Unholy Covenant by Lynn Chandler-Willis is a True Crime book about a murder that deeply affected residents of a small town in North Carolina, U.S.A. The killing of Patricia Kimble, a young wife, was unlikely to be a headline grabber, unless, like the author, you happen to be familiar with the area in which it happened. It is this familiarity that adds an intimacy and poignancy to Unholy Covenant, one that is so often absent from books in the True Crime genre.
Patricia Kimble loved her husband, Ted. In fact, she had loved him from afar for some time, even while he was dating her cousin, and had changed her appearance in an effort to get him to notice her. Her efforts were eventually rewarded when he did. Yet, less than two years after their marriage, a tragic fire at the couple's home claimed Patricia's life while Ted was at work. At least, that was how it seemed until investigators discovered that not only had the fire been deliberately set, but also that Patricia had actually died from a gunshot wound to the head before it started.
Unholy Covenant follows the investigation into the murder of Patricia from crime scene to courtroom, focusing on the police officers responsible for running her killer to ground. Since Patricia seemed not to have an enemy in the world, suspicion fell on Ted, who had recently taken out insurance on her life. Yet Ted had a cast iron alibi.
Since the focus of the book is mainly on the police who investigated the murder, it gives some fascinating insights into how they actually feel about their work, in particular how they come to know a murder victim and feel for their families. The eventual arrest of the perpetrator is as a result of long hours of often mundane investigation that are detailed in the book. The reader comes to understand the physical and emotional cost to the officers of trying to dot every i and cross every t to prevent someone from literally getting away with murder, of working eighty hour weeks, of neglecting families and of sleepless nights.
The fact that the author is so familiar with the details of the case gives this book an extra dimension. (Not only is she a resident of the small town, but also the founder of the local newspaper.) Chandler-Willis' book is meticulously researched and passionately written and, with the cooperation both of the investigating officers and the family of the victim, it is both a touching and comprehensive account.
While no murder is ordinary, especially to the family and friends of the victim, this is not a sensational tale of a sex-crazed serial killer, destined to make news headlines around the world. It is a story of the sort of run-of the-mill, bread and butter case that police officers the world over have to deal with every day of their careers, yet even a seasoned reader of True Crime books like myself cannot help but to become involved with the story. This is especially the case when viewing the photographs in the books centre, in which Patricia as a bride, glowing with obvious pleasure and pride, features heavily.
My one complaint with the book is difficult to put into words without revealing the eventual outcome. Suffice to say that the short epilogue in which Chandler-Willis brings the reader up to date with the lives of her main characters seems to directly contradict the previous chapter, leaving me a little uncertain as to what actually happened. This was, however, a minor complaint and one that makes no difference to the overall high standard of the book
Publisher: Addicus Books
ISBN: 1 886039 41 0
Price: $17.95 (£11.70)
Date Reviewed: August 2002
My Rating: 4/5
