Murder in Room 305 by Gary C. King

Murder in Room 305 Reviews

• 
  Valerie

  This book, written by true crime writer, Gary C. King, was originally titled "Web of Deceit". The author is the writer who took crime writer Ann Rule's jobs writing for magazines like "True Detective" which are no longer published. However, many of the cases that King has written about have been aired on truTV.
  
  This particular case has got to be one of the most disgusting cases of extreme greed and narcissism in an individual I have ever heard about. The guilty party, one Michael Lissy, had been married four or five times. Detectives never contacted the first wife because they could not find her. His second wife divorced him when she found out he was going to have her murdered for money. His third wife worked as a bookeeper in his scuba business and he informed her that he was on the verge of bankruptcy so they were going to divorce so he could marry Kathryn Martini, which he did, so he could somehow obtain money from her or her banker father. This lady is the one who was finally murdered by one of Lissy's druggy, street people cohorts. Lissy himself, married or not, used the services of young prostitutes very often, and some of the sexual acts even his wives had to endure against their will, are let's say, "out there". The man is also a pathological liar, telling his last wife that he had two college degrees, owned all kinds of property, etc. None of that was true. He never went past high school. All I can say is the way he conducted his life, I am surprised he even made it through high school. The reason why he wanted his last wife killed when she was on a business trip? Because the life insurance payout would have been $200,000 if he had gotten away with it. I believe all the principals in this case are now paroled unless they have committed further crimes which would not suprise me. This particular crime occurred in July 1984, and everyone involved had a close relationship with cocaine. I am thankful that there were never any children born to Mr. Lissy and his partners. The man is a scumbag, and no child deserves a father like him. It seems so many disgusting crimes occur in the state of Oregon, and this one was no exception.
• 
  Lynda Kelly

  A case I'd never heard of based in Oregon, USA. It was my first by this author and he hardly wrote about the victim and her life which seemed odd nor her family left behind after she was killed.He also did one of those author annoyances and has released this book already under another name. I'm glad it's not one I already had or I'd feel totally cheated. It's a naughty habit.
  I was a little lost that when the police found the victim's body that they phoned her husband to break the news when they already thought it was a suspicious death. So that wasn't a bright move.
  Seemed odd the killer was trying to hire a lot of different people to murder his wife for money and yet he was broke. Shows his powers of persuasion, I suppose. Upon seeing him I can't believe what an intelligent, attractive girl saw in the fat ox she married.
  There was a lady called Martha Reid mentioned as well who'd gone missing in previous years and again the police I thought dropped the ball there and just sort of shrugged their shoulders at the coincidence.
  It all seemed very disjointed throughout but being true it was interesting.
• 
  M.E. Franco

  Gary C. King is a very talented true crime writer with a knack for describing the details of a case without sensationalizing it. He always shows great respect for the victim(s) and loved ones involved. He is also very truthful about the detectives who work the cases.
  
  Murder in Room 305 starts out looking like a simple case of robbery/rape/murder, but there are several details that lead investigators to believe that something more sinister happened to the beautiful woman they found dead in her motel room. The author follows investigators as they try to piece together what really happened Kathryn Ann Martini.
• 
  Jen Cahill

  Interesting read
  
  Wow. I read this book in about 3 hours. Very simple reading, but complicated and disturbing crime. I gave this book 4 stars but it should be more like 3 in the details of the story. The reason is that I, as a reader, am left with so many unanswered questions.
  1. I would have liked to have read more about the unfortunate victim, Kathy. There is less than a chapter about her as a person.
  2. What did she see in Mr. Lissy? The guy in the pictures is unattractive. He lied constantly. She had to have known this. How much did she know about his criminal activities? The other wives knew, so I can't see why she wouldn't have caught on to it soon after the marriage. She was a smart and successful businesswoman. There is a lot of talk about her coke usage and an open marriage, but this is only claimed by Michael. There is no confirmation that she turned up positive for drugs in her autopsy. I wonder why this wasn't explored in the book.
  3. What ended up happening to the key whistleblowers in this story? How did their lives turn out? They were all very young when this happened.
• 
  Nia Ireland

  Gary C. King has very meticulously gathered all the facts of the case, going into fine detail about the history of the man finally convicted of her murder. If you’re a fan of true crime novels, as I am, this kind of attention to detail is fascinating but I can understand that it might come across as a little dry for less morbidly nerdy reader.
  
  J. Scott Bennett has done an excellent job of narrating this book, he really held my attention in what would certainly have been a difficult read if I’d had a print edition to had. He carefully balanced keeping it entertaining and engaging against the respect due to a book of this nature.
  
  As true crime cases go, this isn’t the most gory or eventful, the bulk of the story here is the events leading to the killer doing the deed. His personality really is fascinating, with seemingly no qualms about getting rid of the people who stand between him and material gain.
• 
  Penelope

  Riveting account of pure evil and the unrelenting work of law enforcement to bring the wrong doers to justice. I both read the e book and listened to the audio book narrated by J. Scott Bennett. I have read a lot of true crime books and this one was top notch with actual transcripts, in depth documentary style account of the investigation, and of course the ups and downs of the trial.
  
  What made this so compelling was the terrible nature of the crime, the depth of betrayal, and how very very much I wanted to see the miscreants involved caught and punished. Almost couldn't put it down.
• 
  Claudia

  This is a case I had never heard about, so this fact made it more interesting for me. The story is well told, and I was engrossed in the way the police was trying to get enough proof to arrest their suspect.
  
  But at the end of the story, I'm left with the horrible sensation of knowing that there are some many people out there willing to commit the most atrocious acts against another human being without even a bit of remorse.
  
  All in all, a very interesting book.
  
  J. Scott Bennett does a really good job with the narration.
• 
  Alisha

  true crime straight forward
  
  true crime straight forward story without a lot of unnecessary filler. i have read true crime books that has 100 pages unnecessary info not this book his my new ann rule. This story give you all the details and a good story keeps u interested w/o boring the reader this author also writes about crime stories I havent heard or read everywhere
• 
  Elaine

  I had no idea upon randomly selecting one of my kindle books that this was a true murder case. While I don’t usually care to read books of this genre, this one was well-written, not overly long and the court case wasn’t painstakingly drawn out. It held my interest.
  
  
• 
  Zara Quintana

  Riveting Retelling of An Actual Murder for Hire. I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom. I absolutely love J. Scott Bennett's voice and his narrating performance. He is very entertaining and does an excellent job of holding your attention and leaves you wanting more. I don't know the facts or history of this murder for hire case in history, but the way the author presented everything was captivating and well presented. If you love to watch TV shows like Unsolved Mysteries, 20/20, America's Most Wanted, Cold Case File, Dateline Mystery, and others about true crimes, you will love this audiobook.
• 
  Rabid Reader

  This audiobook was a fascinating look at how real detectives work their way through a murder investigation to find the culprits of a crime. Set in the 1980's we learn the convoluted process that occurred, and to some degree the amount of luck that was involved, in solving the murder of Kathryn Martini-Lissy. Sex, drugs, prostiutes, fraud, greed and a web of lies made this case a sensation in its time and it was only through the insightful, dedicated work of those involved in the case that justice was served. Scott Bennett did a great job of the narration, keeping the story moving forward and creating interest with his voice without being distracting. The true nature of the crime and the details the of police procedure made it very interesting. It is a well put together true crime story that is told without any judgment on the part of the author. I received this book at no cost and under no obligation to review.
• 
  April

  Murder in Room 305
  : Gary C. King
  
  
  A true life crime story of greedy, vile, self serving people. The husband has married 4 or 5 times to different women that could benefit him financially. Well documented case in solving the crime.
  
  
  The narration was well done.The characters were well portrayed. J. Scott Bennett does a fantastic job in this genre.
  
  
  
  "I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator."
• 
  Marilyn

  This is a true-crime story of a gal that was murdered (1984) by her husband (of only one year) in a hotel that many of us have been in, in Eugene - The Valley River Inn, right next to Valley River Mall. He was into sex, drugs, and money...altho his money all came from stolen property or insurance fraud. He married Katherine because she worked in the loan department of one of the banks (well known, can't think of which one right now). He figured he could get her to get a loan for him and then he would just get rid of her. Stupidly, he pulled all his sex/drug friends into the circle...had one of them kill her...and figured that would get him off, because he didn't do it. She had attended Yale (degree from there), but...I wondered how smart she really was to hook up w/him, even tho she seemed to really love him. Wow...hard to imagine some of the stuff that goes on right under our noses.
• 
  Julie Haigh

  Good true crime writing.
  
  I came across this in the kindle top 100 free bestsellers. I hadn't heard of the author before but I like reading true crime stories, particularly those by Ann Rule. On reading the preface I saw that Gary C King has written a few more of this type of book and seems to be quite well-known in this genre. I will certainly read more of his offerings. This was well-told. Sometimes Ann Rule's books can be overly long and exhaustively detailed and this is briefer, yet not too short. It's the story of a young woman coming into contact with the wrong sort of man, who is not what he seems. She marries him and later she is found murdered. The book details all the circumstances leading up to her death and the police questioning etc.
• 
  Ruth Turner

  
  This wasn't a great read. For the most part it failed to hold my interest. I skimmed through the last half of the book to find out how it ended. I would have learned more, in less time, if I'd Googled.
  
  Disappointing.
  
• 
  Scott Bennett

  I thought this was a fascinating book. I was privileged to get to record the audio narration for it. It was well-researched, well written, and kept me wanting to see how the investigation and trial unfolded.
• 
  Pauline

  It was alright, not sure I'm into the true crime stuff.
• 
  Genney Blass

  It was a good book.
• 
  Ronnie Cramer

  The solution to this crime was evident early on, so it is a testament to the writing that the story was still interesting from start to finish.