Who Killed My Daughter?

Duncan, L. (1992). Who killed my daughter?. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0440213428

Plot Summary

                     Kaitlyn Arquette, daughter of best-selling mystery author Lois Duncan, was shot and killed in July of 1989 on her way home from a friend’s house.  To this day, her murder is unsolved.  Duncan did everything in her power to push this case forward, but felt stymied by police, who were convinced the shooting was random and would not entertain any other possibility.  So Duncan went in other directions, trying the FBI, psychics, and a private detective.  Some of her investigating proved fruitful, some did not, but the deeper she delved, the more obvious it became that Kaitlyn’s shooting was not at all random.  She discovered that Kaitlyn and her live-in boyfriend had gotten themselves involved with a dangerous gang and that this most certainly had something to do with her death.  This book is a real-life mystery by a master of the genre, but more importantly, it is a story of loss and heartbreak written by a mother aching for justice in the death of her young daughter.

Critical Analysis

                       It might be easy to forget that this is a nonfiction book, so expertly is it crafted in the mystery style. Duncan knows how to twist a plot, how to reveal details at the exact right moment so that they shock the reader, how to keep a story so engaging that the pages seem to turn themselves. But the real reason that this book is so compelling and so affecting is that it is not a mystery novel, but a true crime account of a mother searching tirelessly for the killer of her beloved daughter. What the reader is experiencing is not only Duncan’s search, but her grief process.  This book is so deeply personal in its wrenching account of the death, of viewing the body, of her memories of Kaitlyn, it is sometimes just as hard to read as it is to put down.  The prose is as good as anything she has published, and the plot line is indeed straight out of one of her novels.  But there is a depth to this work that is unlike anything else she has done.  Whether the reader is skeptical of her methods (psychics, contacting the spirit of her daughter, etc) is immaterial.  The point is Duncan’s journey, her dedication to the cause.  It is impossible not to hope for a satisfying ending, an answer to the desperate question posed in the title, even though the reader already knows that the case is unsolved.  This book, as beautiful and compelling as it is, is not for the faint of heart.  Duncan’s novels wrap up nicely, no matter how many characters are hurt in the process.  This book’s ending, however, is just as messy and open-ended as the crime itself.

Reader’s Annotation

                              Due to an inept police investigation and a lack of help from law enforcement, Lois Duncan launches an investigation to discover why and by whom her daughter was murdered in July of 1989.

About the Author

                          Lois Duncan, the child of internationally famous photographers, was raised in Sarasota, Florida with one younger brother. Her writing career began basically as soon as she could write. She sold a story at age ten and during her teen years regularly contributed to Seventeen Magazine. As an adult, she taught journalism, wrote, and contributed to a number of reputable magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Redbook. She and her husband had five children, one of whom was tragically murdered and is the subject of her nonfiction book Who Killed My Daughter? Their other four children are all artistic and successful in their own ways.

                          Duncan has written 48 books for children and young adults. She has been honored with many awards, such as the Margaret A. Edwards Award.  Her books have been selected for many best-of lists such as the ALA Best Books for Young Adults and the Junior Literary Guild Selection list.

Genre

        Nonfiction

Challenge Issues

                       Possible challenge issues in this book include depictions of violence and death, religious or supernatural overtones, and disparaging comments about law enforcement.  In the event of a challenge, I would consult the challenge defense file prepared for this book.The challenge defense file would include: positive reviews from credible sources for the purpose of proving merit to the challenger; negative reviews in order to inform me on what might be challenged; a written explanation of my own rationale for including the book in the collection as well as a summary of the plot; the American Library Association Bill of Rights; a review of my branch’s selection policy; and, as a last resort, an explanation of the reconsideration policy for my library and an official reconsideration form.

Curriculum Ties

                        English and Writing: the genres of mystery and nonfiction, and plot structure.

Booktalk

            This book is the tragic story of a real life mystery inflicted upon one of the mystery genre’s most prominent authors.Lois Duncan’s daughter was shot and killed one night and the circumstances surrounding her death are unknown.  This is the story of her search to understand Kaitlyn’s murder and attempt to track down the people who did it, largely without the help of the police.

Reading Level and Interest Age

                                                   Grades 10-12, and beyond.

Why I Included This Book

                                       I absolutely loved Lois Duncan’s books as a teenager. When I found out she had written what was essentially a true crime book about her own life, I located it immediately and read it cover to cover.  I was engrossed in her story, the sad circumstances surrounding Kaitlyn’s death, and a number of scenes that stay with me to this day, such as when they viewed Kaitlyn’s body.  This book will interest teens, not just for its content, but for its relevance as it is written by and about such a prominent young adult author.

References

Duncan, L. (n.d.). Biography. Retrieved from http://loisduncan.arquettes.com/Biography3.htm