From Goodreads,
"When Ruie Ann Park—a pillar of the Van Buren, Arkansas, community—was found beaten to death and lying in a pool of blood in her home, the police and local residents assumed the son was the murderer. But the years would uncover a more sinister story.
Up till that night, the Park family seemed to have it all. For fifty years they owned and published The Press Argus newspaper. Hugh was well-connected politically and his wife, Ruie Ann, was the local historian, journalist, and teacher. They had a brilliant son and a shy adopted daughter.
They built a beautiful home on top of Logtown Hill with a vista overlooking the Arkansas River, but their idyllic life ended with divorce. Ruie Ann stayed in the home, becoming more bitter and more demanding of the daughter who couldn't match up to her beloved son.
The son, Sam Hugh, had a promising legal career but his fondness for young boys, alcohol, and drugs doomed what should have been a successful law practice in his hometown. The daughter, Linda, graduated from college, married an attorney, and moved away to a small town near Little Rock.
The police were baffled. Who was smart enough to hide all evidence and pass the lie-detector test?
And who would want to bludgeon this mother to death?"
Over the summer I participated in my local library's reading program. All summer I logged the books I had read hoping to win a gift card to some local shop. And all summer my name was never picked. The reading program ended on a Friday and I had pretty much given up and forgotten about the prizes. But then I got an email saying I had won a grand prize which was a Kindle Fire! Now, I'm super hardcore about books only. I like the concept of a Kindle, but I like being able to read a book and then either pass it to someone, sell it, or put it in my classroom library. You can't do that with a Kindle. So that night I updated everything and set up my accounts. I ended up stumbling across this book in the free section. I recalled that my mom had read it a while back. I downloaded it and then proceeded to devour it.
Ruie Ann Parks was a well-known woman in Van Buren, Arkansas. She had one biological son and an adopted daughter. One night someone went into her house and murdered her in cold blood. All blame was put on the son who was drunk the night before. The daughter lived in Cabot which was hours away. Police tried to get a confession, but one never came. Ruie's son died. A few years passed and the killer was finally apprehended.
Spoilers Below!!!
It was Linda, the adopted daughter, who murdered her mother. It was a moment of blind rage, but I also feel that there was a lot of things that built up to her snapping. It was definitely stated that Ruie was a woman not to be crossed. She dressed her son Hugh up in dresses and he was in dance class. Linda was outcasted and often criticized for choices she made or didn't make. The night of Ruie's murder, Linda showed up with one of her three boys. He was asleep in the car. Linda went in and was talking to her mother about how unhappy she was and that her husband was upset over something. Ruie said that Linda needed to get over it and go home. Linda stated that she was going to leave, but Ruie started making up a bed for her and the little boy. Ruie was basically running her mouth and Linda snapped. I think there were a lot of things that happened in childhood that led to Linda being treated much differently than Hugh. I think that led to some resentment. The book needed way more details about the two kids' childhood in it. It would have made for a fuller and more interesting story.
As the book was beginning and events were unfolding I immediately pegged who the killer was. I actually called my mom and was like "It's the daughter isn't it?" She kept on that she couldn't tell me, but ended up coming clean that it was. There were subtle things that were mentioned that were just too obvious in the first few chapters. I quickly and easily put the pieces together. I don't know what that says about me or the law enforcement that was working at the time. The title of this book is also a little questionable. The first part "Blind Rage" makes total sense. But the "Sin and Sex" doesn't quite make sense. Linda didn't murder because of sins or because of sex. Sure, Linda sinned when she murdered, but the sex part I questioned as to why it was included.
This book was definitely interesting. It was dull at times because it was just evidence and telling the story. There's no ridiculous flair to the story and there are parts that are extremely boring and drag on. After a little dive online I was able to actually find where the house that Ruie was murdered in is at. I found it quite intriguing that I have driven by it multiple times and never knew the history of the house. I give this 3 stars. It is definitely a good read if you are from this area or even remember this case when it was happening.
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