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The Wind Cries Mary: Murders That Shook A Power Town
On May 27, 1969 in the sleepy power town of New Canaan, Connecticut, a bedroom town to New York city executives, ten-year-old Mary Mount, the daughter of an IBM research scientist was abducted and murdered. Several persons including serial killers became suspects. A year and a half after Mary's abduction and murder, John Rice, a 17-year-old honor student and Boy Scout in New Canaan, brutally murdered four members of his family. Rice became another suspect in Mary Mount's murder. Rice was found not guilty of the murders of his family by reason of insanity was released back into society after spending only five years at Connecticut's Whiting Institute for the criminally insane. The Wind Cries Mary reveals more shocking twists to the story and enlists Criminal Profiler Greg Cooper for his expert analysis concerning Mary Mount's killer and the possibility of John Rice as her murderer. This is a true crime story you will not want to miss.
- GenresTrue Crime
170 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2009
About the author
Erika Grey
66 books45 followersErika Grey is a Senior Geopolitical Analyst, journalist, and author specializing in EU affairs and its strategic relationships with the United States and Israel. As the Founder and Director of The Twist News Inc., she occupies an elite tier within premier expert networks such as GLG and Atheneum—placing her in the top one percent of consultants vetted to provide strategic insights and political risk analysis to institutional investors, hedge funds, and global policymakers.
Through her proprietary MAGI™ Framework (Multidimensional Analysis for Global Intelligence), Grey weaves together rigorous analysis of EU institutions, forward-looking macro-forecasting, and systematic biblical eschatology to deliver unparalleled insights and a bold vision for strategic foresight. Her research delves into the European Union’s governance, decision-making processes, and global trajectory, while also exploring Israel’s critical role in shaping the Western alliance.
Grey’s expert commentary has been featured on Coast to Coast AM and cited by leading global outlets, including The New Yorker, The Christian Post, and Corriere della Sera. For Erika Grey's latest insights and analysis, visit www.thetwistnews.com. To explore her books and publications, visit her personal website at www.erikagrey.com.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 15, 2015
Like any other hazardous object, this book should have a warning label. Something along the lines of "reader is advised to wear neck brace to prevent injuries caused by abrupt changes of topic" or perhaps a more catchall "abandon all hope ye who enter." This, gentle reader, is one rough ride.
The description provided here might lead the unsuspecting to believe this book is about the murder of Mary Mount. That's just one of the many, many murders given the once over here. The narrative careens from Mary's disappearance to the nearby disappearances of other girls, to the murders of three teenagers to half a dozen serial killers and on and on. It's a grueling trip down Connecticut Murder Memory Lane.
But that drive-by style is preferable to the treatment given to the case of John Rice, Jr, who murdered most of his family in the throes of a psychotic break. Grey is convinced that Rice also killed Mary Mount. Why? Well, he lived in the same town. That's pretty much the whole case. Rice was found guilty by reason of insanity for his family's deaths and released a few years later. He moved to Massachusetts to raise llamas and here Grey tracked him down, and by all appearances, stalked him. Oddly enough, Rice didn't open the door to the nice lady who lurked in his driveway or answer her emails. Grey proudly suggests that Rice moved halfway across the country just to get away from her.
The most disturbing thing about this book isn't the murder of Mary Mount, it's the casual way Grey implies that Rice killed everyone from Mary to Molly Bish. If anyone within a 50 mile radius of Rice dies, he did it. Why? Well, he was there and he did have that nasty case of acne when he was a teen. Rice's crimes were horrific but more in line with a family annihilator killing than a serial killer. There's not one shred of convincing evidence - physical, eyewitness or circumstantial - to establish Rice as a credible suspect in the Mount murder.
The writing is somewhere between a 5th grade book report and Nigerian 419 scam email. Sometimes everything looks fine, if plodding, other times something isn't quite right as in "Greenwich, the first town one enters after leaving New York." Sure, it's the first town if you're entering Connecticut via I-95 but there are other ways to get from New York to the Nutmeg State without going anywhere near Greenwich. Then there are lines that stop the action, such as it is, cold: "Joseph Mount died eventually." Apropos of nothing, this line appears after a rundown of the professions chosen by Mary's brothers. Unfortunately, the writing is memorably bad, which means I'll be trying to dislodge this howler for years: "an older man with criminal tendencies happened to walk in."
This book wasn't a total loss. I read it for free from Amazon Prime and I did learn that "Police salaries are paid by the tax dollars of their town or city." Up until now I'd just assume it was bake sales and car washes that kept the cruisers rolling.
The reader cries "uncle."
The description provided here might lead the unsuspecting to believe this book is about the murder of Mary Mount. That's just one of the many, many murders given the once over here. The narrative careens from Mary's disappearance to the nearby disappearances of other girls, to the murders of three teenagers to half a dozen serial killers and on and on. It's a grueling trip down Connecticut Murder Memory Lane.
But that drive-by style is preferable to the treatment given to the case of John Rice, Jr, who murdered most of his family in the throes of a psychotic break. Grey is convinced that Rice also killed Mary Mount. Why? Well, he lived in the same town. That's pretty much the whole case. Rice was found guilty by reason of insanity for his family's deaths and released a few years later. He moved to Massachusetts to raise llamas and here Grey tracked him down, and by all appearances, stalked him. Oddly enough, Rice didn't open the door to the nice lady who lurked in his driveway or answer her emails. Grey proudly suggests that Rice moved halfway across the country just to get away from her.
The most disturbing thing about this book isn't the murder of Mary Mount, it's the casual way Grey implies that Rice killed everyone from Mary to Molly Bish. If anyone within a 50 mile radius of Rice dies, he did it. Why? Well, he was there and he did have that nasty case of acne when he was a teen. Rice's crimes were horrific but more in line with a family annihilator killing than a serial killer. There's not one shred of convincing evidence - physical, eyewitness or circumstantial - to establish Rice as a credible suspect in the Mount murder.
The writing is somewhere between a 5th grade book report and Nigerian 419 scam email. Sometimes everything looks fine, if plodding, other times something isn't quite right as in "Greenwich, the first town one enters after leaving New York." Sure, it's the first town if you're entering Connecticut via I-95 but there are other ways to get from New York to the Nutmeg State without going anywhere near Greenwich. Then there are lines that stop the action, such as it is, cold: "Joseph Mount died eventually." Apropos of nothing, this line appears after a rundown of the professions chosen by Mary's brothers. Unfortunately, the writing is memorably bad, which means I'll be trying to dislodge this howler for years: "an older man with criminal tendencies happened to walk in."
This book wasn't a total loss. I read it for free from Amazon Prime and I did learn that "Police salaries are paid by the tax dollars of their town or city." Up until now I'd just assume it was bake sales and car washes that kept the cruisers rolling.
The reader cries "uncle."
March 5, 2014
Whilst this was an interesting read as I'd never heard of the case it was horrifically formatted with little care taken and had way too many mistakes in as well. This quite annoys me as in a case like this it seems disrespectful.
I didn't believe John Rice murdered Mary for a minute......the Mead person sounded a more obvious suspect according to what we learned in this book. I found it very touching how the local people took care of Mary's grave but nobody bothered with the Rices' one. They were victims just the same and not deserving of the fate that befell them. I thought that was incredibly sad so at least this book reminds the world that family existed. Diane Toney's story was also an incredibly tragic one. I was shocked silly at the Rice sentencing, I must say. Not only that was a travesty but the fact no record remained was appalling.I was unaware too that law enforcement aren't compelled to record murders in VICAP. I had assumed that was a mandatory thing !!
The formatting was atrociously done and there were huge gaps on many pages and then half a dozen blank pages between chapters. It clearly wasn't checked.
There were a lot of words dropped out of sentences like a/to and some words had needless spacing like when ever or towns people. One girl's body was described as being found in 1991 when she went missing in 1981. I'm unsure whether that was right or a mistake but going on the rest of the book I'd say it was another mistake.
WAY too many apostrophe mistakes yet at times the author gets it right so she can do it. That annoys me more than reading someone who clearly has no clue whatsoever as it just becomes slapdash when they can use them correctly.
Cars was used in place of cards, fiance instead of fiancee, seminary used in place of cemetery and this line shows what a difference punctuation makes..."He drove his classmates' nuts". Doesn't mean the same thing with the rogue apostrophe, does it ?
Then to cap it all at the end the photo section had captions that were all over the place so I was none the wiser-"The caretakers home to the right of The sign to the left of the pond where the pool". As clear as mud. Such a pity SO little care was taken.
I didn't believe John Rice murdered Mary for a minute......the Mead person sounded a more obvious suspect according to what we learned in this book. I found it very touching how the local people took care of Mary's grave but nobody bothered with the Rices' one. They were victims just the same and not deserving of the fate that befell them. I thought that was incredibly sad so at least this book reminds the world that family existed. Diane Toney's story was also an incredibly tragic one. I was shocked silly at the Rice sentencing, I must say. Not only that was a travesty but the fact no record remained was appalling.I was unaware too that law enforcement aren't compelled to record murders in VICAP. I had assumed that was a mandatory thing !!
The formatting was atrociously done and there were huge gaps on many pages and then half a dozen blank pages between chapters. It clearly wasn't checked.
There were a lot of words dropped out of sentences like a/to and some words had needless spacing like when ever or towns people. One girl's body was described as being found in 1991 when she went missing in 1981. I'm unsure whether that was right or a mistake but going on the rest of the book I'd say it was another mistake.
WAY too many apostrophe mistakes yet at times the author gets it right so she can do it. That annoys me more than reading someone who clearly has no clue whatsoever as it just becomes slapdash when they can use them correctly.
Cars was used in place of cards, fiance instead of fiancee, seminary used in place of cemetery and this line shows what a difference punctuation makes..."He drove his classmates' nuts". Doesn't mean the same thing with the rogue apostrophe, does it ?
Then to cap it all at the end the photo section had captions that were all over the place so I was none the wiser-"The caretakers home to the right of The sign to the left of the pond where the pool". As clear as mud. Such a pity SO little care was taken.
January 25, 2021
The Wind Cries Mary
THE most poorly written book I’ve ever read, needed a decent editor. Seems more like stream of consciousness. Many opinions offered when not necessary, for example that John Rice Jr.’s mother must have ignored him has a toddler because of the two younger children, and the implication that she also used physical force on the young children. Pure speculation. Lots of padding in this book trying to make it longer I guess. Just bad all around.
THE most poorly written book I’ve ever read, needed a decent editor. Seems more like stream of consciousness. Many opinions offered when not necessary, for example that John Rice Jr.’s mother must have ignored him has a toddler because of the two younger children, and the implication that she also used physical force on the young children. Pure speculation. Lots of padding in this book trying to make it longer I guess. Just bad all around.
October 3, 2021
Both fascinating and disturbing. Having lived in New Canaan now for 11 years, I had heard about the Mary Mount murder but honestly was afraid to read about it.
The story is captivating and heart-breaking. It’s hard to imagine what these families lived through. Read at your own risk!
The story is captivating and heart-breaking. It’s hard to imagine what these families lived through. Read at your own risk!
July 24, 2022
Thankfully a very quick read about some disturbing events in CT in the late 60's/early 70's. "Mary" in the title of the book refers to Mary Mount who was killed in New Caanan. I vaguely recall this event which was what drew me to the book.
November 2, 2017
The author needed more real facts... and to make less erroneous conclusions.
October 10, 2021
Not for the faint of ♥️
Especially if, you too, live in New Canaan!
Especially if, you too, live in New Canaan!
July 14, 2014
I felt like the author should have picked a different title for her book. Not much of the story was about Mary. The author trying to tie all the cases in the book together was confusing. There were large gaps in the writing, and the story needed an editor. The problems were large enough that they took away from the stories of the murdered and missing. The actual book was probably made up of a third less pages then what is stated. There were several blank pages between chapters, and several areas with huge gaps. At any rate Mary's story was interesting but since it is not resolved, I don't know why it qualified as a book subject. The author's writing is easy enough to read but hard to follow, mostly due to lack of editing. I only recommend to those interested specifically in this case, or the Rice case. There are many other books about missing and murdered that do a better and more respectful job with the story.
January 18, 2015
I grew up in new Canaan and was around 10 when these crimes occurred. I always wondered if there were books about them, and found this one. It was good and covered both crimes- there was a lot I discovered about them- most shocking that john rice was let out after only 5 years in a mental institution.
February 7, 2016
This book was more about the perpetrator than Mary Mount. Which is OK, if it is advertised that way. Mary's case got lost in the rest. I don't see that there was any resolution to her case. So, I don't know why she and John Rice, Jr. were even connected. There seems to be no evidence that he IS responsible for her death. Which left me hanging.
June 5, 2011
I heard about this murder when I was a kid, but thought it was a ghost-story. Then I saw her tombstone near mom's! So I found it interesting.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews