Rating: 
Summary: Half, not Step!
Review: The author of this book refers to JonBenet's siblings from her father's 1st marriage as "step-sisters." and "step-brother." when in fact they were her HALF sisters and brother.
Rating: 
Summary: a masterful "Must Read"
Review: Schiller lays it all out for us. He clearly demonstrates why this case has for so long perplexed the FBI, the police, private detectives, friends and foe of the Ramsey's, and the American public. This is not in anyway an unsatisfying read for those of us that want to learn about every theory, every scenario, every detail, not out of morbid fascination but because this is a mind-boggling case. It is the firsthand accounts of people who new the Ramsey's and their family, those who witnessed the Ramsey's in those first hours in the aftermath of finding JonBenet's body, those who sifted through testimonies, and what remained of uncompromised evidence. It is not the author's intent to tell you "Who Dunit" but to provide (which he does, brilliantly) information and scenarios that proves a clear cut answer to this crime was and still seems to be up there in limbo. Remember the case of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain and baby Azaria? - that story certainly serves as a cautionary tale to those of us who would smugly rush to judgement about the Ramsey's guilt. To convict, especially in a case so "celebrated" as this, there has to be powerful, indisputable evidence that leaves no room for "reasonable doubt." A case plagued by monumental blunders; a couple tried and convicted in the media; and the diametrically opposed points of view passionately held by all manner of officials involved in this case can not produce the "killer" in a nice neat package - no matter how certain people are that "they're guilty" or "they're innocent!" Isn't that one of the points that Schiller makes clear? I read this book in two evenings and could not put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: After pages and pages, still no answers
Review: This book, an attempt to be an expose on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, leaves the reader hanging. Similarly, a presentation incourt of all the evidence in this case would leave a jury hanging. There is no definitive theory with enough evidence to prove the case against anyone beyond a reasonable doubt. While some people clamor for the prosecution of "The Ramseys," there is no evidence presented in this book to show they worked together to commit this murder or to cover it up. While some of the actions of both John and Patsy Ramsey are suspicious, there is no clear theory supported by evidence that implicates either one of them beyond a reasonable doubt. After years of working in law enforcement, I thought I would have a strong sense of who committed this crime after reading the exhaustive interviews and reviewing the evidence. While I'm sure the police have more than they're giving up, this account makes it clear that substantially more evidence is needed to bring charges against anyone. Certainly their refusal to cooperate with the police casts the glaring light of suspicion on both John and Patsy Ramsey. But their refusal to talk is not admissible evidence in a court of law. I found this book to be full of tedious detail, and unsettling due to a lack of resolution of this horrendous crime.
Rating:
Summary: Things You Should Know
Review: I didn't draw a conclusion on the guilt or innocence of the Ramsey's from the media. However, once I read this book, I can't help but think that the Ramsey's are certainly involved in some way. There are too many lies. The book is good about showing both sides, so that you can draw your own conclusions. I had a hard time putting the book down. I found it very interesting. And I wonder if Hunter is a close friend of the Ramsey's?
Rating: 
Summary: Uncensored, unfocused resaults in no truth at all
Review: Lawrence Shiller has cathered an amazing amount of information most of it irrelevant to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. So many interviews with people that hardly knew the Ramseys and have no real insights into their lives are boring. Even though some may recount brief incounters it is hard to see how those reflect on the murder. A judge would label those heresay and rule them inadmissible. So should a serious researcher. The purpose of the book must be to shed some light on what happened in Boulder the night of JonBénets murder but this endless flow of uncensored information only serves to shift ones focus. Shiller seems to be saying that the town and its way of live in some sense contributed to the fact the investigation was bungled up and that the incompetence of certain police officers served the same end resault. Still he only substantiates this with his own observations and does not try to classify the information he has gathered to support this. I also find that the opinion of objective experts would have been valuable in some cases and he should have tried to expand some theories on who committed this terrible crime. He is right in concluding that the Ramseys should be considered innocent until proven guilty but some of the comments he allows people to make in his book are very derogatory towards the Ramseys expecially Patsy.
Rating:
Summary: Informative
Review: This book gives an overview of the case thus far as well as a look at all of the childish bickering that has gone on between the police, the Ramsey attorneys and Hunter. The account within the pages has given me some insight as to why the public has charged the Ramseys with the murder. There is a wealth of information that leave me with questions as toward the parent's innocence. Why won't they take a polygraph? for example. Also the enhanced 911 call that reveals John talking to Burke. While the writer does not set out to accuse anybody of the murder, this book gives credance to the public suspicion of the Ramseys.
Rating:
Summary: Garbage In Garbage Out
Review: the book isn't good, but it is possible that the amazing lack of real information about so many things made it impossible to do a good book. most authors with very little information write shorter books, but the length of this book is one of the least mysterious aspects of the whole thing: schiller gives long long stage turns to all the "personalities" who bulk up the tv-movie spun out of the book. when you have no facts and no conclusion, you have to make do with melodrama if you want that tv deal. the book coyly avoids naming sources who are only too obvious, and it reels happily from viewpoint to viewpoint, so that everybody seems to be pretty reasonable. the result is a lot of frustrating loose ends that could probably have been clarified at least a little bit (what was that wild "nonverbal exchange" between Arndt and Ramsey, what is the deal with the security cameras, why couldn't at least a little more have been done with DNA and other physical evidence, among others). the book is clumsy enough that it manages to make a fascinating question about depravity into something rather boring and banal. the first thirty pages are a vivid narration of police unpreparedness and destructive egotism on all sides. you get the point pretty quickly, then it is repeated over the few hundred pages. boulder is efficiently presented as the capital of self-involvement and social fantasy. the last few hundred pages are not needed, and the whole thing ends with a shrug. not too good. the biggest mystery the book raised for me was john douglas --what can this guy be thinking? because he never heard of something happening before it couldn't happen now? even if no alternative can be confirmed or even suggested by what is known? it all makes you wonder what ann rule would have done with it. of course, she has the good sense to know the ending of the story before she tells you the beginning.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling, Excellent, Must-Read
Review: Perfect Murder, Perfect Town is the scariest book I have ever read. There are so many facts and the writer does a tremendous job of organizing them. Some of the revelations were absolutely chilling..Patsy buying rope and duct tape in early december, the writer of the ransom note putting the sharpie pen back in the cup...you read it and think,"why hasn't justice been served and Patsy Ramsey arrested?" It's fascinating. It's totally frightening. This is one book anyone interested in what happened to Jon-Benet Ramsey should not miss
Rating: 
Summary: Best so far
Review: Schiller did a LOT of research on this case - and he did NOT get all the cooporation he asked for. (I was among those who refused to sit with him and go into detail about my part of the story.) Considering the handicaps he had, I think he did his best, did a decent job - a very decent job. There were mistakes in the hardcover copy of the book; he has improved the paperback and is still learning the facts of this case. He has promised to continue to improve what is the best book out there so far. I would have people read the book because it IS an important book - but I would want the readers to note that Schiller did not have access to the Ramseys, and many of their family and friends would not participate. The story is not finished. But the book is a good place to start a study of the case.
Rating:
Summary: I HATE TO SAY "I TOLD YOU SO," BUT . . .
Review: I first read "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town" when the hardback came out. When the grand jury reached its no-prosecution decision, my reaction was, sadly, "What took you so long?" The JonBenet case was a mess from the git-go and probably few people believe justice will ever be done, at least not the people who take the trouble to read Schiller's well researched and accurate book. The crime scene was messed up before the little girl's body was even found and things just went spinning out of control. The Boulder police weren't flat-out incompetent, they were just out of their league dealing with this type of murder. Part of the trouble with this case--for us spectators, anyway--was that it was made for trash journalism more than for serious print. The Ramseys are an attractive couple who lived in a nice house in a wealthy neighborhood in a photogenic city and had an adorable little girl who left a legacy of charming videos--grist for TV and tabs. Tragically, children from less privileged backgrounds are killed everyday and we don't hear about it. But Schiller, a serious journalist, had to contend with an overwhelming mass of details and confusing, often contradictory evidence, not to mention some real prima donna-type egos in the Boulder law-enforcement and legal community. I think he did a very good job in presenting all those details--but I don't deny that at times "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town" is rough going. It just doesn't have that neat, three-act structure of most true-crime accounts, and it probably never will. But you can read this book for an account of how well the system DOESN'T work and draw your own conclusions as to what might have happened that fateful holiday night in 1996.
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