Unthinkable

Who Kills Their Grandmother?

Non-Fiction - True Crime
183 Pages
Reviewed on 11/21/2022
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite

In the fall of 2018, James W. Marquart, a criminologist by training with years of experience in the field, found out that the house he had recently bought in Frisco, Texas, belonged to the killer Rich Schmelzer, who was incarcerated in an Illinois prison for murdering his own grandmother. Upon further investigation, Marquart discovered that eighty-five-year-old Mildred "Dodie" Darrington was murdered during the summer of 2014 when someone crept into her home and slit her throat in the middle of the night while she slept. This heinous crime was premeditated and committed by someone she had trusted and loved dearly. Through Unthinkable, James W. Marquart tells this unbelievable true story of crime driven by greed and an appalling lack of empathy.

True crime stories have always fascinated us. Because some events are so inconceivable, they beggar belief. Unthinkable is one such story. This book encapsulates the horrible murder of a woman -- a grandmother who never thought that one of her own would take her to the grave. From the arrest of the suspect to his trial and eventual imprisonment, every aspect of this case is meticulously covered by James W. Marquart. He takes a step-by-step approach to telling a complex story, showing a deft hand at dealing with what could be a difficult subject matter to cover. Apart from the case itself, the narrative also touches upon the larger ramifications of the event and the effect it had on the ones who had close ties to both the victim and the murderer. Highly recommended.