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Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation

Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation

by Erika Krouse

Flatiron Books ·2022 ·288 pages
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96/99

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About This Book

Part memoir and part literary true crime, Tell Me Everything is the mesmerizing story of a landmark sexual assault investigation and the private investigator who helped crack it open. Erika Krouse has one of those faces. "I don't know why I'm telling you this," people say, spilling confessions. In fall 2002, Krouse accepts a new contract job investigating lawsuits as a private investigator. The role seems perfect for her, but she quickly realizes she has no idea what she's doing. Then a lawyer named Grayson assigns her to investigate a sexual assault, a college student who was attacked by football players and recruits at a party a year earlier. Krouse knows she should turn the assignment down; her own history with sexual violence makes it all too personal. But she takes the job anyway, inspired by Grayson's conviction that he could help change things forever--and maybe she could, too. Over the next five years, Krouse learns everything she can about P. I. technique, tracking down witnesses and investigating a culture of sexual assault and harassment ingrained in the university's football program. But as the investigation grows into a national scandal and a historic civil rights case, she finds herself increasingly consumed. When the case and her life both implode at the same time, she must figure out how to help win the case without losing herself.


Reviews

"The emotional catharsis delivered by the book's end turns this sensational tale into a stunning story of redemption and hope."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Without absolving the players for their actions, Krouse lays a steaming bag of blame at the doorstep of the coach and his organization ..."

Marion Winik· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Krouse weaves these elements into a compelling account as she describes building the case, including empathetic profiles of individuals involved, and shares her struggles with past and present trauma."

Kathleen McBroom· Booklist Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Readers will devour this searingly intimate tale of institutional misogyny."

Mattie Cook· Library Journal Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"nothing undermines Krouse's self-description more than the scenes in which she interviews victims, witnesses, and perpetrators in the campus rape case."

Laura Miller· Slate Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Particularly riveting are the scenes in which Krouse speaks with various witnesses, often in bars or restaurants, trying to parse out what happened on the night of that ill-fated party ..."

Alice Cary· BookPage Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"In explaining the toll her involvement in the case exacted on her, Krouse movingly documents her attempts to gain from her mother an acknowledgment of the abuse she endured as a child—and to make sense of their deeply troubled relationship."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"There are occasional false moments, too."

Patrick Hoffman· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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