This May, just in time for National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15, 2025, a new true crime book is reigniting national conversation around cold case justice—and personal storytelling in nonfiction.

A Second Shot: The Pursuit of Justice in Maryland’s Oldest Cold Case Murder by Michael F. Weisberg, M.D., is not just a meticulously researched account of a long-unsolved crime—it’s also a deeply personal narrative that places the author himself inside the story, much in the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. Weisberg, a practicing physician in Plano, Texas, didn’t just write the book; he became a confidant, a witness to grief, and ultimately, a voice for a family whose private tragedy deserved public recognition.

The case at the heart of the book is chilling and real. On the night of October 23, 1971, Montgomery County, Maryland Deputy Sheriff James Tappen Hall was found face down in a parking lot at the Manor Country Club with a gunshot wound to the head. He died three days later. Despite a full-scale investigation, the case went unsolved for more than five decades.

But the story didn’t end there—thanks to Hall’s daughter Carolyn and her husband Bob Philo, who later moved to Dallas, Texas. Determined to keep the memory of Deputy Hall alive and to press for justice, the couple spent decades seeking answers. Years later, they met Dr. Weisberg in North Texas. As a friend and physician, he learned their story—and when they asked him to write the book, he agreed.

What followed was a years-long process of interviews, research, and introspection. Like Capote in In Cold Blood, Weisberg becomes an integral character in A Second Shot, not only chronicling events but grappling with their meaning. During the writing process, he faced a life-threatening illness—his own second shot at life—which only deepened his emotional connection to the story.

Perfect for readers who enjoyed I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, The Innocent Man, and Cold Case Files, A Second Shot is a riveting true crime story about justice delayed but not denied. Certainly:

With the emotional clarity of Michelle McNamara, the courtroom savvy of John Grisham, the forensic intrigue of Michael Arntfield and the personal presence of Capote himself, Weisberg brings to life the decades-long pursuit of resolution in the murder of Deputy Hall—and the remarkable family who refused to give up.

A Second Shot traces the original investigation and the heartbreak of unanswered questions, then shifts to the stunning 2021 breakthrough, when Maryland cold case detectives obtained a confession from a long-suspected killer. The suspect revealed that Hall had been shot twice—a detail never released to the public. That revelation confirmed investigators’ suspicions and finally brought long-awaited closure to Hall’s family.

The title, A Second Shot, refers not only to the second, never-publicized bullet, but also to the second chance at justice—and the second chance at life that both the Hall family and Dr. Weisberg experienced in different ways. This layered symbolism gives the book its emotional weight, elevating it from procedural to profoundly human.

Carolyn and Bob Philo are the emotional center of the book. Weisberg paints them with the care of someone who knows their story intimately. Their faith, their persistence, and their moral clarity drive the narrative forward. In a genre too often dominated by the criminal, A Second Shot keeps the focus squarely on the victims—and those who loved them most.

Weisberg also brings respect and depth to the portrayal of the detectives who reopened the case. With limited evidence, they refused to give up. Their persistence mirrors the family’s and serves as a powerful tribute to the men and women who work cold cases quietly, diligently, and without fanfare.

What distinguishes A Second Shot in the crowded field of true crime is not just the resolution of a cold case—it’s the soul of the storyteller. Weisberg does what Capote did for Holcomb, Kansas: he bears witness, he participates, and he refuses to turn away. The book asks tough, enduring questions about the nature of justice, the resilience of families, and what it takes to bring the truth to light—even half a century later.

A Second Shot: The Pursuit of Justice in Maryland’s Oldest Cold Case Murder will be published May 5, 2025, by Intelligentsia Books. It will be available in trade paperback and eBook formats on Amazon, Apple Books, Kindle, and other major retailers.

Published by Liz SD.