kept could be taken by the courts at any time. Though I bought them and wrote in them, they weren’t truly mine. It is true that the Clutter case occurred over fifty years ago, the perpetrators confessed and were executed, and most everyone who was involved is now dead. The truth is that a murder case is never technically closed. What McAvoy uncovered is just one of the reasons why. New evidence may come to light, implicating someone else in the crime. While Hickcock and Perry are certainly guilty, it is quite possible that someone else was behind the killings and that someone was never brought to justice. In addition, the portions of the book relating to Ronald Nye and his family seemed over dramatized and a bit self serving.
AND EVERY WORD IS TRUE brings new information and theories regarding the Clutter case, the murders Truman Capote made famous in his nonfiction novel IN COLD BLOOD. While the writing isn’t that compelling, the facts and theories are making this book a fine addition to the annals of true crime.
FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of this book in the hopes I would review it.
Just about every one I know has read Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD … or seen the TV Movie… or read about it in the news. It was some time later that I met someone whose family had been friends with the Clutters.
This book explores the possibility that there might have been other reasons for this crime. Supposedly new details were discovered as well as a letter written by Richard Hickok, one of the killers. This alone made me wonder why this was never released … why was it buried?
Book Blurb: Even readers new to the story will find themselves drawn into a spellbinding forensic investigation that reads like a thriller, adding new perspectives to the classic tale of an iconic American crime.
I read this one in one night … hoping to be enthralled, entranced, riveted by a continuing story of the Clutters. That’s not exactly what I got. The new ‘facts’ were actually told in a boring manner. However, anyone who has read and liked IN COLD BLOOD will find this interesting.
Many thanks to the author / Literati Editions / Netgalley for the digital copy of the book that will take you back to 1959. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
And Every Word is True by Gary McAvoy
Thank you Good Reads Giveaways
On November 15, 1959, ex-convicts Hickock and Smith went to a Kansas farmhouse owned by the Clutter family on a tip that he had a safe with $10,000 in it. Unable to locate the safe they instead murdered the Clutter family. Herb his wife Bonnie and their two teenagers Kenyon and Nancy. They were found tied up and shot to death.
What started out to make a little money to help his sick ex-wife, Ron decided to sell his father Detective Harold Nye’s notebooks, photos etc on Harold’s tedious notes about the Clutter family murders. This ended up being years of courtroom appearances, legal loopholes by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The KBI brought a lawsuit against Ron Nye to return everything he has on the case into these murders. This book is mostly about this lawsuit and the back story of everyone involved.
Eventually the murders were caught thanks to evidence found in their car and ultimately executed on April 14th 1965.
As I never read nor saw “In Cold Blood” which sold over 240,000 copies in just four months, I can only go on what I read in this book. There will always be more details later after the last page is turned or credits stop at the end of a movie. Like adultery or how much money was or wasn’t in the safe, things that were not “originally told” etc etc.
what I like about this book is the chapter that gave the back story as to the early life of each character.
what I didn’t like about this book is that the ending, the last chapter is very boring and that the photos are too small (kindle paperweight)