I really wanted to like this story more than I did. It has a great premise as it was inspired by the true events surrounding the New London, Texas school explosion in 1937. The story went back and forth in time, it had deep hidden family secrets, and the clearing out of an old house. But it also had a gazillion other side stories and these came at the expense of what could have been a more remarkable book. It was spread too thin, as if the author couldn't decide what story she wanted to tell so she just plopped in all of them. 

Ms. McNamara became obsessed with trying to find the identity of The Golden State Killer. I became obsessed with the author's back story as it's a little infamous in and of itself. She was the wife of the actor Patton Oswald, became obsessed with true crime starting in her teens with the yet unsolved mystery of the death of a young girl in her childhood neighborhood. She became a true crime journalist and managed the website True Crime Diary. Alas Michelle died suddenly while she was writing this book, it was pieced together by members of her research team and published after her death. And yep I did some googling, accidental overdose (too many pills + a heart condition). She never uncovered the identity of the killer but it is thought that her research kept the case alive. The killer was ultimately traced by DNA evidence thanks to the development of website companies such as Ancestory and 23&Me. He is prison.