Some people are born evil. And they stay that way. Meet Larry Crenshaw. Accountant. Has all the accoutrements of a middle class American life circa 1960. Younger wife, nice daughter, house, and a neighborhood that is plucked right out of Norman Rockwell's America. Except he is a cold blooded murderer who likes to prey on young girls. The book starts out slowly and is a bit confusing as our protagonist flashes back to when he was a young boy and his mother caught him in an episode of childish sexual exploration with a young auburn haired girl which forever left a psychological scar on his perverted brain. The girl's name was Lola Riggs. The experience also left him with a thing for red headed little girls. Fast forward to his now rudimentary life in a Cincinnati suburb. He appears to be happy but scratch the surface and the man's homicidal perversions manifest themselves. The first part of the book tracks his daily existence and the people with whom he interacts. Boring at times but it picks up very fast once Larry commits not one but two murders of young redheaded girls in the neighborhood who remind him of Lola Riggs. And speaking of Lola, she, now grown, is living nearby. Larry seeks refuge with her. She accommodates him but soon has a come to Jesus moment when the police show up at her house asking questions. It is all downhill from there for Larry. On a five star scale, I give this book 4/5. I would have gone a full 5 but the first part of the book is a bit plodding. A footnote: the author, Wilene Shaw, is a woman, a bit rare for the genre of the times.
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