James Patterson, 76, perhaps America's most famous novelist, plans to write a true-crime book about the Idaho college murders. And it has all the elements of a modern-day “In Cold Blood.”

Patterson, has written a number of bestsellers, including the Alex Cross series, Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride, NYPD Red, Witch & Wizard, Private and Middle School series, among many others.  His books have sold more than 425 million copies, and he was the first person to sell 1 million e-books. 

The prolific writer revealed plans for his latest project in May and gave further details during an interview with NewsNation on Tuesday.

Patterson told host Leland Vittert that he decided to write the book to try and answer a number of questions he had about the deadly attack. 

"Why did he murder these young people? What is the effect on the town, on the families? He seemed to want to create the perfect murder. He didn't. What went wrong and what happened beforehand? Did he commit any great crimes before he went out to Idaho? There's a lot of questions and that's what drove me to write the book," he explained.

 "The Idaho murders have captured imaginations all around the world and I'm as caught up in it as anyone else. Because all of this happened in such a small town, there are definitely echoes of In Cold Blood," Patterson said.

The crime and the suspect

On November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their shared off-campus residence. It shocked the small college town of Moscow, Idaho.

The author said he had been "haunted" by the crime.

After the brutal deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin a manhunt for the murderer made headlines around the world.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, was a Criminology PhD student who studied at nearby Washington State University. Police matched his DNA from a knife sheath left at the scene. Authorities tracked him to his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.  And he was arrested at the end of December. 

He now faces four counts of first-degree murder. And his trial is scheduled for early October. Patterson says the book is scheduled to come out before the trial.

"The Idaho murders have captured imaginations all around the world and I'm as caught up in it as anyone else. Because all of this happened in such a small town, there are definitely echoes of In Cold Blood."

In Cold Blood echoes

Patterson’s reference to In Cold Blood makes sense.

In Cold Blood is a classic true-crime novel published in 1966.  It details the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas.

Truman Capote wrote the book. And before the killers were captured, he traveled to Kansas. He was accompanied by his childhood friend and fellow author Harper Lee who wrote the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.” 

Together they interviewed residents and investigators assigned to the case and took thousands of pages of notes.

 Patterson is partnering with investigative journalist Vicki Ward to co-write his latest book. And they will "draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, and copious court transcripts." Her role seems to have echoes of Harper Lee.