Blood Relative: Portrait of a Mass Murder

I want to preface my criticisms of this book by saying I do not read nonfiction very often admittedly (despite my love of true crime). I first heard about this story a year or two ago and finally found the time to pick up this book from my dusty shelf and give it a read.

As a primary fiction consumer, I did enjoy the way Stephenson writes and his attempt to give aspects of the case a solid linear narrative, however, I think my biggest complaint about this book is how little is included about the family that may or may not be important to the actual case (though I think that may be best left to the reader since, officially, the case is cold and unsolved).

For instance, on the dust cover, a rape is mentioned and brought up extremely vaguely toward the end of the book. The rape which I believe Stephenson is referring to is the rape of 15-year-old Helen Kunz, one of the missing-and-later-found murder victims. As the reader, I am sat there wondering, “the rape of who? What does this have to do with the case?” The answer to the latter is nothing, by the way. The allegation of incest (at least in this book) is set on a very weak foundation and ultimately, it does not affect the murder trial of the accused Chris Jacobs III.

For a rundown of the case–not too brief, but not too exhaustive–this book is just what you are looking for! If you are expecting a thorough biography and exploration of the reclusive and mysterious Kunz family, this probably isn't the book for you. The book will introduce you to the case. You will learn who the Kunzes are. You will learn how they were murdered. And you will learn what and how evidence was used. You will not learn much about the scandalous skeletons the Kunzes kept in their closet. You will not know for certain if Kenny is a child of incest–or if incest did in fact occur in the house. And most importantly, you will not learn who the murderer is.

We don't know a lot about the Kunzes and probably never will. The case sounds like it blew up at the time in Wisconsin but hardly received much attention outside the state and in the present day. For the shortcomings this book has, I still think it's worth a read if the Kunz murder sounds even remotely interesting to you.