Publication Date June 25, 2025

Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young sons disappeared from their home in Fallbrook, California, in February 2010. Video footage of a family resembling the McStays crossing the border led sheriff’s deputies to initially conclude they had left voluntarily and gone to live in Mexico.

I admit, I have been reading true crime for decades. When I worked in public libraries in the 1980s and 90s, my favorite section was always 364.1523…and although at times these days it seems the public obsession with true crime has made it somewhat challenging to find stories that grab the reader, are well-written,  and tell a good story, there are some authors that true crime fans view as reliable and whose books are gobbled up as soon as they come out. Caitlin Rother  is one of my favorites (if you know the story of Rebecca Zahau who was murdered and found hanging from the balcony of a mansion on Coronado Island, CA, you HAVE to read Ms Rother’s book on the subject!) So I was happy to dive in to Down To The Bone (thanks to Kensington Publishing/Citadel and NetGalley) which tells the true story of the McStay family.

In 2010, the McStays (parents and two sons) vanished from their home in Fallbrook (northern San Diego County in CA). Fallbrook isn’t all that far from the border, so when a video turned up that showed a family that supposedly looked a lot like the McStays crossing into Mexico, the sheriffs’ deputies who were investigating the disappearance concluded the family had left voluntarily (never mind the eggs and fruit they left rotting on their kitchen counter). 

Fast forward a few years, and the remains of the McStays were found in the desert by a motorcyclist, along with the sledgehammer that was used to kill them. In 2019, Joseph McStay’s business partner, Charles “Chase” Merritt, was convicted of the crime, and after a long trial, he is apparently still on Death Row at San Quentin Prison. 

There is so much in this story to pack into a book! The family disappeared from San Diego County, and the remains were found in the desert in San Bernardino County, so there were two law enforcement agencies involved, along with two crime scenes to investigate, a LONG and sometimes bizarre trial, and a ton of theories shared by journalists, witnesses, suspects, and true crime buffs. Ms Rother does a great job of capturing all these disparate pieces of this puzzle and making the story entertaining and readable along the way. Four stars, highly recommended for true crime fans in particular.