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Mary Jane's Ghost: The Legacy of a Murder in Small Town America
Summer 1948. In the scenic, remote river town of Oregon, Illinois, a young couple visiting the local lovers’ lane is murdered. The shocking crime garners headlines from Portland, Maine, to Long Beach, California. But after a sweeping manhunt, no one is arrested and the violent deaths of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla fade into time’s indifference.
Fast forward fifty years. Eccentric entrepreneur Michael Arians moves to Oregon, opens a roadhouse, gets elected mayor, and becomes obsessed with the crime. He comes up with a scandalous conspiracy theory and starts to believe that Mary Jane’s ghost is haunting his establishment. He also reaches out to the Chicago Tribune for help.
Arians’s letter falls on the desk of general assignment reporter Ted Gregory. For the next thirteen years, while he ricochets from story to story and his newspaper is deconstructed around him, Gregory remains beguiled by the case of the teenaged telephone operator Mary Jane and twenty-eight-year-old Navy vet Stanley—and equally fascinated by Arians’s seemingly hopeless pursuit of whoever murdered them. Mary Jane’s Ghost is the story of these two odysseys.
Fast forward fifty years. Eccentric entrepreneur Michael Arians moves to Oregon, opens a roadhouse, gets elected mayor, and becomes obsessed with the crime. He comes up with a scandalous conspiracy theory and starts to believe that Mary Jane’s ghost is haunting his establishment. He also reaches out to the Chicago Tribune for help.
Arians’s letter falls on the desk of general assignment reporter Ted Gregory. For the next thirteen years, while he ricochets from story to story and his newspaper is deconstructed around him, Gregory remains beguiled by the case of the teenaged telephone operator Mary Jane and twenty-eight-year-old Navy vet Stanley—and equally fascinated by Arians’s seemingly hopeless pursuit of whoever murdered them. Mary Jane’s Ghost is the story of these two odysseys.
194 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 19, 2017
Dark back roads and even darker prospects in a cold, cold case.
Ted Gregory, a Chicago Tribune reporter, is lured into the dead-end investigation of a true crime by an individual who just can't quite put it down. Gregory gets wind of Mike Arians' obsession with an unsolved murder from long ago. Mike, a former mayor of Oregon, Illinois and restauranteer, meets with Gregory and lays out an unbelievable set of circumstances.
It was a hot, humid summer's night in 1948 when Mary Jane Reed walks into a crowded bar. Although only seventeen years old, Mary Jane skirts over to the bar and settles down next to Stanley Skridla. Mary Jane had since dropped out of high school and Stanley, a twenty-eight year old veteran, had clocked his time with the Navy. As if by some magnetic force, these two would spend their last few hours with one another.
Destiny would take them to a back road near the Rock River. Not much traffic and not too much conversation would be happening at that hour. But someone, either purposefully or at random, came upon the lovers. Stanley's body was found the next day. Mary Jane's was found several days later. A shocking jolt to a small town in the Midwest where one day usually matched the very next.
Mike Arians fills in more details with strange goings-on at his roadhouse restaurant. He's put up photos of the attractive Mary Jane. It seems that Mary Jane is cooperating with her new found notoriety. There are visits by an unknown lady who disappears in the empty parking lot. The juke box continuously plays "After Sunrise" by Sergio Mendes when not a coin has been put in. There are bumps in the night and lights that go on and off. Mike knows that someone has taken up new residence there.
Ted Gregory's research brings quite a bit to the surface. It appears that there was a lot of faulty investigations by the police and evidence that seemed to disappear. One of their own, Vince Varco, had been dating Mary Jane as well. Was a jealous rage in the mix? And the town in 1948 was mum as the grave itself. People have long since died or were too young to have a memory of the crime. Even Mary Jane's brother Warren, six years old at the time, knows that something has always been amiss here.
Gregory injects quite a bit of parsley with his main course. Although an interesting read, it is bogged down with far too many local history facts and unrelated crimes. We come to know Lincoln personally and the Chicago River and all surrounding areas. I suppose these fill-ins were necessary to add a little bulk to the burger. Sadly, the tale of Mary Jane still remains in its original darkness.
I received a copy of Mary Jane's Ghost through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to the University of Iowa Press and to Ted Gregory for the opportunity.
Ted Gregory, a Chicago Tribune reporter, is lured into the dead-end investigation of a true crime by an individual who just can't quite put it down. Gregory gets wind of Mike Arians' obsession with an unsolved murder from long ago. Mike, a former mayor of Oregon, Illinois and restauranteer, meets with Gregory and lays out an unbelievable set of circumstances.
It was a hot, humid summer's night in 1948 when Mary Jane Reed walks into a crowded bar. Although only seventeen years old, Mary Jane skirts over to the bar and settles down next to Stanley Skridla. Mary Jane had since dropped out of high school and Stanley, a twenty-eight year old veteran, had clocked his time with the Navy. As if by some magnetic force, these two would spend their last few hours with one another.
Destiny would take them to a back road near the Rock River. Not much traffic and not too much conversation would be happening at that hour. But someone, either purposefully or at random, came upon the lovers. Stanley's body was found the next day. Mary Jane's was found several days later. A shocking jolt to a small town in the Midwest where one day usually matched the very next.
Mike Arians fills in more details with strange goings-on at his roadhouse restaurant. He's put up photos of the attractive Mary Jane. It seems that Mary Jane is cooperating with her new found notoriety. There are visits by an unknown lady who disappears in the empty parking lot. The juke box continuously plays "After Sunrise" by Sergio Mendes when not a coin has been put in. There are bumps in the night and lights that go on and off. Mike knows that someone has taken up new residence there.
Ted Gregory's research brings quite a bit to the surface. It appears that there was a lot of faulty investigations by the police and evidence that seemed to disappear. One of their own, Vince Varco, had been dating Mary Jane as well. Was a jealous rage in the mix? And the town in 1948 was mum as the grave itself. People have long since died or were too young to have a memory of the crime. Even Mary Jane's brother Warren, six years old at the time, knows that something has always been amiss here.
Gregory injects quite a bit of parsley with his main course. Although an interesting read, it is bogged down with far too many local history facts and unrelated crimes. We come to know Lincoln personally and the Chicago River and all surrounding areas. I suppose these fill-ins were necessary to add a little bulk to the burger. Sadly, the tale of Mary Jane still remains in its original darkness.
I received a copy of Mary Jane's Ghost through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to the University of Iowa Press and to Ted Gregory for the opportunity.
October 5, 2017
This is a very interesting account of a double murder that happened in Oregon, Illinois in June of 1948. In 2003, Ted Gregory, a journalist working for the “Chicago Tribune” receives a letter from Mike Arians, who is requesting help in solving the murder/mystery of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla that occurred on the south side of Oregon along Lover’s lane. The information in the letter does tweak Mr. Gregory’s interest as well. He has no idea at the time that he too will be seeking justice for these two young people for almost twenty years. Mr. Arians has an almost unhealthy obsession with the young beautiful Mary Jane Reed. He was a small boy when this crime occurred and even though it was always a black spot in the town of Oregon it was just never really talked about out in the open. There were plenty of speculations and some strange happenings regarding Mary Jane even years after her death. At the beginning of the book after reading some of Mr. Arian's accounts I’m thinking okay, here we go “Woo-Wooville” as I kept reading certain facts just SCREAM out a cover-up. The local law enforcement at the time and in years just didn’t want to touch this case.
Mr. Gregory also covers little known historical facts regarding the state of Illinois during his while writing this book that kept it more interesting. The one I like the best that had me giggling which at the time was a genuine problem in the area and surrounding states were the invasive Chinese Carp. These fish could fly and not only were they a danger of destroying the lake and rivers delicate ecosystems, they were guilty of knocking out a few unsuspecting fishermen as well. It was such a problem that the White House had a “Carp Czar” whose main job was to try to manage these creatures. Plus, it was interesting to hear the journalist point of view of working for a famous newspaper while the printed version was dying a slow death.
There were many reasons I found this book to be interesting not only the original case but the way the book flowed. It wasn’t all just about the case, most of it was of course but as I stated earlier he had sprinkled historical facts and other witty anecdotes regarding himself.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the providing me with a copy of this e-galley in exchange for my honest review.
Mr. Gregory also covers little known historical facts regarding the state of Illinois during his while writing this book that kept it more interesting. The one I like the best that had me giggling which at the time was a genuine problem in the area and surrounding states were the invasive Chinese Carp. These fish could fly and not only were they a danger of destroying the lake and rivers delicate ecosystems, they were guilty of knocking out a few unsuspecting fishermen as well. It was such a problem that the White House had a “Carp Czar” whose main job was to try to manage these creatures. Plus, it was interesting to hear the journalist point of view of working for a famous newspaper while the printed version was dying a slow death.
There were many reasons I found this book to be interesting not only the original case but the way the book flowed. It wasn’t all just about the case, most of it was of course but as I stated earlier he had sprinkled historical facts and other witty anecdotes regarding himself.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the providing me with a copy of this e-galley in exchange for my honest review.
October 13, 2017
The book purports to be about the double murder of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla in Oregon, Illinois in 1948 that has since gone unsolved.
While parsing out pieces of the story, the writer also bounces around the state of Illinois providing nuggets of Illinois history to the reader. From the Chicago River and pollution of the Illinois River to Asian Carp to statues of Abraham Lincoln to a mass murder/lynching in Southern Illinois, the author provides the reader with a byzantine history of Illinois along the way.
Since 1948, by either gross incompetence or by a cover-up by those investigating the double murder, the crime has gone unsolved, with rumors and gossip revealing numerous suspects and innuendoes of what may or may not have happened to the two young victims.
The author details the life of one man that has kept the inquiry continuing by his own dogged investigation that he has funded almost entirely by himself, which has included two exhumations.
To this reader, the overall theme of the book did not work well. The title is somewhat misleading and leaves a preconceived representation that is not met.
This book is probably best suited for those that would enjoy a memoir of a newspaper reporter, the stories the reporter chased and for a reader with a strong interest in Illinois history.
While parsing out pieces of the story, the writer also bounces around the state of Illinois providing nuggets of Illinois history to the reader. From the Chicago River and pollution of the Illinois River to Asian Carp to statues of Abraham Lincoln to a mass murder/lynching in Southern Illinois, the author provides the reader with a byzantine history of Illinois along the way.
Since 1948, by either gross incompetence or by a cover-up by those investigating the double murder, the crime has gone unsolved, with rumors and gossip revealing numerous suspects and innuendoes of what may or may not have happened to the two young victims.
The author details the life of one man that has kept the inquiry continuing by his own dogged investigation that he has funded almost entirely by himself, which has included two exhumations.
To this reader, the overall theme of the book did not work well. The title is somewhat misleading and leaves a preconceived representation that is not met.
This book is probably best suited for those that would enjoy a memoir of a newspaper reporter, the stories the reporter chased and for a reader with a strong interest in Illinois history.
September 24, 2017
This is author and journalist Ted Gregory's book about a murder case unsolved for over 50 years of a couple that were mysteriously killed while parked out on a known lover's lane back in the summer of 1948 in small-town Illinois. Was there a cop involved? Was there a coverup? Were all those possibly involved long dead anyway? Was it too late for answers? I like how he incorporates other stories he worked on and things going on around the country while he was writing, which kind of interjects a bit of the bigger picture as a reminder. A good true crime book that many fans will enjoy. I was given an ARC by NetGalley and the publisher for review.
September 27, 2017
Scattershot book about a real 1948 double murder.
Supposedly about a double murder in 1948 in a small town in Illinois, this book diverges from its topic about 2/3 of the time. The author is obviously trying to make the fourteen newspaper articles that he wrote in the Chicago Tribune on the murders into a full size book. The side issues are usually other newspaper stories the author wrote that share geographic similarities but little else with the main topic. They include the history of various statues in nearby small towns and the results of accidentally allowing Asian Carp to infest various rivers that feed the Great Lakes. The statues side issue occupied at least 50 pages of this short book and may be interesting to someone from Illinois but it didn’t relate to the murder plot at all. The Asian Carp issue was actually interesting but again was not connected to the main plot.
The murder plot is fascinating. One person, a former mayor of the small town of Oregon Illinois, is obsessed about who killed Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla. Stanley and Mary Jane were sitting in his car on a lover’s lane following a cruise of the local nightclubs. Stanley was shot multiple times in the chest and abdomen while standing outside his car. However, Mary Jane was not found until several days later after a countywide search. She was located by a trucker in a roadside ditch about two miles away shot once in the head. Contemporaneous investigators never discover the killer’s identity. Can the former mayor solve the crime seventy years later? He is willing to spend the money, a reported $100,000, to try over seventeen years. Could the murderer have been a local deputy sheriff reportedly thrown over by Mary Jane? Could the murder just be a case of a robbery gone horribly wrong? There are many theories discussed in this book but the ending is rather disappointing.
If Mary Jane’s Ghost was a 80 page novella, it would rate 4 stars. As it is, the amount of skim reading that must be used to get to each portion of the murder plot makes it a 2 star read.
Thanks to the publisher, University of Iowa Press, and netgalley for an advanced review copy in exchange for my honest review. Mary Jane’s Ghost will be published on October 1, 2017.
Supposedly about a double murder in 1948 in a small town in Illinois, this book diverges from its topic about 2/3 of the time. The author is obviously trying to make the fourteen newspaper articles that he wrote in the Chicago Tribune on the murders into a full size book. The side issues are usually other newspaper stories the author wrote that share geographic similarities but little else with the main topic. They include the history of various statues in nearby small towns and the results of accidentally allowing Asian Carp to infest various rivers that feed the Great Lakes. The statues side issue occupied at least 50 pages of this short book and may be interesting to someone from Illinois but it didn’t relate to the murder plot at all. The Asian Carp issue was actually interesting but again was not connected to the main plot.
The murder plot is fascinating. One person, a former mayor of the small town of Oregon Illinois, is obsessed about who killed Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla. Stanley and Mary Jane were sitting in his car on a lover’s lane following a cruise of the local nightclubs. Stanley was shot multiple times in the chest and abdomen while standing outside his car. However, Mary Jane was not found until several days later after a countywide search. She was located by a trucker in a roadside ditch about two miles away shot once in the head. Contemporaneous investigators never discover the killer’s identity. Can the former mayor solve the crime seventy years later? He is willing to spend the money, a reported $100,000, to try over seventeen years. Could the murderer have been a local deputy sheriff reportedly thrown over by Mary Jane? Could the murder just be a case of a robbery gone horribly wrong? There are many theories discussed in this book but the ending is rather disappointing.
If Mary Jane’s Ghost was a 80 page novella, it would rate 4 stars. As it is, the amount of skim reading that must be used to get to each portion of the murder plot makes it a 2 star read.
Thanks to the publisher, University of Iowa Press, and netgalley for an advanced review copy in exchange for my honest review. Mary Jane’s Ghost will be published on October 1, 2017.
August 23, 2017
The title of this book is misleading at best. While the unsolved murder of a teenager in the 1940s frames the book, the author fills half the pages with tangents that have literally nothing to do with the crime or much of anything else. He rambles about carp fishing, Abraham Lincoln statues, the state of newspapers, re-naming bodies of water, and other things that I found so annoying I almost stopped reading. I sincerely wish that he had stuck with a streamlined version of the murder investigation itself. Even that part became more of a character study of the people involved, but at least that would have been relevant to the way the book is presented. It honestly should be re-branded as a memoir about a reporter who reports on a lot of things and one of them is this unsolved old murder. [I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for writing a review on Goodreads.]
February 4, 2018
Clearly, this book caught my interest because it happened in Oregon Illinois. It had a small town feel to it, and was an investigative piece written by someone from the Chicago Tribune about a murder that took place in 1948.
While the book was about the murder, it was also about Michael Ariens, a man moved to Oregon and bought and opened a bar there and later became mayor. He was obsessed with this crime, and even said that the ghost of Mary Jane haunted his bar.
Investigative reported Ted Gregory went to Oregon and and looked into the murder, and spoke to Michael on numerous occasions.
The writing was very clear and concise, the story, heartbreaking because of a murder, but bizarre because of Michael Ariens. I think he had mental health issues, and the whole scenario of interviewing him and re-investigating the circumstances about Mary Janes death probably accelerated his odd behaviour.
I wasn't sastified with the ending of the book and there was so many loose ends throughout. I think this book was more about Michael Ariens, and he shouldn't get any more attention diverted to him.
Thanks to the University of Iowa Press for a complimentary copy for an honest review.
While the book was about the murder, it was also about Michael Ariens, a man moved to Oregon and bought and opened a bar there and later became mayor. He was obsessed with this crime, and even said that the ghost of Mary Jane haunted his bar.
Investigative reported Ted Gregory went to Oregon and and looked into the murder, and spoke to Michael on numerous occasions.
The writing was very clear and concise, the story, heartbreaking because of a murder, but bizarre because of Michael Ariens. I think he had mental health issues, and the whole scenario of interviewing him and re-investigating the circumstances about Mary Janes death probably accelerated his odd behaviour.
I wasn't sastified with the ending of the book and there was so many loose ends throughout. I think this book was more about Michael Ariens, and he shouldn't get any more attention diverted to him.
Thanks to the University of Iowa Press for a complimentary copy for an honest review.
June 25, 2018
This book was a surprise. I was reluctant to read it because I am not normally a mystery reader. The title and book cover lead you to believe it is the story of a small town murder mystery that has never been solved, but it is much more than that. At first glance, it is the story of a somewhat obsessive general assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune who has been hooked into re-investigating a double lovers murder that occurred 70 years ago in the town of Oregon, Illinois by a convincing letter he received from a resident who believes his establishment is haunted by the young girl who was murdered. Along the way he uncovers some shocking truths about the murder and puts himself in some unusual situations.
His search to find the truth is peppered with his musings as a general assignment reporter who has managed to carve a role for himself at the Chicago Tribune despite its downsizing and the plight of newspapers in general. His work takes him to unknown and unassuming towns and byways within driving range of the Chicago-land area that are overshadowed by the doings of the windy city but whose history and people offer rich and interesting stories that need to be told. He makes a case that Illinois is the heartland of America - and in this case, it's stories will resonate with all Americans who wish to feel a part of something bigger and better than what we read in the headlines of newspapers across America. Not all of his stories are uplifting but they will make you think, take action or want to travel to these off the beaten path places that go unnoticed as you drive down the highways of Illinois. And his self-effacing tone will make you chuckle. He's a natural storyteller that makes you want to read more.
His search to find the truth is peppered with his musings as a general assignment reporter who has managed to carve a role for himself at the Chicago Tribune despite its downsizing and the plight of newspapers in general. His work takes him to unknown and unassuming towns and byways within driving range of the Chicago-land area that are overshadowed by the doings of the windy city but whose history and people offer rich and interesting stories that need to be told. He makes a case that Illinois is the heartland of America - and in this case, it's stories will resonate with all Americans who wish to feel a part of something bigger and better than what we read in the headlines of newspapers across America. Not all of his stories are uplifting but they will make you think, take action or want to travel to these off the beaten path places that go unnoticed as you drive down the highways of Illinois. And his self-effacing tone will make you chuckle. He's a natural storyteller that makes you want to read more.
January 31, 2018
I do like a book that takes local history--here some of the history of Oregon, Illinois and The Chicago Tribune--and gives it attention. The descriptions here, of the sad demise of the newspaper field, are also of interest.
If one wants to immerse one's self in the whodunit involving Mary Jane and her date, however, the book is a bit frustrating. There are many asides about other things that are not uninteresting, but not necessarily things one might feel like spending one's time reading.
My real problem with the story, though, is it feels like the author gets snowed by Rich, a man with a reputation for being volatile, who turns on the charm for the author. Rich is of the police fraternity, he's not going to want someone in his "party", like Vince, to be guilty of this crime, that would then be compounded by the fact that his "party" allowed the guilty person to continue working and die un charged.
The alternate story Rich tells involves people all now conveniently dead so that the author can not interview them himself.
The person I tended to believe was George, the cold case guy. His logic about how a robber would not want to murder two people just to get a few bucks, felt reasonable. Also it felt reasonable that a robber has no reason to shoot the male victim in the groin several times.
Couple the above with Vince saying he sold his revolver the day after the murder. What law enforcement guy sells his revolver?!
Biggest thing Rich and Ted do not really address at the end of the book--Vince had verifiably beat up Mary Jane the day she was killed. The non mention of this fact feels like a--well, he was a volatile guy and boys will be boys, gloss over. No, this is the act of a potential murderer of the person being beat up.
If one wants to immerse one's self in the whodunit involving Mary Jane and her date, however, the book is a bit frustrating. There are many asides about other things that are not uninteresting, but not necessarily things one might feel like spending one's time reading.
My real problem with the story, though, is it feels like the author gets snowed by Rich, a man with a reputation for being volatile, who turns on the charm for the author. Rich is of the police fraternity, he's not going to want someone in his "party", like Vince, to be guilty of this crime, that would then be compounded by the fact that his "party" allowed the guilty person to continue working and die un charged.
The alternate story Rich tells involves people all now conveniently dead so that the author can not interview them himself.
The person I tended to believe was George, the cold case guy. His logic about how a robber would not want to murder two people just to get a few bucks, felt reasonable. Also it felt reasonable that a robber has no reason to shoot the male victim in the groin several times.
Couple the above with Vince saying he sold his revolver the day after the murder. What law enforcement guy sells his revolver?!
Biggest thing Rich and Ted do not really address at the end of the book--Vince had verifiably beat up Mary Jane the day she was killed. The non mention of this fact feels like a--well, he was a volatile guy and boys will be boys, gloss over. No, this is the act of a potential murderer of the person being beat up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2017
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.
The title of the book is misleading. The focus is only peripherally on the slaying of Mary Jane in Oregon, Illinois. The true focus of the book is the life of a general assignment newspaper reporter. Ted Gregory writes a compelling account of his life as a reporter, his love for his home state of Illinois is obvious, and the variety of assignments he discusses is fascinating. The cold case of the eponymous Mary Jane is one of many stories he reports on - it just happen to be a story he revisits several times and is particularly interested in.
This book is best enjoyed as a meditation on the varied life of a reporter, not as a true crime book. Mr. Gregory says it best, "The search for the truth, the courage to face and accept it as our own, the value in trying to gain deeper understanding - that's the noble journey."
The title of the book is misleading. The focus is only peripherally on the slaying of Mary Jane in Oregon, Illinois. The true focus of the book is the life of a general assignment newspaper reporter. Ted Gregory writes a compelling account of his life as a reporter, his love for his home state of Illinois is obvious, and the variety of assignments he discusses is fascinating. The cold case of the eponymous Mary Jane is one of many stories he reports on - it just happen to be a story he revisits several times and is particularly interested in.
This book is best enjoyed as a meditation on the varied life of a reporter, not as a true crime book. Mr. Gregory says it best, "The search for the truth, the courage to face and accept it as our own, the value in trying to gain deeper understanding - that's the noble journey."
June 25, 2017
Unfortunately, another one for the "Abandoned" shelf.
This book is marketed as a “true crime” novel and it is to the degree that a “true crime” does feature somewhere in it…At 30% complete there has been a scant 10 pages or so devoted to the crime and the man who became obsessed with it and one of its victims, Mary Jane Reed.
For those who are interested in stories of the history of Oregon, Illinois, its politics, statues of Abe Lincoln and Native Americans, and the life of a journalist then this is the novel for you.
For true crime aficionados then you will need to be more patient and persistent than me to complete this book and see if there really was a solution to this crime.
This book is marketed as a “true crime” novel and it is to the degree that a “true crime” does feature somewhere in it…At 30% complete there has been a scant 10 pages or so devoted to the crime and the man who became obsessed with it and one of its victims, Mary Jane Reed.
For those who are interested in stories of the history of Oregon, Illinois, its politics, statues of Abe Lincoln and Native Americans, and the life of a journalist then this is the novel for you.
For true crime aficionados then you will need to be more patient and persistent than me to complete this book and see if there really was a solution to this crime.
August 4, 2017
Marketed as a True Crime novel, I found that very little of the book focused on the case.
Most of the rest was a rambling look at Chicago and the surrounding areas.
Can't say that I would recommend it.
Most of the rest was a rambling look at Chicago and the surrounding areas.
Can't say that I would recommend it.
July 7, 2018
During my college years, eons ago, I considered becoming a journalist. I love to write and I am curious about a great many subjects, but in the end, I decided I just was not assertive enough to be a really good reporter. And that's how I ended up a teacher and then a librarian. But it is because of my fascination with the lives of journalists that this book captivated me. It is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning and Chicago Tribune general assignment reporter, Ted Gregory. The overall organization of the book centers around the author's 13-year attempt to unravel what happened to two people murdered while parked on a Lover's Lane in Oregon, Illinois in June, 1948. A letter that landed on Gregory's desk in the newsroom prompted the author's visit to the writer of the letter, a local restaurateur, who had made it his life's mission to find out what had happened to 17-year-old Mary Jane Reed and her boyfriend Stanley. The author makes frequent returns to Oregon as more and more pieces of the case come to light. Interspersed in the narrative are vignettes about other stories Gregory covered during these years--including the infestation of Asian carp in Illinois waterways, the Herrin, Illinois, massacre in which a couple dozen coal mine strikebreakers were gunned down, an educational program that teamed up disadvantaged teens from the inner city with seniors suffering from dementia to the advantage of both groups, and the civilized discussions that occurred in Bureau County as a small community wrestled with the question of what to do about an offensively named waterway, Negro Creek. Gregory describes how he tracks down story ideas and tries to sell them to his editors, all the while dealing with the great cultural shift happening now, from print newspapers to digital news. The book is written in a conversational style, almost as if Gregory has his feet propped up on his desk and is regaling his listener with tales from the trenches. It is an insightful look into journalism today.
July 13, 2019
This is more than a book about a double murder that took place in 1948, it is also a story about how Ted Gregory, a reporter with the Chicago Tribune got interested in it and how the newspaper industry has changed over the many years.
First off, it is the story of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla in 1948. Even though these were two brutal murders, there was no investigation into who did it, why they did not and no one was ever brought to justice in these brutal murders.
Along the way, Mike Arians, a man who bought a bar in Oregon, Illinois got intrigued with the case and with Mary Jane and wanted to know the truth. He, in turn, sent information to Ted Gregory, a reporter from the Chicago Tribune to see if he could flesh out the story and tell the truth about what happened.
Ted Gregory tells his story of writing the articles about Mary Jane's and how the story consumed him over many years and how he did other stories just so he could drive through town and look into more leads and more conspiracies.
One of the offsides of the book is that it goes off on tangents about other stories he wrote concerning other areas in Illinois. I did not mind reading these and learning how the newspaper business has changed over the years. I see other comments where this really aggravated people and that had Ted written this book only on his research into Mary Jane and Stanley's deaths, it would have been a novelette.
I would recommend this book to people who like reading cold cases but if you are looking for a magical ending, where they find the killer(s)--this is not the book for you.
First off, it is the story of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla in 1948. Even though these were two brutal murders, there was no investigation into who did it, why they did not and no one was ever brought to justice in these brutal murders.
Along the way, Mike Arians, a man who bought a bar in Oregon, Illinois got intrigued with the case and with Mary Jane and wanted to know the truth. He, in turn, sent information to Ted Gregory, a reporter from the Chicago Tribune to see if he could flesh out the story and tell the truth about what happened.
Ted Gregory tells his story of writing the articles about Mary Jane's and how the story consumed him over many years and how he did other stories just so he could drive through town and look into more leads and more conspiracies.
One of the offsides of the book is that it goes off on tangents about other stories he wrote concerning other areas in Illinois. I did not mind reading these and learning how the newspaper business has changed over the years. I see other comments where this really aggravated people and that had Ted written this book only on his research into Mary Jane and Stanley's deaths, it would have been a novelette.
I would recommend this book to people who like reading cold cases but if you are looking for a magical ending, where they find the killer(s)--this is not the book for you.
October 10, 2017
These are the comments I wrote while reading this book:
I am currently reading this book about a double murder that happened in Oregon, Illinois in 1948.
I just finished a chapter that dealt with a 70 something foot statue of Abraham Lincoln and the pitfalls it has been through over the years. Seriously? This has NOTHING to do with this murder. If I wanted to read about Oregon, Illinois, etc., I would have chosen a book like that. Not one that is supposed to be true crime about a double murder that happened in 1948 and has never been solved.
This isn’t the first time this book has gone off on another tangent as very early it went into the history of the Chicago Tribune.
I feel as though I am going to reach the end of this book and it still won’t be solved.
I will give this book one more chance.
This is my review:
Apparently, the story of Mary Jane's Ghost was not enough to fill a book, so the author included other articles he was working on in between the main story of the book.
I was not impressed. I skipped pages, a LOT of pages.
There is nothing in the title nor the blurb that tells the reader that there will be pages and pages of other stories included.
I gave the author an extra star because it seems as though he wasted as much time driving back and forth from Chicago to Oregon, Illinois as I did reading this book.
Thanks to University of Iowa Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
I am currently reading this book about a double murder that happened in Oregon, Illinois in 1948.
I just finished a chapter that dealt with a 70 something foot statue of Abraham Lincoln and the pitfalls it has been through over the years. Seriously? This has NOTHING to do with this murder. If I wanted to read about Oregon, Illinois, etc., I would have chosen a book like that. Not one that is supposed to be true crime about a double murder that happened in 1948 and has never been solved.
This isn’t the first time this book has gone off on another tangent as very early it went into the history of the Chicago Tribune.
I feel as though I am going to reach the end of this book and it still won’t be solved.
I will give this book one more chance.
This is my review:
Apparently, the story of Mary Jane's Ghost was not enough to fill a book, so the author included other articles he was working on in between the main story of the book.
I was not impressed. I skipped pages, a LOT of pages.
There is nothing in the title nor the blurb that tells the reader that there will be pages and pages of other stories included.
I gave the author an extra star because it seems as though he wasted as much time driving back and forth from Chicago to Oregon, Illinois as I did reading this book.
Thanks to University of Iowa Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
December 16, 2017
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review . If you know me, you know I don't write a standard review. There are enough of those already. Over the last two years I have had readers tell me they appreciate my simplistic reviews and until they say otherwise, I shall continue.
True Crime:
Oregon, Illinois. In the summer of 1948, Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla made a devastating choice; they visited the local Lover's Lane and were murdered. The killer was never found.
Fifty years later- Enter Michael Arians . He is convinced that the ghost of Mary Jane Reed is haunting his establishment. Unusual things are happening and he can only attribute them to her ghost. He writes the Chicago Tribune for help. The letter is put on reporter Ted Gregory's desk. For the next thirteen years Gregory is beguiled by the case and equally fascinated by Arians' seemingly hopeless pursuit of whoever murdered them.
A fascinating account of this cold case. Mr. Gregory has done an amazing job re-investigating the double murders. But just how did someone else's skull and C-1 (cervical vertebrae) wind up with the remains of Mary Jane? Wouldn't you think someone would have broken their silence long ago or bragged about knowing "whodunit "? To this day, it remains a cold case and might never be solved. I want to add that this book is also an account of Mr. Gregory's profession: writer and journalist: a Pulitzer Prize reporter.
True Crime:
Oregon, Illinois. In the summer of 1948, Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla made a devastating choice; they visited the local Lover's Lane and were murdered. The killer was never found.
Fifty years later- Enter Michael Arians . He is convinced that the ghost of Mary Jane Reed is haunting his establishment. Unusual things are happening and he can only attribute them to her ghost. He writes the Chicago Tribune for help. The letter is put on reporter Ted Gregory's desk. For the next thirteen years Gregory is beguiled by the case and equally fascinated by Arians' seemingly hopeless pursuit of whoever murdered them.
A fascinating account of this cold case. Mr. Gregory has done an amazing job re-investigating the double murders. But just how did someone else's skull and C-1 (cervical vertebrae) wind up with the remains of Mary Jane? Wouldn't you think someone would have broken their silence long ago or bragged about knowing "whodunit "? To this day, it remains a cold case and might never be solved. I want to add that this book is also an account of Mr. Gregory's profession: writer and journalist: a Pulitzer Prize reporter.
October 23, 2017
The Subtitle is huge here and without it, I would have dinged this a star.
Mary Jane's Ghost is mostly the story of an unsolved double murder in a small Illinois town, but it's also a small part of the author/journalist and his thoughts as newspapers collapse, specifically, in this case, the Chicago Tribune.
Gregory whines and yet weathers all of the downsizing and changes, which is mighty lucky.
The same cannot be said for the Reed-Skridla murders of 1948 in Oregon, Ill. The case became an obsession of one of the town's residents, even though it was before his time and the reporter as well. For over a decade, Gregory followed the story, sneaking in trips to Oregon to get updates as he could.
The theories run from a simple robbery gone wrong to a jealous three-way lover's quarrel to a corrupt system and cop being involved in that quarrel. The problem is that it's been so long that it's nigh impossible to go back and redo what the cops of '48 bungled, purposely or just plain negligently, and most anyone that the finger could be pointed at is dead anyway. I mean when you have to hit up the neighbor kid that was 12 when it happened for information, you're not likely to get a lot of information here and they don't.
Yet for the townie, it became an obsession and almost as much for Gregory.
Mary Jane's Ghost is mostly the story of an unsolved double murder in a small Illinois town, but it's also a small part of the author/journalist and his thoughts as newspapers collapse, specifically, in this case, the Chicago Tribune.
Gregory whines and yet weathers all of the downsizing and changes, which is mighty lucky.
The same cannot be said for the Reed-Skridla murders of 1948 in Oregon, Ill. The case became an obsession of one of the town's residents, even though it was before his time and the reporter as well. For over a decade, Gregory followed the story, sneaking in trips to Oregon to get updates as he could.
The theories run from a simple robbery gone wrong to a jealous three-way lover's quarrel to a corrupt system and cop being involved in that quarrel. The problem is that it's been so long that it's nigh impossible to go back and redo what the cops of '48 bungled, purposely or just plain negligently, and most anyone that the finger could be pointed at is dead anyway. I mean when you have to hit up the neighbor kid that was 12 when it happened for information, you're not likely to get a lot of information here and they don't.
Yet for the townie, it became an obsession and almost as much for Gregory.
February 7, 2018
So, it's mostly actually not about the murders...and I'm 100% okay with that. Yes, I grabbed it because I'm obsessed with true crime, but I'm also obsessed with history, and spent part of my teen years really into investigative journalism, largely thanks to a teacher/mentor of mine (the author of this book reminds me of this teacher) and this book deals with all 3! I thought I was going to be disappointed once I realized the focus wasn't really on Mary Jane and her boyfriend, but it was the opposite. I really enjoyed all the snippets of Illinois history and the author's experiences with the current state of the newspaper business. Plus, there was this sort of nostalgia for me, which was kind of odd, but small-town Illinois doesn't seem that different from small-town Missouri, where I was born and raised. Small towns seem to all have these dark, sometimes vague stories that we all know and simultaneously protect and deny. I found myself thinking often of stories that sometimes my parents but usually my grandparents and my grandma's brother and sister would tell me about things that happened in our town that people wish to see kept out of sight. Just a great read, even if the packaging is a little misleading.
April 22, 2019
Initially the description of this book lead one to believe that it would be solely focused on the murder of a young couple and the ensuing investigation . I found the book to be pleasantly more than that . While some of the reviewers of this book were disappointed it was not a more traditional true crime book, I found the authors forays into various other subjects, such as the changes in journalism practices in recent years, quite interesting. I thought it presented a wider picture of the surrounding area and its various attributes . Of course, I may be prejudiced as I live in northwestern Illinois and am familiar with many of the locations mentioned in the book . I've read several true crime books over the years and I generally enjoyed them . I enjoyed this one even more as I appreciated the ability of the author to interweave more substance into the book .
January 11, 2018
This is a very unusual book... It fits no genre and because of that may struggle to find its market which would be a shame. I've given it three stars but it could easily have been four, and would have been if I lived in the area or had more than a passing interest in the geography of small town America.
As a book about crime and obsession, however, it is a winner and it is unfortunate in a way that Ted Gregory couldn't focus more on the unsolved murders and less on the other stories he was working on as a journalist - although to be fair, some of them are intriguing. I like the writing style and there are certainly enough "characters" in the mix but overall I felt a bit disappointed at the end.
I was given this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
As a book about crime and obsession, however, it is a winner and it is unfortunate in a way that Ted Gregory couldn't focus more on the unsolved murders and less on the other stories he was working on as a journalist - although to be fair, some of them are intriguing. I like the writing style and there are certainly enough "characters" in the mix but overall I felt a bit disappointed at the end.
I was given this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
January 12, 2018
Perhaps a more accurate title would have been "Chasing Mary Jane's Ghost", as that would have given clues to the reader that this book is more about investigative journalism and the decline of "Legacy Newspapers", with the story of Mary Jane's unsolved murder woven through the book to thread together different aspects of that narrative. I found myself drawn into the town of Oregon and trying to "solve" the crime along with the journalist. The tangent stories were interesting, but often I found them an annoying distraction before getting back to the "meat of the book". I read this book in one evening, but found that by the time I got to the last couple chapters, I had stopped caring and quit with out finishing the last three pages.
March 1, 2019
I enjoyed this book and it was written extremely well (as I would hope a book written by a journalist would be).
The author not only writes about his reporting on the unsolved murders of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla but interweaves the crime with other stories he was working on, the decline of the newspaper industry and a few things going on in his personal life.
What I enjoyed most about, "Mary Jane's Ghost" was the factual information that Mr. Gregory included on the state of Illinois, asian carp, and historical battles. He cleverly ties the past into the present so the book is cohesive, despite the many topics.
I did not know anything about this author beforehand and am looking forward to reading more of his work!
The author not only writes about his reporting on the unsolved murders of Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Skridla but interweaves the crime with other stories he was working on, the decline of the newspaper industry and a few things going on in his personal life.
What I enjoyed most about, "Mary Jane's Ghost" was the factual information that Mr. Gregory included on the state of Illinois, asian carp, and historical battles. He cleverly ties the past into the present so the book is cohesive, despite the many topics.
I did not know anything about this author beforehand and am looking forward to reading more of his work!
November 11, 2017
I am not sure how I feel about this book. The title seems to be a bit misleading. I was expecting a book about a murder but it seemed the book was more about the author. I expected a true crime book, but to me this is not that. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.
June 7, 2025
Really an entertaining read about many things besides Mary Jane. A couple of things (which would be spoilers so I'll not specify) mar what could be a nearly perfect book. If you don't spot them you'll have a good time but I couldn't quite let one particular detail go. See if you can find the flaw. I could be wrong. Still very entertained.
November 17, 2018
Very difficult to get into, but once I did the writing was good. Some of the tangent chapters were necessary to the plot, others felt like they were thrown in to make the story longer. The ending made me upset, as I had forced myself to finish the book, only to be disappointed with no conclusion.
January 31, 2024
Well done and obviously written by a journalist. Very readable. Interesting facts about my home state. I can hardly fathom how much a complete stranger spent trying to unravel a decades-long mystery.
September 16, 2025
Probably only interesting if you are familiar with more rural areas of North Central IL and interested in True Crime. I would have liked more detail about the town where the murder took place, the family of the murdered victims, details about the suspects, etc. Definitely needed pictures.
October 24, 2017
Interesting read but wandered off topic a lot
July 4, 2018
Interesting subject. Too bad that the author's constant reminding the reader what a fantastic journalist he is/was got in the way.
February 1, 2024
This really only needed 3 chapters. It was 90% filler with topics other than the crime.
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