Award-winning author
MAUREEN BOYLE
Coming soon
In the Hands of a Monster:
The Abduction and Murder of Mary-Lou Arruda
Just days after the start of school, fifteen-year-old Mary-Lou Arruda was riding her bike home on a rural Massachusetts road from a friend's house with plans to coach a children's cheerleading squad later that evening. She never arrived.
Later, several neighbors said they saw Mary-Lou on the road. They also saw a man in a bright green car. Was he a witness or culprit?
It marked the start of a decades long case that shocked the region, changed police procedure, and left a family - and community - scarred to this day.
Stay tuned for pre-order information from McFarland Publishing imprint Exposit
Early praise for In the Hands of a Monster
"A gripping and heartbreaking account of a young life stolen and a family forced to wait far too long for justice. Maureen Boyle tells Mary-Lou Arruda’s story with compassion, clarity, and respect.”—Alan R. Warren, award-winning bestselling true crime author, host/producer of House of Mystery Radio on NBCripping! Incredible storytelling
“When I pick up a Maureen Boyle book two things are for certain: I’ll be burning through pages into the wee hours of the night, with the absolute guarantee that what I am reading is some of the best journalism available. In the Hands of a Monster is all at once riveting and balanced…brilliant, and a must-read for anyone interested in how the best true crime available is done.”—William Phelps, LLC, Investigative Journalist/Executive Producer/Content Creator
“The bizarre murder of a fifteen-year-old girl in a tight-knit Massachusetts town is just the beginning of the suspense, as the police and prosecutors struggle to keep a dangerous killer off the streets in a case that is anything but a slam dunk. With meticulous research, compassion, and fairness in her portrayal of all involved, Boyle draws the reader into an eighteen-year drama that tests the family and the community to the limit. It’s the best kind of true crime, full of heroes as well as criminals. Utterly unputdownable.”—Jan Brogan, author of The Combat Zone: Murder, Race and Boston’s Struggle for Justice and the Hallie Ahern mystery series
“Heartbreaking. Propulsive storytelling. Meticulous research. In In the Hands of a Monster Maureen Boyle gives a master class in writing compelling true crime.”—Kate Flora, Edgar-nominated author of Finding Amy: A True Story of Murder in Maine
"Maureen Boyle is one of the finest true-crime writers today. With compelling prose and exceptionally meticulous reporting—including more than 100 interviews and unprecedented access to long-forgotten records—Boyle tells the tragic story of Mary Lou Arruda, and the family, police, and prosecutors who over decades simply refused to let her murderer get away with it. Heartbreaking, and a complete page-turner.”—Elaine McArdle, award-winning journalist and co-author of The Migraine Brain and Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery
•