The Waltham Murders: One Woman’s Pursuit to Expose the Truth Behind a Murder and a National Tragedy

Journalist Zalkind debuts with a gripping investigation into an unsolved 2011 triple murder in which one of her friends was a victim. On Sept. 11, 2011, someone slit the throats of Brendan Mess, Raphael Teken, and Erik Weissman, whom Zalkind had known for five years, in Mess’s Waltham, Mass., apartment. With $5,000 in cash was left behind, robbery was ruled out as a motive, but the presence of drugs at the scene led authorities to suspect the murders were connected to the drug trade. The mystery deepened after the Boston Marathon bombing a year and a half later: coconspirator Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed before he could be apprehended, was close with Brendan Mess. Motivated to seek justice for Weissman, Zalkind began tugging on the Tsarnaev thread, turning up evidence that connected the bomber to the drug trade and, quite plausibly, the Waltham murders. Though Zalkind did not uncover conclusive proof, she remains adamant that Tsarnaev was one of two murderers. While Zalkind’s fondness for hyperbole occasionally grates (she states that the case’s unanswered questions have “corrode[d] trust in government and our understanding of truth itself”), she delivers a studiously reported and consistently immersive account. Readers will be captivated. Agent: Bridget Matzie, Aevitas Creative. (Mar.)