No Saints in Kansas

by Amy Brashear

A young adult, fictional reimagining of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and the brutal murders that inspired it. Gripping and fast-paced, this meticulously researched historical fiction will reinvigorate a new generation to Capote.

November is usually quiet in Holcomb, Kansas, but in 1959, the town is shattered by the quadruple murder of the Clutter family. Suspicion falls on Nancy Clutter’s boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, the last one to see them alive.

New Yorker Carly Fleming, new to the small Midwestern town, is an outsider. She tutored Nancy, and (in private, at least) they were close. Carly and Bobby were the only ones who saw that Nancy was always performing, and that she was cracking under the pressure of being Holcomb’s golden girl. This secret connected Carly and Bobby. Now that Bobby is an outsider, too, they’re bound closer than ever.

Determined to clear Bobby’s name, Carly dives into the murder investigation and ends up in trouble with the local authorities. But that’s nothing compared to the wrath she faces from Holcomb once the real perpetrators are caught. When her father is appointed to defend the killers of the Clutter family, the entire town labels the Flemings as traitors. Now Carly must fight for what she knows is right.

• ISBN10: 1616956836
• ISBN13: 9781616956837
• Publish Date: 14 November 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Soho Teen
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

3.5 stars

"People always think highly of the dead when they're dead. It's definitely not how they thought of them when they were alive."

No Saints in Kansas starts off the morning the bodies of the Clutter family are discovered and we get to see memories that Carly has of the family slowly throughout the book.

Carly from the wrong Manhatten Fleming is still 'new' in town when Nancy and her family are brutally murdered. While Carly and Nancy weren't really close, she was starting to get to know her and is deeply upset by these murders. The one person who was really connected to the Clutter family is Asher, Carly's young brother who was friends with Kenyon. While Carly is upset by the murders, Asher is devasted and it affects everything in his life.

"The funny thing is, I agree with her. I don't understand why Dorothy was so keen on getting back to Kansas. Dorothy might think there's no place like home, but to me, Kanas is lies, all lies."
The whole town becomes obsessed with it, and with the sudden media attention, Truman Capote coming to town and the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigation) being involved everyone has an opinion on what happened and who did it.
But no one becomes as obsessed with it as Carly and she ends up involving her friends Mary and Seth in order to help solve the murders and clear an innocent young man that everyone thinks did it.

"It turns out my brother was one of the last in town to talk to him. Not that I'm surprised. He was one of the first to talk to the police for the same reason: he always wants to do what's right, and talking to Mr. Capote didn't fit the bill. But in the end, I think he felt pressured to, mainly by himself."

Overall I did enjoy this book, it was a fast read and made me laugh several times. But I also found myself getting annoyed with Carly a lot especially when she goes on and on with how she and Nancy could have been such good friends.
No Saints In Kansas does have some funny moments with Carly adjusting to small town life after the big city. Which also means Carly is constantly getting into trouble and being told she shouldn't be somewhere that has to do with the investigation of the murders. I think this does show small town life fairly well and how people treat outsiders.
Personally, I would have found this story more enjoyable if more had been focused on the preparing of the trial and the actual trial part, and not so much about how Carly was obsessed with the murders and constantly getting into trouble.

The things I didn't like:
I did find it hard to believe that Truman Capote would be able to get so much information from the KBI as he wasn't too highly thought of for the most part in small towns. I also found it hard to believe certain things would be left unattended so much in such a high profile case at this one was.
Another thing why was it needed to add in the Kennedy storyline? It literally had nothing to do with Carly or the Clutter case.

Thank you to Soho Teen for sending me a Physical ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Blog Twitter Instagram Facebook