On the Farm: Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women

This is a matter-of-fact retelling of the events that occurred and what was discovered on the Pickton Farm. It is told with excruciating detail, whether that detail is mundane, vile, or fascinating. I found the highlights to be the investigation of the farm, the interrogation of Robert Pickton, and the bungling of the Missing Women case by the VPD. However, there are too many pages devoted to superfluous details, such as an entire chapter devoted to a photographer on the downtown eastside that took photos of some of the missing women, but otherwise had no impact on the case. The book could do with a narrowing of scope. It's 700+ pages long, and it could easily be cut to under 500. Brevity is the soul of wit.

As an avid true crime reader, I enjoy details. However I felt swamped with unnecessary details throughout this book. I enjoyed that it went through the victims lives, and showed them as people and not just names. I feel however, like the content could have been halved and been more enjoyable. I often found myself skipping entire pages just to progress the story. Not a very easy read, but if you are interested in ALL of the ins and outs of this case I would recommend.

This was a tough read in the sense of the tragedy of all the missing women and seeming lack of concern for them. Very well written, and gives voice to those women and their families.