I loved the Accused podcast that discussed the (subtitle) “unsolved murder of Elizabeth Andes.” This book is essentially a transcript of the nine episodes that make up season #1 of the podcast. If you have listened to the podcast, this is nothing new except a nice introduction by Amber, and some comments in the epilogue. It’s terrific, just not new. What may be new to those who (like me) had only LISTENED to this spellbinding story are photos (of characters, evidence, etc.), copies of police reports, crime scene diagrams, and other tidbits. I don’t know if these will be included in the print version of the book — they weren’t in the digital advance copy I received.

Reading this prompted me to explore the website at www.reporteramber.com. If you click on the “Accused Podcast” link, it has EVERYTHING — including transcripts of each episode! So, if you’ve explored the website/listened to the podcast, you likely don’t need this book. But for anyone who hasn’t, it’s a great story.

I’m was only going to give it three stars as I initially thought it was not at all clear from the information I got (including a look at the cover) that this was just a transcript. I was expecting more detail from Amber about the year-long investigation, etc. But then I noticed the big gold circle on the cover: “the complete transcripts from the popular podcast,” (DUH) I love the story and the presentation of information. True crime fans will LOVE this. Four stars.