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Reviews tagging 'Suicide'
The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen
6 reviews
emadisonc's review
3.0
“It is like a circle. One thing people say leads to another, then it comes back again. It is like there is really no end. Nothing final.”
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Incest, Outing, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism
Minor: Animal death and Rape
am4man's review
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Murder, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Blood, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Suicide, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Incest
acthomas's review
4.5
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Outing, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Homophobia, and Child abuse
rabitoye's review
4.5
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content and Pedophilia
lexkazokas's review
2.0
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Sexual content, and Child death
Moderate: Pedophilia
taylorfield's review
3.5
Long Story Short: Gregg Olsen revisits the subject of his 1990 book Abandoned Prayers after receiving a box of letters written by and about Eli Stutzman, a former Amishman who was convicted of murder in 1985. This new information sends Olsen on a quest to discover the truth about the untimely death of Stutzman's wife, Ida, in 1977 - long since believed to have occurred under suspicious circumstances.
This story is so twisted and complicated it's hard to believe it's real. To say it was "jaw dropping" would be cliche, but there are certainly some heavy, sometimes devastating revelations. Olsen's four-season-long search for answers, beginning in the summer of 2022, is presented almost like a diary. As each season plays out, so do the interviews, dead ends, mishaps, and discoveries, with many conversations directly quoted. This is charming, but not flawless. Discussions are repetitive and the main topics meander through the narrative. This, coupled with the repeating names of many people involved (which is no fault of the author), is confusing at times. That said, Olsen is very thorough and I like his approach of not pretending he has all the answers. Though Ida's death is technically not a cold case, the book reminded me of the true crime podcast Your Own Backyard.
Content Warning: discussions of child sexual abuse, suicide, and (obviously) murder.
Enjoyment: 3.5/5
Craft: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Child death
Moderate: Pedophilia and Child abuse