Dare I Call It Murder?

Larry Edwards unmasks the emotional trauma of violent loss as he ferrets out new facts to get at the truth of how and why his parents were killed.

In 1977, Loren and Joanne Edwards left Puget Sound aboard their 53-foot sailboat Spellbound, destined for French Polynesia. Six months later they lay dead aboard their boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Larry’s younger brother became the prime suspect in the FBI’s murder investigation. But federal prosecutors never indicted him, leaving the case unresolved and splitting the Edwards family into feuding factions.

Three decades later, a dispute over how to respond to a true-crime book by Ann Rule—which contained an inaccurate account of the case—ripped the tattered family even farther apart.

In “Dare I Call It Murder?,” Larry Edwards sets the record straight, revealing previously undisclosed facts from the investigation as he lays out the case never presented in court.

Larry’s memoir, however, goes beyond simply telling the untold story of his parents’ deaths and refuting the errors in previously published material. His broader goal is to see the book generate greater awareness of and conversations about violent loss, its impact on the survivors and their families, and the troubling effects of post-traumatic stress (PTSD).

WINNER: San Diego Book Awards, 2012 (unpublished memoir).

" 'Dare I Call It Murder?' is a top-notch true-crime book. But as a memoir, it’s a gut-wrenching look into Larry Edwards’ hell on earth after his parents’ deaths at sea. . . . You won’t be able to put down this tautly written and emotional look at the fatal splintering of a family and the search for truth by a survivor."
-- Cathy Lubenski, author of “Trashy Chic” and “Snarky Park”

"This is a powerfully written and personalized odyssey of the violent deaths of both of his parents and the disintegration of the family in the aftermath of traumatic grief. Suspected homicide is always tragic for a family, but this book is a lucid testament to the destructive power on the survival of the family when one family member is suspected of murdering another family member. We are swept up by the author's frustrated quest for justice and psychological coherence."
-- Dr. Edward K. Rynearson, Medical Director, Separation and Loss Services, Program, Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle); author of “Retelling Violent Death”

"It’s the kind of book you can’t put down. You will live this story."
-- Connie Saindon, MA, MFT, author of “The Journey: Ten Steps to Learning to Live With Violent Death”