Journalist. Palindrome. Writer.

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Shaker Heights Police Are Open to Taking Another Look at Local Murders

I’m happy to report that this week I met Shaker Heights police detectives to talk about a potential link between the unsolved murder of Lisa Pruett and the 1985 double-homicides of Philip and Dorothy Porter (the subject of my book, Little, Crazy Children.) The meeting went well and they are at least cracking open the old files for another look. Fingers crossed!

David Nethers interviewed me about the progress on Fox 8.

Upcoming Appearances – Fall/Winter

Come see me this fall!

September 2 – Bouchercon, San Diego!

September 11 – Rodman, Ohio Public Library 6:30 p.m.

September 21 – Music Box Supper Club, Cleveland, Ohio: Doors at 5, Presentation at 7 p.m.

September 27 – Willoughby-Eastlake, Ohio Public Library 7 p.m.

October 11 – Mogadore, Ohio Library 6 p.m.

October 17 – Castle Shannon, PA Public Library

November 4 – Wooster, Ohio: Buckeye Book Fair

November 5 – Akron, Ohio Comic Con 1 p.m.

November 6 – Mentor, Ohio Public Library – 6:30 p.m.

November 18 – Cincinnati, Ohio: Books by the Banks

New True Crime Thriller – Little, Crazy Children

It’s here! My new true crime thriller, Little, Crazy Children is now available in hardback, audiobook, and Kindle, wherever books are sold!

For readers of Ann Rule and Gregg Olsen, a riveting new true crime book from the acclaimed author of True Crime Addict and creator/host of the podcasts True Crime This Week and The Philosophy of Crime, as he explores the unsolved murder of 16-year-old Lisa Pruett in the real life town of the bestselling novel Little Fires Everywhere for a painstakingly researched account of a senseless and heartbreaking tragedy and the people who were pulled into its aftermath.

In September of 1990, in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, sixteen-year-old Lisa Pruett, a poetry lover and member of a church youth group, was on her way to a midnight tryst with her boyfriend, when she was viciously stabbed to death only thirty feet from the boy’s home.

The murder cast a palpable gloom over the upscale community and sparked accusations, theories, and rumors among Lisa’s friends and peers. Together they wove a damning narrative that circled back to a likely suspect: “weird” high school outcast Kevin Young. Without a shred of evidence the teen was arrested, charged, and tried for the crime. His eventual acquittal didn’t squelch the anger and outrage among those who believed that Kevin got away with murder.

With a fresh perspective and painstaking research culled from police files, court records, transcripts, uncollected evidence, and new interviews, James Renner reconstructs the events leading up to and following that heartbreaking night. What emerges is a portrait of a community seething with dark undercurrents—its single-minded authorities, protective status-conscious parents, and the deeply peer-pressured teens within Lisa’s circle.

Who had the capacity for such unchecked violence? What monsters still lurk in the dark? After more than thirty years, questions like these continue to fester among the community of Shaker Heights, Ohio, still deeply scarred by wounds that remain hidden, unspoken, and unhealed.

Upcoming Appearances, Spring/Summer 2023

I’m touring the U.S. this year and probably stopping somewhere near you! So, come out and get a signed book and say hello!

May 20: True Crime Fest Northwest Arkansas

June 10: Dallas Public Library, True Crime MiniCon

July 2: Shaker Heights – Loganberry Books, Book Launch for Little, Crazy Children 1 p.m.

July 3: Beachwood, Ohio Library 7 p.m.

July 8: Author Alley, Loganberry Books 12 noon.

July 15&16: Columbus Book Festival

July 17: Riverstone Books, Pittsburgh, PA 7 p.m.

July 18: Bookery, Manchester, NH 5 p.m.

July 19: Barnes & Noble, Colonie Center, Albany, NY 6 p.m.

July 20: Mysterious Bookshop, New York City 6 p.m.

July 24: Defiance, Ohio Public Library 5:30 p.m.

August 1: Madison, Ohio Public Library 7 p.m.

August 14: Livonia, Michigan Public Library 6 p.m.

Upcoming Appearances, Fall 2022

It’s a busy fall! Come see me if you can. Click on links for more info.

September 10: Savannah Crime Expo

September 18: Fundraiser for the Nancy Eagleson Cold Case, Paulding, Ohio.

September 24: Mentor Barnes & Noble 20th Anniversary: 1 p.m.

October 8: Rocky River Readers & Writers Event 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

October 9: PNW True Crime festival

October 27: Kent State lecture, “True Crime from May 4, 1970 to Present Day)

November 5: Buckeye Book Fair

The Mile Higher Podcast Interview

I’m the guest on this week’s episode of the Mile Higher Podcast. It was such a treat to get to meet Kendall, Josh, and Janelle in Denver and talk about developments in the Amy Mihaljevic case, Maura Murray, and little green men! Check it out!

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