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True Crime
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Plot Summary of True Crime
"

Berkley, Feb 2005, 5.99, 304 pp.
ISBN: 0425201155

Once he was an investigative reporter and minor league ballplayer but Lou Tedesco started on a downward spiral when he became an alcoholic. Now he is a sober movie and food critic for Portland, Oregon's Stumptown Weekly.

His current assignment is to cover the opening of the Bijou, a renovated movie theater in Seagirt that will show the classics. When he arrives in the small town, he finds no vacant motel rooms as the media occupies everything while covering the double homicide of locals Shelley Korta and Larry Narz. The couple was executed on the nearby beach where he was proposing to her. Lou meets Shelley's mother at the spot where the murders occurred; he promises he will not allow this to become a cold case due to official incompetence. He makes inquiries that lead to a beating and death threats.

Harriet Klausner

"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of True Crime
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - journalist
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - small businessman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - revenge
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Pacific NW

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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Harriet Klausner  

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