The Killing Season (Kindle Single)

For fans of “True Detective” and Making A Murderer , THE KILLING SEASON is a page-turning true crime saga, the story of a double murder that went unsolved for more than 35 years, and a chilling portrait of a small town upended by unimaginable violence.

In the summer of 1975, the sprawling, valley town of Grand Junction, Colorado, is stunned by the grisly double murders of 24-year-old Linda Benson and her baby daughter Kelley. For Jim Fromm and Doug Rushing, the two young detectives assigned to the case, the investigation is a chance to earn their stripes and prove their mettle. At first, Fromm and Rushing peg the woman’s mercurial husband, a pipe-fitter who works outside of town, as the primary suspect. But as their case against Steve Benson unravels, the detectives find themselves short on leads—and running out of time. With the city on edge and anxious for answers, a notorious serial killer goes on the lam, and yet another young woman and her children turn up dead.

In The Killing Season , acclaimed journalist Alex French traces the story of the Benson murders from the night Linda and Kelley’s bodies are found strewn across their second floor apartment, to an improbable discovery, made more than 30 years later, that enabled a new breed of detectives to crack the case and bring closure to those who'd watched justice slip away. Writing in taut, atmospheric prose, French has crafted a heart-pounding tale of tragedy, resilience, and redemption—set against the burning-red vistas of the American Southwest.

Alex French is a freelance journalist. His reportage and oral histories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine , BuzzReads , GQ , New York Magazine , Grantland , This American Life and a variety of other venues. He lives in Monmouth County, New Jersey, with his wife and two children.

Cover design by Adil Dara.