Dave Wedge, a Brockton-born writer and New York Times bestselling author, has published a new true crime book exploring the death of a Boston police officer and the trial that followed. Titled Blizzard of Lies, the book reached No. 1 on Amazon’s list of new true crime releases ahead of its publication, the author told a local newspaper in an interview conducted on 17 July.
Case revisited
The book examines the case of John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer who was pronounced dead after being discovered in the snow outside another officer’s house in Canton. A jury later found Karen Read not guilty of murdering O’Keefe. Wedge’s account seeks to chart the events and the wider context of the investigation and trial.
The new title follows Wedge’s previous work on high-profile American crimes and figures. He has written about the Boston Marathon bombing and organised crime figure Whitey Bulger, and his biography of boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler is in development as a feature film. Wedge is a graduate of Brockton High School (class of 1988) and said his regional upbringing helped shape his approach to reporting on this case.
Local connections shape reporting
In the interview, Wedge described how many people in the area had direct or indirect links to the case, which influenced the reporting. He said one of the factors that drew him in was the density of personal connections within the community — friends, family and colleagues who knew those involved.
“Oh, so-and-so's sister knows this one.”
Wedge noted geographical and social proximity between the people involved. He said Read lived in Mansfield and attended Coyle & Cassidy. He added that several police officers connected to the case had ties to the Brockton area. As an example, he cited a Canton officer, Michael Lank, who is married to a woman from Brockton.
- Author: Dave Wedge, Brockton native, New York Times bestselling author.
- Book: Blizzard of Lies: Karen Read, John O'Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA.
- Key facts: O’Keefe was found in the snow outside another officer’s home in Canton; Read was acquitted of murder by a jury.
What the book adds
Wedge told the interviewer that his personal connections to the region — including family acquaintances and local knowledge — were a resource during his reporting. He described instances of people contacting him with ties to those at the centre of the story. He also referenced his previous investigative work into nationally significant crimes as part of his background for tackling this subject.
| Work | Subject | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Blizzard of Lies | Karen Read / John O'Keefe case | New release; reached No. 1 on Amazon new true crime list |
| Book on Boston Marathon bombing | 2013 bombing | Previously published work |
| Work on Whitey Bulger | Organised crime | Previously published work |
| Marvelous Marvin Hagler biography | Boxer | Being adapted for film |
Wedge’s account arrives amid continuing public interest in deaths linked to policing and in high-profile criminal trials. While the jury in the O’Keefe case returned a not guilty verdict for Read, the circumstances of his death and the questions it raised continue to attract attention in New England and beyond.
The author spoke to the local newspaper before the book’s publication and described the investigation as one in which a small community’s overlapping relationships played a significant part in how the story unfolded and was remembered. He said family and friends of people with connections to the case were among those who contacted him during his research.
At this stage, Wedge’s book is a journalistic retelling drawing on his reporting and the many local threads he encountered. It adds to a body of recent true crime literature that revisits contested deaths and trials, with the aim of clarifying what happened and why questions persist in the public consciousness.
