The Clearing

Very compelling story, and the storytellers recognize and protect the dignity of the very many victims. I’d subtract only half a star because the music is strangely inappropriate at pivotal, poignant moments—when you’d expect a cello or a piano, there’s a dippy clarinet or oboe.

This podcast has absolutely fascinated me. It is so well paced and presented that it’s difficult for me to set it aside. I’ve listened to many podcasts about killers and the fact that I’d never heard of Ed Edwards just blows me away. I also now follow Matthew Dear’s music. It’s wonderful! I’m currently watching the documentary “It Was Him…” simply so I can put some faces to the names in your podcast. I’m completely hooked on following whatever murders may be cleared up in connection with that monster. Thank you for allowing me to be aware of him.

In a market saturated with true crime podcasts, unique ones can be hard to find and GOOD unique ones like unicorns. Meet your unicorn! An abused daughter discovers as an adult her father is a serial killer and sets about trying to solve his cases and get closure for the victims’ families. On its surface, that’s what this podcast is about. Look deeper and you’ll see it’s how human beings cope with trauma and make sense of a senseless world. The way murder has impacted the lives of those affected by it is something glossed over in too much of true crime and this unflinching look, particularly how the daughter of a serial killer bonds with the families of her father’s victims and suspected victims and they move forward, is extraordinary. The reporting throughout is quite good and we’re not just left with more information about a killer and how they work but how those left behind pick up the pieces.

I don’t often write reviews for podcasts, but I also don’t binge listen or cry during them either. I found this podcast on Sunday and was finished with it by Sunday. I give the biggest credit to April for doing the right thing. The last episode had me in tears listening to a father describe his son and what was lost. The fact that the two have gotten along so well is spectacular. Great job to the whole team on this series!