Bozeman Magazine

Delve into real life mysteries with the Wonderlust Mystery Series and true crime! We will read some classics of the genre, as well as recent stories that use modern forensic techniques like DNA to catch actual killers. True crime gives us insight into the psychology of killers and investigators, as well as letting us examine good versus evil in our own world. 

Registration: Free and open to all OLLI at MSU members; registration is required in order to receive link to the online discussion.
Zoom link will be provided by the group facilitator.
Participants must acquire their own books. They are available through Country Bookshelf.

This month we'll discuss The Fact of a Body by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich. This book is a marvel. The Fact of a Body is equal parts gripping and haunting and will leave you questioning whether any one story can hold the full truth. -- Celeste Ng, author of the New York Times bestselling Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere

Before Alex Marzano-Lesnevich begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working to help defend men accused of murder, they think their position is clear. The child of two lawyers, they are staunchly anti-death penalty. But the moment convicted murderer Ricky Langley's face flashes on the screen as they review old tapes--the moment they hear him speak of his crimes -- they are overcome with the feeling of wanting him to die. Shocked by their reaction, they dig deeper and deeper into the case. Despite their vastly different circumstances, something in his story is unsettlingly, uncannily familiar.
Crime, even the darkest and most unsayable acts, can happen to any one of us. As Alex pores over the facts of the murder, they find themself thrust into the complicated narrative of Ricky's childhood. And by examining the details of Ricky's case, they are forced to face their own story, to unearth long-buried family secrets, and reckon with a past that colors their view of Ricky's crime.
But another surprise awaits: They weren't the only one who saw their life in Ricky's.

An intellectual and emotional thriller that is also a different kind of murder mystery, THE FACT OF A BODY is a book not only about how the story of one crime was constructed -- but about how we grapple with our own personal histories. Along the way it tackles questions about the nature of forgiveness, and if a single narrative can ever really contain something as definitive as the truth. This groundbreaking, heart-stopping work, ten years in the making, shows how the law is more personal than we would like to believe -- and the truth more complicated, and powerful, than we could ever imagine.

Visit https://eu.courses.montana.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp?&course=21FOLmyst&publish=ANYWAY for more information.