Rule began compiling information on this well-known serial killer in 1982, waiting for detectives to figure out whodunit so she could write about the self-described "killing machine," Gary Ridgway, who confessed in 2003 to strangling 48 women, starting with Wendy Lee Coffield in 1982 and ending with Patricia Yellowrobe in 1998.
Because Ridgway operated in the same South Seattle area as Rule lived, she not only uses insider information from good relationships with local law enforcement, but she also demonstrates a comfortable familiarity with local attitudes, locations, and personalities. Writing teachers encourage students to "write what you know," and Rule does just that.
The book describes the challenges and frustrations of the many members of the Green River Task Force. For example, in the early '80s, DNA processing took relatively huge samples, was exorbitantly expensive, and didn't always produce usable results. Technology drastically improved, however, and in 2001 a lab looked at evidence from 1987 with exciting results-Ridgway's DNA sample matched those collected from four suspected victims. Up until that point, no real evidence tied any of the victims to a killer or each other. In 2002, paint found on the clothing of two out of the four women identified as having Ridgway's DNA on them, helped to clinch the case.
When Robert Lee Yates was killing prostitutes in Spokane, most people adopted the attitude of, "well, I'm safe because I'm not a prostitute." More crass locals added, "Besides, he's taking crime off the streets."
This mentality is part of why Ridgway was able to get away with his activities for so long. In addition, that victim class-prostitutes and runaways-is complicated. Missing people are often not reported because no one knows they are gone. Ridgway knew this. In court, he said, "I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up, without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away, and might never be reported missing."*
Rule does a nice job introducing some of the victims, complete with snapshots and short biographies. I mentioned in my last review of an Ann Rule book, however, that one of the things I didn't like was how she digresses in a way that makes me feel like she is showing off how much research she had done. I get that feeling again, and this time, there are dozens of characters. (If nothing else, an index at the back to help the reader find other mentions of a person might help one make his or her way through this dense book.)
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