Murder. Drugs. Mental torture. A whole community torn apart by a murder that no one can solve. This illustrates the sad truth of the documentary “The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith.”

Released May 6, “The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith” is a incredibly interesting documentary series with suspenseful twists and turns – like something straight out of a fictional dystopian story. 

The documentary does a great job at pulling you in with suspense of trying to figure out who killed “Bev” and trying to see how the whole community will pull through after weak and unskilled police work makes all those in the community suspects, namely husband and wife Al and Linda Smith. The documentary also uses recordings of wiretaps and includes appearances of everyone directly involved who agreed to participate and many other strategies that draws the audience in.

The documentary masterfully uses lighting, drone camera shots, character shots and music to show emotion. The use of grainy photos with what viewers can only assume is a tape roll on the left side of the screen also really coveys the sadness and confusion everyone is faced with, highlighting how there can be so much confusion and sadness in such a murder. 

Through all these tricks and strategies, you would expect the documentary to stay interesting, but it can get a little boring. This is not the series you would binge – it would work if you watched just one episode a day, or listened to it as an audiobook or podcast while in a vehicle, but it is too much to take in one go. 

Nonetheless it is a good watch, especially for those who enjoy “whodunit” or mystery stories, something that constantly leaves the reader in a state of confusion and suspense.