Rating: 
Summary: A maze of "context."
Review: It's easy to understand why readers may find this book tedious. Schiller's underlying thesis is that the case is not as simple to solve as it may at first seem, and he presents various sides of the story in the spirit of objectivity. However, he often gives peripheral characters far too much attention, as in the case of Jeff Shapiro, a duplicitous reporter from the Globe who redefines opportunism with his behavior. If you have time and patience, you may appreciate the multifaceted nuances of media manipulation and interference (most people are reasonably aware of the media's power and influence). But if you want to stick to the facts of the case, you'll find that Schiller scatters them throughout, being careful not to be conclusive. No matter how you look at the JonBenét murder, even with the details presented in Schiller's book,the preponderance of the evidence points to someone in the house. The book is infuriating because the case itself is infuriating when one considers the following: 1.) the compromising of the crime scene by police officers and others who were unable to follow even the most basic evidence-protecting procedures, 2.) the DA's lack of trial experience and dependence on plea-bargaining, and 3.) the Ramsey's power to insulate themselves through lawyers, privately hired investigators, and a press representative. Instead of a "Perfect Murder," it was a perfect mess, since Alex Hunter, the DA, seemed to be far more concerned with avoiding a trial and shifting his decision-making responsibilities onto others. He even talked freely to the press and Ramsey attorneys, often debunking the honest efforts of the Boulder Police investigators due to personality and political conflicts that should have had no bearing on the case. One gets to see Hunter's side in Schiller's book as well, and it is professionally disgraceful. The "Perfect Town" part of the title is gratuitous, since the American public is no longer shocked by atrocious acts committed in seemingly perfect settings (i.e. Martha Moxley murder). Schiller, in his attempt to be another Norman Mailer, takes 750 pages to be "objective"--and by talking about everything, he almost manages to talk about nothing. Nevertheless, his book may be useful as a background resource, but true crime readers may be rightfully annoyed by his copious, tangential discussions that tend to be irrelevant. I strongly recommend Steve Thomas' book, JonBenét: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation. It is clear, concise, and chronological. Moreover, Thomas investigated the case himself and had intimate knowledge of the evidence. Even if one disagrees with Thomas' conclusions, his book is a far more organized and succinct attempt at explaining the difficulties associated with this case.
Rating:
Summary: Loved the beginning, couldn't stand the end
Review: At first I couldn't put this book down. I found the description of the lifestyles in Boulder fascinating.Then, about half way through, it got extremely repetitive and bogged down in the political and procedural nightmare of the case. I suppose that reflects the reality of the situation. Anyway, I couldn't stand it anymore and jumped over a lot of pages in the middle and end.
Rating: 
Summary: Good though too much
Review: I liked this book though I thought it had too much info. It's 800 pgs and its detail after detail. It takes a lot of time and patience to read.
Rating:
Summary: The devil is in the details
Review: This book is a good case of "too much information". After 100 pages, I was thoroughly lost. The author introduces all of the many players in the death and suqbsequent murder investigation: family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, police, private investigators, DAs....even Santa Claus! Their relationships to the Ramseys and to each other in the investigation are all detailed up front, but I soon found myself unable to remember who was who when their name cropped up again 200 pages later. He should have put some type of legend up front listing all the caharacters and a one-line description of who they were, so that those of us without photographic memories could have a quick reference tool to aid us. Although the author is extremely thorough and he clearly didn't want to leave any detail out, he needed to tighten this up....a lot. A good, concise read containing only the most powerful information could have been accomplished in 400 or 500 pages;I found myself skimming the 798 pages, trying to root out the good stuff
Rating:
Summary: Review from a "non-involved" federal agent
Review: Beginning in 1996, when the case initiated, I didn't follow it. Unless you count glances at the tabloids in the super market!?! The murder had the definate tone of sick, due to the activites of the child's involvement in pageants. I just didn't have any interest in it. About a year later, and hearing there were no arrests made, I knew something was not "peachy" back in Boulder. But by this time, it was far too late to gain insight. In talking with colleagues, I was informed that there were major conflicts in Boulder between the PD and the DA offices. After reading this book extremely carefully, I was highly impressed with data that Mr Schiller was able to obtain. In fact I'd be curious to know how he did develop some of the information. The book was fantastic and well written. It was a bit of a "slow read" only due to the amount of information that must be taken in and processed. One major factor keeps me from awarding five stars. The book was definately tilted or biased to some degree. It was obvious Eller was not liked by Schiller, nor did he care for the DAs office. Also, almost every person in the book is, to some level, portrayed as stupid. There are things in the police world that do not work properly. If only life was as easy as fiction. Where is Ranger Walker when we need him? I would recommend this book to anyone interested in "who dunnits" or non-ficition. Great Book!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Too long, irrelevant, and often factually wrong
Review: Should have let the editor have another whack at this one, because at 800pgs (paperback) this is is one slow read. Worse, Schiller has a really annoying tendency to follow one aspect of the case right to the point where it gets interesting, then veer off onto something completely unrelated. Example: his discussion of the Vanity Fair piece, which is boring in the extreme. Or the description of the autopsy, which keeps getting interrupted to delve into non-issues. And all the quotes from Jeff Shapiro, a hack for The Globe. Ugh. Who cares what the hell Jeff Shapiro thinks? Padding, padding, padding. Schiller takes tabloid articles, newspaper stories, personal interviews, etc., and lards up his manuscript until you start skipping ahead to get to a part where anything is actually happening. Somewhere under all this extraneous garbage is an actual story. Schiller should have done us the favor of scraping it off and presenting it. As a 400pgs work, this thing would be a great inside view of the media circus surrounding the case. At 800pgs, it's a plodder. Do we really need to wade through all of Charlie Brennan's dull articles when we can see them in all their dreary entirety on the Rocky Mtn. News web site? And facts? Schiller apparently didn't check too many of them. Pg 606: "Four fibers had been found attached to the duct tape; they were red and black." Sorry, just red. And, of course, he faithfully trots out the old "no footprints in the snow" nonsense, when one look at the crime scene photos would have made it clear that the house could be approached without leaving any. This is what happens when you write a book based on nothing but tabloid bunk, inside "sources" like Steve Thomas who are feeding you lies, and interviews with non-players like the freaking gardener, whose pointless JonBenet story opens the book. I give it 2 stars because it depicts the sorry state of the case c. 1999, before we discovered that so much of the "evidence" against the Ramseys was either fanciful (Foster's ransom note analysis), irrelevant (that stupid pineapple) or just flat out wrong (all the stories about child abuse). But hey, at least Schiller didn't intentionally lie and get sued like Steve Thomas. Even if his writing style is garbage, he at least attempted to tell the truth as he saw it at that time. Too bad he never had an inside track and instead has to report on so many trivialities about media personalities.
Rating: 
Summary: Journalistic Investigation into puzzling murder
Review: Schiller of Simpson trial fame, here does the same thorough and probing look at the Jon Benet Ramsey case. Looking at as much data and angles as he can, Schiller presents a case for the unusual combination of a perfectly staged murder coupled with a town's incapacity to investigate and prosecute a trial of this magnitude and national spotlight. Whether one agrees or not with the observations and data interpretation that the author reaches, reading this work does get one contemplating the case. Certainly one can challenge the data, process and Schiller's deductions and insights, but this does offer each reader the benefit of Schiller's massive undertaking and cataloguing of the case. I enjoyed this read.
Rating:
Summary: For a Fair Ramsey Rookie....
Review: This is not a bad book. It has one main advantage and two disadvantages. The biggest advantage is its goal, to present ALL of the information available concerning the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey. The author chronicles the evolution of the investigation and the commentary from both sides of the argument (Did or did not the parents have anything to do with their daughter's murder?) without significant -- at least, to me -- bias. It's a wonderful goal, as so much of this murder has fallen prey to conjecture and speculation... and while this book does acknowledge theories, it does base itself around facts. The two problems with the book, though, are the occasional streaks toward interpretation... for example, it might say something like, "This person did __________, which could mean __________." But it doesn't NECESSARILY mean what the author suggests, and that does become annoying. Also, there are a LOT of investigators, journalists, friends of the Ramsey's, and peripheral people who are very hard to keep straight. Short of making a glossary of characters, or implementing each person's rank or relationship with his or her name (like "Lieutenant So-and-So"), I would advise potential readers to keep a little list of people for their convenience. I don't think it's a bad book. I bought it from a bargain counter in a bookstore, and I think the [price] was fair. However, I don't know how important it is for the casual reader to own... so if you're a fellow casual reader and not spiritually invested in this case, you should be satisfied reading the copy from your local library. I could have just borrowed it and not missed owning one.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect book!
Review: I've been trying to read up on all books connected to the Jon-Benet murder so this book was a must according to reviewers. As expected, Lawrence Schiller took the readers through the murder events and clues, step by step, making a clear picture in our minds about what occurred during the murder and investigation. As usual, Mister Schiller's book was jam packed with details I was hearing for the first time. He is also a master at clearly laying out, each event/murder clue in such an order that we find ourselves realising we know who did it! This was the case for me and several of my friends who also read this book as we passed it along to each other. I already had a fair idea in my mind of who I thought may be strongly involved but after reading this book, I was certain! If you are following this case also, and wish to read a book that is accurate, helpful, clear and to the point, then you must read this! You'll be surprised how much you learn and exactly how many details WERE NOT printed in the newspapers or tabloids!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I read this book before reading Patsy and John's poor excuse for a book. Lawrence Schiller is a master at digging up every single bit of information in his books. From reading just his book, I learned every single thing about this case including things I'd never seen in the press. He obviously did a great deal of research before putting pen to paper. His book made me wonder about certain incidents in this case that I'd never even thought of before. If you have been following this case as me and several million other people, then this is a must read book. Out of every book I've read so far about the Jon-Benet murder, this book has been the best!
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