Similar Transactions

S. R. Reynolds has never forgotten the mishandled case offifteen-year-old Michelle Anderson, a vibrant beauty who went missingfrom Reynolds' Knoxville, Tennessee, neighborhood years earlier. Aidedby her old professor, famed forensic anthropologist Dr. BillBass--founder of the University of Tennessee's "Body Farm"--Reynoldspicks up the trail of this cold case.

As she presses neglected pieces of the puzzle into place, Reynoldsunearths a string of heinous kidnappings and rapes across the South,crimes that span decades. She talks to the victims. A picture begins toform. Patterns appear. And all evidence points to one man: convicted sex offender Larry Lee Smith.

As a result of Reynolds's efforts, the Knoxville Police Departmentreopens the cold case of Michelle's disappearance, but Larry Lee isabout to be released from a Georgia prison, where he served time for arelated crime--a "similar transaction." What transpires in this story is amazing on many levels. Larry Lee is every parent's worst nightmare.

"Similar Transactions" is a gripping memoir about the author'sdetermination to solve a murder and to bring the perpetrator to justice.