Catch the Sparrow
A Search for a Sister and the Truth of Her Murder
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3.9 • 7 Ratings
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
The gripping story of a young woman's murder, unsolved for over two decades, brilliantly investigated and reconstructed by her stepsister.
Growing up, Rachel Rear knew the story of Stephanie Kupchynsky's disappearance. The beautiful violinist and teacher had fled an abusive relationship on Martha's Vineyard and made a new start for herself near Rochester, NY. She was at the height of her life-in a relationship with a man she hoped to marry and close to her students and her family. And then, one morning, she was gone.
Around Rochester-a region which has spawned such serial killers as Arthur Shawcross and the "Double Initial" killer-Stephanie's disappearance was just a familiar sort of news item. But Rachel had more reason than most to be haunted by this particular story of a missing woman: Rachel's mother had married Stephanie's father after the crime, and Rachel grew up in the shadow of her stepsister's legacy.
In Catch the Sparrow, Rachel Rear writes a compulsively readable and unerringly poignant reconstruction of the case's dark and serpentine path across more than two decades. Obsessively cataloging the crime and its costs, drawing intimately closer to the details than any journalist could, she reveals how a dysfunctional justice system laid the groundwork for Stephanie's murder and stymied the investigation for more than twenty years, and what those hard years meant for the lives of Stephanie's family and loved ones. Startling, unputdownable, and deeply moving, Catch the Sparrow is a retelling of a crime like no other.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rear debuts with an engrossing account of her search for the truth about her stepsister's murder, which leads to painful discoveries and frustrating answers. Stephanie Kupchynsky, a music teacher, disappeared in 1991 at age 27. In 1998, when Rear was 20, her mother married Kupchynsky's father, shortly before his daughter's decomposing remains were found in a creek close to Kupchynsky's last home in an apartment complex in Greece, N.Y. Rear, who never knew her stepsister but was haunted by the tragedy, began her own inquiry, meeting with both people who had dated Kupchynsky and those in law enforcement who searched for her and her killer. Meanwhile, in 1994, Edward Laraby, a sexual predator who had been a maintenance worker in Kupchynsky's apartment building, was arrested in a rape case and convicted that same year. In 2011, Laraby confessed in prison to killing Kupchynsky, laughing as he did so, but he died in 2014 before he could be tried for that crime. Rear's personal connection to the case, and resonances between her own experiences of being victimized by men, as well as her stepsister's experiences of being victimized, give this account a hefty emotional impact. This combination of true crime inquiry and revelatory memoir will linger in readers' minds long after they finish it.
Customer Reviews
Captivating Family True Crime Story
If you are a fan of true crime stories, Catch the Sparrow is absolutely the book for you. Rachel Rear is a fabulous writer. She weaves an intriguing true crime story with elaborate descriptions, remarkable use of figurative language, and a personal connection to Stephanie Kupchynsky’s story that makes this, at times, an emotional read. Rachel Rear has followed Stephanie Kupchynsky’s story for years as Stephanie’s dad married Rachel’s mom. Rachel heard whisperings of Stephanie’s disappearance for years, and then actively began investigating to help her learn the story of Stephanie. Through Rachel's thorough research with local town residents, family members, police officers, lawyers, and more, Rachel writes a captivating story about Stephanie as a person including her life, the people who were affected by her disappearance, and more. Rachel tells not only the story of Stephanie, but also relates Stephanie’s experiences to Rachel’s own life and the life of women everywhere. Her words often pause to respect the trials and tribulations that women around the world face, and acknowledge that our criminal justice system is flawed and damaged. I also appreciated how she pays homage to her family, Stephanie’s family, and respectfully writes her words for justice, and out of love. All of these layers to this book make it one that I would recommend to all true crime fans.