Blizzard of Lies by Dave Wedge: What the Karen Read Book Covers

What is Blizzard of Lies?

Blizzard of Lies is a true crime account of a one of the most watched cases in recent American legal history. Dave Wedge's book, subtitled Karen Read, John O'Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA, was published by BenBella Books on July 28, 2026. and is distributed by Simon & Schuster.

The case in brief

On January 29, 2022, during a nor'easter, Boston police officer John O'Keefe was found dead in the snow outside a house in Canton, Massachusetts, that belonged to a fellow Boston officer. His girlfriend, Karen Read, was charged. Prosecutors argued she struck him with her SUV. Her defense argued he was beaten inside the house and left outside, and that investigators protected people with police connections. The case went to trial twice, drew livestream audiences and street protests, and split public opinion in Massachusetts and beyond.

How Wedge tells it

Wedge, an award-winning journalist and veteran of the Boston Herald, grew up on the South Shore and covered the case from the start. In a Q&A with Boston.com, he discussed his approach. The book draws on interviews with law enforcement, members of Read's legal team, and O'Keefe's family. and it lays out competing explanations rather than announcing a verdict of its own.

Kirkus Reviews called it essential true crime reading. The review credits Wedge with detailed, balanced portraits of both O'Keefe and Read, notes the space he gives to O'Keefe's decision to raise his niece and nephew after their parents died, and and singles out his account of the media circus, including the independent blogger whose coverage helped fuel the movement to free Read. It also credits him with keeping the story out of tabloid territory.

Why the book is drawing searches

Readers arriving at this title usually want to know three things: whether it takes a side, how current it is, and whether it adds anything beyond the trial coverage. From the publisher's description and the reviews, the answers are that it presents the rival theories without claiming to solve the case, that it covers both trials, and that its main additions are access to sources close to O'Keefe's family and a reporter's view of how local and social media shaped the story.

Who it suits

Followers of the trials who want the whole timeline in one place, readers of investigative true crime, and anyone interested in how online communities now influence criminal cases will find it most useful. Readers looking for a definitive answer to what happened that night should not expect one.

Book details

• Title: Blizzard of Lies: Karen Read, John O'Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA
• Author: Dave Wedge
• Publisher: BenBella Books
• Published: July 28, 2026
• Length: 296 pages
• ISBN: 9781637749289