The Riddle of Emmon Bodfish

By: Paul Holes, Peter McDonnell, Josh Sanburn

Narrated by: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente

In 1999, Emmon Bodfish was murdered in his home in the wealthy enclave of Orinda, California, just east of San Francisco. For the young crime-scene analyst Paul Holes, it quickly became the most bizarre and surprising case of his storied career.

It was immediately clear how Emmon had died: by being hit over the head with a heavy object. What wasn’t clear was who did it and why. Each clue was like a doorway to an expanding labyrinth of leads—leads involving pagan ceremonies, stolen artwork, a mysterious disease, an elusive shoe pattern, entomology, a blue demon, a family inheritance, an enigmatic child, a struggle for identity, and passages written in a secret language throughout two decades of Emmon’s diaries.

No matter how deep Paul went into the tunnels of the mystery, the shape-shifting shadow of Emmon’s antagonist stayed just out of reach. Paul had never faced anything like it. He became obsessed with solving it. For himself and for Emmon.

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The listener becomes an eyewitness.

An extraordinary non-fiction account of a murder that includes fascinating threads involving Druids, messages coded using symbols associated with runes, the FBI and other law enforcement entities, and a brilliant victim who also happens to be a transgendered mother. The author weaves this account in a manner that quickly transforms the listener into a role as an eyewitness to the events. Highly recommended.

Masterful reenactment of a mystery

The telling of the story by those evolved help bring home the reality of this tragic event.
thank you for putting this together. Not only does it bring into core the troubled life of a transgender female and the life long abuse but why the diagnosed of people on the spectrum is so important, This might have helped a troubled child not feel the only way out was alone in an hotel room.

Riveting; Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Fascinating and well-presented. Very little melodrama with the voices of those involved providing the details. At no point was I ever bored. I would listen to anything else put out by this group.

An uncommon but beautiful life.

This was a book that made me feel so sorry for the victim(s). The narrator handled the reading with both clinical accuracy and an equal degree of compassion. The take away message for me is that there are countless stories like this mostly from told in our society and we should be thankful of the opportunity to hear this one.

Wow, what a story!

This should be made into a movie! The characters are so intriguing. You immediately care for Emmon and Max and want to heal their pain. The narrative from the detectives and reporters view points, show how much this story impacts everyone involved in this case.

excellent job

I think Emmond would be proud of how his story was told. Paul and team did an excellent job as usual.

STUNNING

wow I mean just wow the twists and turns in this true crime is just insane the voices of the people involved really pull you in and keep you wanting more I loved it and my heart goes out to the family and friends of the passed away 🥺💋💜🤟🏻

As always, Paul Holes delivers

This story is fascinating, engaging, and unfolds in a way I binged through the whole thing. Paul Holes always does excellent work, and I love getting insight to how his brain works in an investigation.

Incredible true story

Paul Holes and Jim Clemente are authentic, victim-
-focused, former law enforcement. This story, and Paul’s incredible detective work (he’s not actually a detective, he’s an analyst) are a rare combination of insight and perseverance. It doesn’t get better than this.

For recommendations

Audible sorting is terrible. Hopefully rating these I like will help. 15 words up.