Book: Murder in the Yoga Store

Murder in the Yoga Store
Peter Ross Range
Amazon Product Link

MURDER IN THE YOGA STORE is the true story of the brutal killing of a beautiful young woman at a chic Lululemon yoga-wear shop. The grisly murder was committed on a pleasant Friday night in upscale Bethesda, Maryland, a leafy suburb of Washington, D.C. In this riveting narrative by veteran journalist Peter Ross Range, the author for the first time brings together the tale of what really happened in the yoga store murder. He portrays the personalities of both victim and murderer, along with the strange and convoluted circumstances of the crime and its cover-up. Range meticulously exposes layer upon layer of deceit and confusion. His account builds the tension of the police investigation until the real story, so odd and creepy, takes your breath away. The drama of the murder trial is a moving emotional roller coaster built around the prosecutors, the detectives and the family of the victim.

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Nice, quick, read. There was something in the tone of the writing that put me off though, but I can’t place my finger on it.

One part though, really grated on my nerves. Quote:

“They had not done the easy and obvious thing — call 911 — though they were in a store full of phones. They hadn’t asked one of Apple’s two security guards to bang on Lululemon’s doors to see if everything was okay. They had shirked simple civic responsibility, turned their backs and returned to counting Apple’s money.”

I thought this was a little callous - on the author’s part. It’s easy to say “you should have done this, you should have done that” after the fact. “Shirk simple civic responsibility” as if they did it with malicious intent. Could they have dialed 911? Yes. Should they have? Now that we know after the fact that it was a murder going on, then yes, they should have. But they didn’t know at the time. Could they have acted more on the cautious side and called for help? Of course they could have. But to be pointing a finger at them, sort of making them responsible for it? That’s a low blow.