Book Review: What Ever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and a Murder Investigation – An Investigative Journalist's True Crime Account of a Baltimore Cold Case by Kate Crane
A Sensational Work about the Power of Persistence
One of the scariest moments in Kate Crane’s compelling and horrific new journalistic memoir, What Ever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and a Murder Investigation – An Investigative Journalist’s True Crime Account of a Baltimore Cold Case, takes place in her childhood bedroom, where Sherlock, the family Rottweiler who witnessed Eddy’s murder, starts growling at a The Cure poster hanging on Kate’s wall: “Growling was unusual for Sherlock. The sounds he was making were low, rumbling. Hateful.” Something about someone in the 1980s pop band reminded Sherlock of the killer, and to visualize such a moment of pure ire and terror in a young girl’s life takes the reader into Kate’s state of mind during a time of great pain and strife in her family’s history.
On September 10th, 1987, Kate’s father, Eddy Crane went missing. There were traces of blood and bullet holes at his place of business, E & M Machinery in Baltimore, but he and his rolling leather chair were nowhere to be found. At 9 P.M. he had called his wife to let her know that he was on his way home, a nightly ritual, and, tragically, he was never heard from again. Because this work is autobiographical, much of Kate’s reflections stem from her oblique perspective of the events that took place after his disappearance. As a twelve-year-old, she becomes psychologically harmed by the whole thorny experience which we later find out involves possible vendettas, friends who become enemies, low-lives, and shady Maryland politicians; so much so it renders her suicidal and, surprisingly enough, unceasingly determined to write her way out of her crippling depression. Thus, Kate’s book starts as a dark, psychological horror and ultimately becomes a piece of investigative reporting and a pseudo-police procedural at its finest.
What is so impressive and disconcerting about What Ever Happened to Eddy Crane? is how Eddy’s death lingers throughout Kate’s life. For almost four decades, Kate has been chasing ghosts and fighting demons; Eddy’s presence is always there, even if Kate tries to move on with her life, which is rich with punk experiences, freelance writing gigs, and bohemian living situations. She tries to push forward, and yet the weight of Eddy’s disappearance, that lack of closure, holds her (and her family) back from ever making any significant strides toward comfort and solace. Equally maddening is how Kate learns about her father’s piecemeal comings and goings, getting tidbits of information, which seem to lead to dead-end after dead-end, a maze without an exit. There are moments in the book where we are made a privy to Kate’s dreams, which help readers psychoanalyze her; in a way, her readers become therapists or simply objective observers to her travels and travails: this is what happened to Kate Crane, because one will never truly know what happened to Eddy. And yet, Kate feels like she will never be the main character of her own story; and, this book is not only meant to be a purge of deadly toxins, but it is also a recognition of the fact that Eddy’s phantom will always be in the background watching over his ever-restless daughter.
Like Eddy’s incomplete narrative, What Ever Happened to Eddy Crane? leaves an impression readers will not be able to shake off easily. By the end of the work, Kate does come to terms with the understanding that she will never completely know what happened to her father that fateful September night, but, at the same time, one gets the sense Kate will never give up attempting to learn more about the enigma that was her dad. He will always be with her, and learning about his splintered story will always have to be enough; and Kate and her readers, by the end, learn to accept this reality, even if it is not the outcome all are wanting
.