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-- Review --
Kelli Martin’s Homicide in the Hood is a heartfelt and haunting exploration of unsolved murders in the seemingly quaint town of Granbury, Texas. Drawing on her personal experiences growing up there, Martin provides an emotional narrative about six specific cases that left an indelible mark on the community. The detailed accounts not only memorialize the victims but also call for justice and renewed attention to these cold cases.
What struck me most about Martin’s writing is her ability to weave personal anecdotes with meticulous research. She describes the murder of Lillian Peart, who was brutally shot in a convenience store for a mere $57. Her recounting of how this event shook her childhood innocence is raw and moving, making it easy to empathize with the fear and confusion she must have felt. The inclusion of small-town quirks, such as the community’s reliance on word-of-mouth gossip, adds an authentic charm to an otherwise grim subject matter. Martin’s knack for storytelling truly shines when she recounts how these murders affected her family and her career path. In the chapter on Holly Palmer’s murder near the sheriff’s department, Martin ties her personal memories of riding her bike past the location to a broader discussion of law enforcement’s struggles in solving these cases.
The contrast between her idyllic childhood memories and the brutal reality of these crimes adds an emotional depth that is hard to ignore. While the book is gripping, it’s also frustrating and that’s no fault of the author. Martin is transparent about the challenges law enforcement faced due to the lack of modern technology like DNA testing during the 1980s. For example, she discusses how suspects were identified but not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence, leaving readers with a sense of unresolved injustice. Her writing conveys not just the facts but also her palpable frustration and determination to bring attention to these cases.
I particularly appreciated Martin’s plea to humanize the victims. Her insistence that these women were more than statistics resonates strongly. In discussing Dorothy Sanders, who was stabbed over 100 times, Martin paints a vivid picture of the victim’s humanity and the ripple effects of her loss on the community. This level of compassion and advocacy is what makes the book stand out.
Homicide in the Hood is a compelling read for true crime enthusiasts, particularly those interested in cold cases and the intricacies of small-town dynamics. Martin’s passion for justice and her ability to connect the reader to her past create an engaging and thought-provoking narrative. This book is perfect for those looking to better understand the long-term impacts of unsolved crimes on families and communities. It left me both heartbroken and hopeful, a testament to Martin’s powerful storytelling.
Rating: 5 Stars
Thank you,
Thomas Anderson
Editor In Chief
Author Review
"Review: Homicide in the Hood by Kelli Martin
Reviewed by: David L. Kilpatrick, Author – Noah the Wanderer
March 2025
This book is a true crime story that is a little different than most of this genre: the author has a personal connection with the stories because she not only was a resident of the area, but was personally acquainted with several of the victims.
“Hood” as referred to in the title is not the modern meaning. It refers to Hood County, Texas, a rural county southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. In that, this book is as much an homage to small-town life in the 1980’s and 90’s as it is a chronology of events.
Ms. Martin is an educated an experienced investigator and can rattle off minute details of scientific forensics and blood evidence. But she can also tell her story in a down-home, conversational style as if she were sitting with you having a beer or an iced tea. This ability is lacking in this genre, where the writing is often dry and lecturing like a police workroom debriefing.
Several high-profile murders are explored, girls and women killed for little if any reason, and the perpetrators often unknown and never prosecuted. I won’t go into the details of these but will say that they have common threads: police territorialism, overworked, underpaid and underfunded small police departments, lack of technology, and slippery, off-the-radar suspects.
There are two interesting things about this book. First, the experience of the author and her summary explanations on both the history of forensic investigation techniques and their practical use, and secondly and most important, her exploration into the impact of the crimes on family and community.
For many of these families, the survivors or “co-victims” of the murders, this book was the first and only means by which they were allowed to tell their side and even vent their horror and grief. These crimes happened over 30 years ago but seeing their words now, one can see the “generational trauma” that Kelli explains. Stanton Samanow, one of the forefathers in the study of psychopathy, called it the “wake of destruction” left behind by violent criminals. This wake is still reverberating in the lives of those families, decades later, and this book does a small part in helping them heal a little.
Aficionados of true crime will enjoy the slice-of-life tales from Granbury, Texas that the author spins throughout. It helps break up the terror and heartbreak of real-life murder, and the impact of murder on family, friends and community is eye-opening."
