A review by melissa_who_reads
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg

4.0

Having spent a good part of my childhood in West Virginia, not far from Pocahontas County, I was enthralled with this outsider's perspective of West Virginia. I was very interested in the stories of the women involved, both the two that were murdered and the one who did not; I was less interested in the author's own coming-of-age story, although there were moments that was fascinating as well. The story of the investigation is fascinating; you can see where it went wrong, and where people could not overcome their own assumptions. And also how investigations can be tainted by the need to fit the story to the assumptions about the murders, about the locals, about the interactions of men and women. There's a lot she gets right about West Virginia, including the beauty of the land and the longing to go back when folks from there move away. Also, the way the murders of these two women who had never been to West Virginia before, and didn't get much time there at all before they were murdered - the way their murders haunted the local population for decades. Murder affects all who come in contact with it, from the community to the family to those trying to figure out "who dun it" - and this book beautifully illustrates the story of murder isn't just the story of murderer and victims. It ripples on down the decades, and takes its toll on many.