He speculates that immersing himself in the lives of others is a way of avoiding his own problems. He starts to wonder why he becomes so obsessed with this crime, and other particularly puzzling cold cases-ones that are unlikely to ever be solved. The word “addict” in the title is apt because Renner often comes across like a junkie looking for his next fix of information about Murray and will risk anything to get it. We can see how deeply it affects him both professionally and personally. Renner shows us that so many years of immersing himself in crime takes its toll. “I didn’t know what I was more afraid of: that it would be another boy, or that it would be a girl brought into a world full of dangerous men.” (145) At the time of his writing True Crime Addict, he and his wife were discussing having a second child and he thought: Mihaljevic’s murder and Murray’s disappearance force him to see connections between him, his grandfather, and men generally. Renner also explores other cases in his text, such as the 1989 murder of Amy Mihaljevic, the case that launched his interest in true crime. He also deals with problems involving his son and cops with his own propensity towards violence. Throughout the book, Renner is haunted by the fact that his grandfather sexually abused most of the women in their family. This puzzled Renner, since the loved ones of missing people are usually anxious for any kind publicity to keep the case at the forefront of public interest. He would also experience pushback from her family members, particularly her father.

While she fit classic “all-American girl” archetype, during his investigation Renner discovers many cracks in the veneer of Murray’s seemingly perfect life and learns many perplexing things that lead him to question the circumstances of her disappearance.

Even though a mere 7 minutes passed from the time that Maura spoke to the bus driver until the first police officer arrived there was no sign of her. She was last seen refusing help from a passing bus driver who went to his house and called the police. Murray, a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, vanished in 2004 after getting into a minor car accident 146 miles away in Woodsville, New Hampshire.

In his book, True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray (2016, Thomas Dunne Books), journalist James Renner, not only looks into this disappearance of Maura Murray, but also confronts his family’s own violent history and his relationship with the true crime genre.Īfter losing his job at a newspaper and questioning his future, Renner becomes obsessed with the still-unsolved disappearance of Maura Murray.

True Crime Addict by James Renner