In the early hours of Saturday 17 December 2011, Zoe Nolan, a nineteen-year-old Manchester University student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.
She was never seen again.
Seven years after her disappearance, struggling writer Evelyn Mitchell finds herself drawn into the mystery.
Through interviews with Zoe ' s closest friends and family, she begins piecing together what really happened in 2011.
But where some versions of events overlap, aligning perfectly with one another, others stand in stark contrast, giving rise to troubling inconsistencies.
Shaken by revelations of Zoe ' s secret life, and stalked by a figure from the shadows, Evelyn turns to crime writer Joseph Knox to help make sense of a case where everyone has something to hide.
Zoe Nolan may be missing presumed dead, but her story is only just beginning
Some books are incredibly difficult to review coherently, and True Crime Story is one of those books. It's a story that ingrains itself into your brain, it lingers and you find yourself wondering and pondering, and desperate to get back to it.
Knox has structured this story so well. From the beginning, with the 'publisher's note' printed at the start of the book, the reader finds themselves asking questions. I defy any reader not to Google the characters and the case, because it feels so real, so authentic and it is utterly brilliant.
In the early hours of Saturday 17 December 2011, Zoe Nolan, a nineteen-year-old Manchester University student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.
She was never seen again.
In January 2019, crime fiction author Joseph Knox receives an email from a woman called Evelyn Mitchell. Evelyn has been carrying out her own investigation into Zoe's disappearance and has spoken with her family and friends. She is determined to turn these statements into a book, and wants advice from Knox; an author who she admires.
True Crime Story is made up of the various accounts given to Evelyn by Zoe's family and her friends, and is interspersed with the email communication between Knox and Evelyn. It is very clever, it is compelling and intriguing and the further you read, the more you learn about Zoe, her life and her circumstances.
It's an uncomfortable read at times. It feels a little voyeuristic, it is also quite disturbing and none of the players in this story are cast in a good light; including Zoe.
Expect the unexpected, do not be fooled by anything you read. This tale is full of unrelenting pressure, twists and dark secrets that are slowly exposed. There is danger and dirt, there are characters who hide in plain sight, there are events that will chill you.
True Crime Story is outrageously good. This is fiction writing at the highest level. It is masterfully created and it's a story that will stay with me for a very long time, not just for the plot, but for the ingenuity of how it is put together. Highly recommended by me.
Joseph Knox was born and raised in and around Stoke-On-Trent and Manchester, where he worked
in bars and bookshops before moving to London. He runs, writes and reads compulsively. Sirens, his debut novel, was a Sunday Times bestseller, and his work has now been translated into 18 languages.
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