Little Shoes: The Sensational Depression Era Murders That Became My Family’s Secret

   “No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye. You were gone before we knew it, and only God knows why.”

“An angel in the book of life wrote down my baby;’s birth and whispered as she closed the book, too beautiful for earth”

I found this book hard to place a star value upon. Reading about this horrific crime was heart wrenching. The wanton murder of three little innocent girls, Madeline and Melba Everett and Jeanette Stephens was a crime that heralded in the age of the sex crime unit and provided the country in 1937 the news of these young girls murders. They were only seven eight and nine and their young lives were tragically and mercilessly cut short by their killer. Many years later, the author of this book, a niece to these girls, stumbled upon the fact that her dad was a brother to the Everett girls. She often wondered, although he never spoke of it, why he was so overprotective. Pamela Everett, being both a lawyer and a former journalist sought out information regarding her aunts she never knew of and the man who eventually was hanged for their murders, Albert Dyer. Investigating the trial, Ms Everett discovers vast inconsistencies in the trial as well as the investigation into Albert Dyer. Dyer was a functional illiterate, a man with the IQ of about a ten year old who was a crossing guard and was accused and later convicted by a unanimous decision of the jury. He had confessed to the crime numerous times but then recanted and presented in each of his various confessions a different scenario. Was he capable of this crime, or was he so easily led that he would do anything people suggested to him? Did Albert commit this crime or was he just the person whom it was most convenient to convict? This story is also in its own way a cautionary tale about the death penalty with the what if always being asked of whether a convicted person is truly the guilty person. It was for this reader a thought provoking book. Thank you to Pamela Everett, Skyhorse Publishing, and Edelweiss for an advanced copy of this book.